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•What trends do you see in reading instruction within your school or classroom?

Using Action ResearchTo Empower North Carolina Educators

A Race to the Top Initiative

NC Department of Public Instruction

Educator Effectiveness Division

Title of Presentation: Transforming Reading Instruction at the Elementary Level

Presenter: April SummeyDistrict: Henderson

School: Upward Elementary

What is Action Research?

Do you have a problem in your school that needs solving? Consider action research!

Systematic inquiry conducted by teachers and other educators to find solutions for critical, challenging, relevant issues in their classrooms and schools.

Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

What is Action Research?A systematic research process to:● Identify an area of focus (critical, challenging

issue)● Develop an action research plan● Implement action research plan in

classroom/school● Collect, analyze, and interpret data● Share findings to inform practice

Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

Transforming Reading Instruction

•What was the problem/issue in my school?

Low student achievement scores in reading. Lack of consistent student growth Inconsistent instructional reading practices

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Last year, most teachers used the following strategies to teach reading…

•Whole group reading•Small group instruction during intervention/enrichment time with the help of tutors. “The plan was the same for each group. ”•Lessons solely focused on common core skills, teacher led common core lessons•“Most lessons started whole group, students worked in pairs during the lesson, and then we came back together whole group at the end.”•“I just started to investigate guided reading because it became a district initiative.”•“Practice with reciprocal teaching strategies.”

What Does Peer-Reviewed Research say about my focus area?

•One district saw significant achievement gains by establishing focused professional development sessions with a specific timeline. The district developed a continuum of PD to ensure that every teacher was successful (Fisher, Frey, and Nelson, 2012). For example, year one districts might look at how to create a master schedule that is conducive to guided reading.

Research continued...

•When schools talk about guided reading, often there is romance and excitement. Along with the romance comes the reality of what it takes to transform reading instruction. “The deep change we strive for begins with the why, not the how, so our practices can grow from our coherent theory” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012).

Research continued... •Research shows the benefits of implementing small group reading instruction. This is crucial for schools that are trying to close achievement gaps and make growth. “The goal of guided reading is to help students build their reading power – to build a network of strategic actions for processing texts” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012).

What Does Peer-Reviewed Research say about my focus area?

Questions to ponder about change…•Under what conditions will continuous improvement happen?•How do we change the school culture?•Change theory research shows that district wide reform is flawed because it doesn’t address individual school culture. •PLCs alone will not change a school’s culture•Capacity building must take place as well, which is any strategy that increases the collective effectiveness of a group to raise the bar and close the gap of student learning. •Behavior changes to a certain extent before beliefs (Fullan, 2006)

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an Focus/Purpose of the Study Focus: Implement guided reading through the use of focused professional development sessions based on teacher needs.

Purpose: Describe the different types of professional development actions and activities that are needed to implement guided reading at an elementary school. I looked at the effects of implementing guided reading as well as teacher insight into which types of professional development were most beneficial during the process.

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• K-5 teachers •478 students•School with 85% economically disadvantaged population•38% LEP

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Study Variables/Definitions•Guided reading - Guided Reading is a time when students learn to read for meaning. Students in a small group are similar in their development of a reading process and are able to read about the same level of text. The goal of guided reading is to teach comprehension skills and strategies while students read a variety of text types at an instructional level. (Cunningham, Hall, and Cunningham, 2000)

•Professional development - consists of a variety of activities that enhance professional growth. Activities might include in-service sessions focused on specific topics, peer collaboration, study groups, coaching, receiving feedback, visiting other teachers to see guided reading, as well as using teacher self-assessment/reflection rubrics.

•Effects of guided reading implementation - this will be measured through the use of Reading 3D test scores, teacher attitudes will also be an effect of the implementation, which will be measured through surveys and interviews.

•Teacher insight - teacher attitudes related to the implementation of guided reading and the professional development support that was provided throughout the year.

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an Research Questions

What professional development actions and activities are most supportive to teachers for implementing guided reading activities with fidelity and success?

How do you sustain change when implementing new initiatives?

