Download
e-books of
Teaching Tips Ideas

Current Articles

Archive Articles

Dear Anna, Help!

Share Your Best
Teachers share their Great Ideas

Discussion Board:
A place to chat with
other teachers

Other Resources

Websites
Teachers' Books
Children's Books
Teacher Materials
Teaching Supplies

http://www.educationworld.com/

The proper method for teaching children
to read and write

For much of the past two decades, the proper method for teaching children to read and write was under the divergent influences of two powerful schools of thought, embroiling educators in the so-called “reading wars.” Determining the best means of teaching children to read is of particular concern in light of dismal national reading proficiency scores. On the 2001 National Assessment of Educational Progress, nearly 40 percent of 4th graders and 26 percent of 8th graders could not demonstrate basic reading skills for their grade-level. In the 21st century, however, the debate has evolved. Instead of focusing on the "either/or" of the phonics versus whole-language approaches to reading instruction, the debate now centers on the essential components of a comprehensive reading program.
"Phonics Champion Marion Joseph Quits Calif. State Board," Jan. 29, 2003.
"Researchers Urge Officials to Reject Reading Recovery," June 5, 2002. "Why Do We Read?," Commentary, May 22, 2002.
"Teaching and Learning: Reading Association Recognizes 'Phonicators' Group," May 15, 2002.
"Following National Lead, Florida Pushes Phonics Instruction," March 20, 2002.
"Child-Care Workers Tune In to Early-Childhood-Ed. Show," June 20, 2001.
"Reading, Early-Childhood Experts Seek Ways To Aid Children At Risk," April 4, 2001.
"Dyslexia Found To Transcend Language," March 28, 2001.
Phonics, or skills-based instruction, begins with reading lessons that focus on sounding out first letters, and then combinations of letters, tightly controlled vocabulary, and short "basal" (or basic) reading passages, followed by numerous skills exercises, each with only one correct answer. Proponents of skill-based or phonics instruction maintain that children are better able to decode words on their own after learning how to decode letters, sounds, and letter groupings (Arbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001).
The meaning-based, or whole-language approach, emphasizes reading comprehension. Students focus on whole words and draw meaning from the context of those words within sentences and paragraphs. Supporters of whole-language instruction assert that children learn to read similar to the way they learn to speak and the whole-language approach complements this learning process. Just as their desire to communicate orally prompted them to master vocabulary and learn to piece whole sentences together, children will be so motivated to learn to communicate in written form (Coles, 2000). The whole language approach incorporates oral and silent reading, and reading authentic literature as opposed to the basal readers used in most phonics programs.
Today, the reading debate no longer centers on which approach is better, but the proper mix of each in a comprehensive reading program. Some feel that more emphasis should be placed on the skills-based instruction within a reading curriculum, while others feel that more emphasis should be placed on authentic reading tasks. A Houston-based study concluded that at-risk students performed better when explicit, systematic phonics instruction was taught first in their reading curriculum (Foorman et al., 1998). Since the publication of that report, federal and state policies have shifted to require that explicit skills instruction be a part of the reading curriculum (Moustafa, 2001). In 1997 the National Reading Panel was convened by the Director of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, at the request of Congress. In 2000, the NRP released an extensive review of reading research. The NRP study identified five essential elements of effective reading instruction.
The panel concluded that effective reading instruction includes:
phonics,
phonemic awareness,
fluency,
vocabulary, and
comprehension.
The panel also emphasized the importance of high-quality teacher education and professional development. The panel’s report helped to shape the requirements of the Reading First initiative authorized under the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001.
Reading First requires that states spend federal money under the act to promote only those instructional methods and materials with sound evidence that they work. State initiatives under Reading First must include the five components of effective instruction outlined under the law. In their applications to the U.S. Department of Education, each state must demonstrate how it will ensure that its districts will identify instructional materials, programs, professional development, strategies, and approaches based on scientifically based research. Reading First will provide $5 billion in reading grants over the next several years to those states whose grants are approved. Last year alone, federal officials authorized $900 million dollars to the states for the 2002-03 school year (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). Reading First is not without its critics, however. Some argue that the requirements force states to implement reading programs that are heavily weighted toward skills-based instruction, thus narrowing their choices to those commercial reading programs which emphasize skills-based instruction (Allington, 2002). The NRP report on which the Reading First legislation is based has also been criticized for ignoring research on other instructional methods and excluding qualitative studies from its research base (Pressley, 2001; Coles, 2003). But proponents of the federal program say that dramatic change is necessary to turn around the nation’s inadequate reading performance, which has remained relatively unchanged for more than a decade. —Lisa N. Staresina