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Look around the room to see the steps that were taken as part of the action research process.

The steps are also available in the wiki.

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an Implementation in the Classroom

•You will be given a glimpse of a few of the PD sessions today. Most of the sessions were 1 – 1.5 hours.

•Let’s start with what guided reading looks like and then we will break into small groups.

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an Implementation in the Classroom

Let’s break up into three groups to dive into the professional development sessions more.

1. Developing a guided reading lesson plan and picking a lesson focus

2. 5 Areas of Reading and developing centers

3. Using DOK to strengthen centers

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Data Collected•mClass BOY and MOY data was collected•A ranking of prioritized needs regarding components of guided reading •Pre and post teacher comfort levels with the implementation of guided reading•Administrative walkthrough data and feedback to teachers•Open ended responses about guided reading and why teachers chose to implement it.

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Dibels BOY

Dibels MOY

TRC BOY TRC MOY0

50

100

150

200

250

mClass: Reading 3D Overall School Pro-ficiency

Far belowBelowProficientAbove

mClass Reading 3D Measures

Per

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K 1st 2nd 3rd0

102030405060708090

100

mClass: Reading 3D TRC BOY Proficiency by Grade Level


Grade level

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K 1st 2nd 3rd0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

mClass: Reading 3D TRC MOY Proficiency by Grade Level


Grade level

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Extremely uncomfortable5%

Uncomfortable10%

Undecided15%

Comfortable55%

Extremely com-fortable

15%

Pre- implementation Teacher Comfort Levels With Managing Student Behavior During

Guided Reading

Students can’t work in small

groups. There will be discipline

issues.

How do we hold students ac-countable?

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Undecided11%

Comfortable44%


44%

Post implementation Teacher Comfort Levels With Managing Student Behavior During Guided

Reading

Students are more engaged

and excited about learning to read.

They enjoy cen-ters.

It gets the students more involved in

learning.

There hasn’t been a single office referral during the guided reading block this year.

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Uncomfortable15%

Undecided25%

Comfortable50%

Extremely comfortable5%

Pre- Implementation Teacher Comfort Levels With Creating a Guided Reading Lesson Plan

What are the components of a guided reading lesson plan?

I need PD on how to create a

lesson.

I would like to see a video.

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Comfortable53%


Post implementation Teacher Com-fort Levels With Creating a Guided

Reading Lesson Plan

“I love guided reading because it allows the teacher to work with kids in smaller groups and target areas that they are struggling with and teach them strategies they need.”

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Undecided15%

Comfortable50%


25%

Pre- Implementation Teacher Comfort Levels With Using Data to Place Students Into Groups

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Comfortable47%


53%

Post Implementation Teacher Comfort Levels With Using Data to Place Students Into Groups

Now I am able to know student strengths and weaknesses.

I am able to in-dividualize

lessons based on student

needs.

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Uncomfortable23%

Undecided45%

Comfortable25%


Pre- Implementation Teacher Comfort Levels on Selecting Strategies for ESL and AIG

students During Guided Reading

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Uncomfortable6%

Undecided41%

Comfortable44%


Post Implementation Teacher Comfort Levels on Selecting Strategies for ESL and AIG stu-

dents During Guided Reading

I need PD on ESL and AIG strategies.

How can I im-prove centers for ESL and

AIG students?

Next steps in-clude PD on ESL and AIG strate-gies

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•At the end of the professional development sessions, teachers were asked, “Why are you implementing guided reading in your classroom?”

•Only 1 teacher out of 20 replied “Guided reading is required of us.” Two other teachers mentioned that “it is a county and school initiative” and then stated “I would be doing guided reading this year even if it were not an initiative from the school or the county.”

•100% of the teachers said they saw benefits in implementing guided reading!

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•The rest of the teachers said they were implementing guided reading because of.,.

Common Misconceptions Documented During Walkthroughs

Sample Feedback

Students off task during center time How can you hold students accountable during center time?

Lack of student conversation I would really like to talk to you about having students use reciprocal teaching strategies in partner groups.

Common core passage in guided reading lesson – Skill and drill

How can you determine the focus of a guided reading lesson? How does this practice move students to the next reading level?

No clear purpose/focus of the lesson What was the focus of the lesson?Let’s look at reading behaviors for each level.

Lack of structure with use of choice boards

Could you possibly give students a prioritized list or assign specific centers?

Homogeneous center groups Who could we place with ESL students to help facilitate language?

TrendsCommon Misconceptions

Documented During Walkthroughs

Sample Feedback

No comprehension check at the end of the lesson

Your guided reading lesson had a clear focus at the beginning. How can you ensure that you check comprehension at the end of the lesson? Could you add in written response with an mClass stem?

Comprehension center is not an extension of shared reading

How could you get students to practice what you addressed in class as a center?

Lack of note taking during the lesson How do you track student progress? What kind of assessment system do you use and how often?

Students unaware of the purpose of center activity

How can you make sure that students know the purpose of what they are working on in centers?

TrendsCommon Misconceptions

Documented During Walkthroughs

Sample Feedback

No clear role of support staff I noticed that the TA was monitoring student behavior. Could they be working with a group on comprehension or fluency as well?

Center not rigorous Using Webb’s DOK, how could you improve the rigor of your fluency center?

Round robin reading Please try having the students whisper read at their own pace while you listen in.

Lack of differentiated text in centers I would love to help you find some differentiated text for this center.

Only a couple students talk during the lesson

Consider putting numbers around the horseshoe table so you can call on each student. Implement wait time

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Conclusions•Sometimes behavior changes before beliefs•When teachers see the benefits of an initiative, they will embrace it•There will always be at least one naysayer• Change takes a long time and you must have…

Admin support

and accountability

Feedback

Prioritized PD with a timeline based

on needs Collaboration and

capacity building

Change

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•Map out the change you want to implement•Share the benefits with your staff•Prioritize needs •Develop professional development to match the needs•Create optional zoomed in PD sessions that will build capacity (Ex. Vertical alignment session) •Reflect on progress with walkthrough data and plan next PD based on trends•Use data to show benefits of implementation•Survey, survey, survey teacher perceptions and needs to create future steps

Questions

•Don’t be shy! •What are you wondering?

Discussion•“It takes great effort, leadership, teamwork, and resources to turn a school in the direction of rich, rigorous differentiated instruction. Creating a schedule, learning about effective management, collecting and organizing leveled books, providing an authentic assessment system and preparing teachers to use it, and providing the basic professional development to get guided reading underway – all are challenging tasks” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012).

Culminating Activity

•We are going to use the green sheet of paper you were given as our culminating activity.

•The purpose of the activity is to be reflective about what you will be able to use from today to tranform and differentiate reading instruction in your classroom or school.

Conclusion of Presentation

•Thank you for your participation.

Contact Information:Name: April SummeySchool/District: Upward Elementary/HendersonPhone: 828-697-4764Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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ReferencesFawson, P. & Reutzel, D. (2000, September). But I only have a basal:

Implementing guided reading in the early grades. The Reading Teacher, 54(1), 84-97.

Fisher, D., Frey, N. & Nelson, J. (2012). Literacy achievement through sustained professional development. The Reading Teacher, 65(8), 551-563.

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2012). Guided reading: The romance and the reality. The Reading Teacher, 66(4), 268-287.

Fullan, Michael (2006, November). Change theory: A force for school improvement . Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Paper No 157.

Hall, K., Sabey, B, & McClellan, M. (2005). Expository text comprehension: Helping primary-grade teachers use expository texts to full advantage. Reading Psychology, 26, 211-234.

Lloyd, S. (2004, October). Using comprehension strategies as a springboard for student talk. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48(2), 114-124.

Purdy, J. (2008, April). Inviting conversation: meaningful talk about texts for English language learners. Literacy, 42(1), 44 - 51.

Van Der Voort, G. (2014, Augustl). Assisting school management teams to construct their school improvement plans: an action learning approach . South African Journal of Education, 34(3), 1 - 7.

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