http://www.educationworld.com/

TEACHER QUALITY

Research shows that good teaching matters. Effective teachers are capable of inspiring significantly greater learning gains in their students when compared with their weaker colleagues. Value-added assessment studies in Tennessee show that the difference in achievement between students who attended classes taught by high-quality versus those taught by low-quality teachers for three consecutive years is sizeable: approximately 50 percentile points on standardized tests (Sanders & Rivers, 1996). In Texas, economists have amassed a body of work that further emphasizes the measurable influence that teachers have on student performance (Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 1998). Even so, the specific characteristics that constitute an effective teacher are hotly debated. Teacher quality is extremely difficult to measure. As a result, most studies resort to measurable teacher inputs such as certification, academic degrees, and years of experience. Some studies that have correlated teacher test scores on basic skills tests and college entrance exams with the scores of their students on standardized tests have found that high-scoring teachers are more likely to elicit significant gains in student achievement than their lower-scoring counterparts (Ferguson, 1998; Ferguson & Ladd, 1996; Strauss and Sawyer, 1986).
"With Teaching Focus, High-Poverty Districts Found to Boost Scores," April 2, 2003. "Online School Could Address ESEA Decrees," March 19, 2003.
"It's the Teacher, Not the Program," Commentary, March 12, 2003.
"State Preschool Efforts Vary Across Country, AFT Report Concludes," and
"Where Are the Teachers?" March 5, 2003.
"Films About Teachers: My '10 Best' List," Commentary, Feb. 26, 2003.
"Searching for Great Teachers," Comentary, Feb. 26, 2003.
"Legislation Would Strengthen Teaching Requirements in California," Feb. 12, 2003. "With Support, Teachers Would Stay Put, Report Finds," Feb. 5, 2003.
"Teachers' Colleges Call for Uniform Testing," Feb. 5, 2003.
"Illinois Issues Guidance on New Aide Rules," Jan. 29, 2003.
"Leaders in Business and Education Take Up Improvement of Teaching," Jan. 22, 2003.
"Tulsa Brings in Volunteers to Replace Substitutes," Jan. 22, 2003.
"Quality Counts Reveals National 'Teacher Gap,'" Jan. 8, 2003.

http://www.educationworld.com/

Deep content-area knowledge is also an attribute of teachers that seems to have a positive impact on student achievement (Monk, 1994). This appears especially true for science and mathematics teachers. Teaching experience also appears to have an influence on student achievement. Teachers with less teaching experience typically produce smaller learning gains in their students compared with more seasoned teachers (Fetler, 1999; Murnane & Phillips, 1981).
However, most of these studies have also discovered that the benefits of experience level off after the first five or so years of teaching. There is a lot less consensus about certification. Some reports claim that certified teachers are no better in practice than uncertified instructors (The Abell Foundation, 2001) while others assert that certification is an important step in ensuring quality teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2002).
One recent and controversial study found that students of certified instructors out-performed students of uncertified teachers (Laczko-Kerr & Berliner, 2002); however, reviews have called into question the methodology and results of the study (Freedman, 2002; Imai, 2002). Teacher quality is a priority area in education policy. The federal “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 requires that by the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher working in a public school must be “highly qualified”—meaning that a teacher is certified and has demonstrated proficiency in his or her subject matter, either by having majored in the subject in college or passing a subject-knowledge test. Education Week’s annual report on state education policies, Quality Counts 2003, found that 33 states and the District of Columbia currently require teachers to pass a subject-knowledge test in order to receive beginning-teacher licenses. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia require all of their high school teachers to have majored in college in the subject they teach. To meet the challenge of placing a highly qualified teacher in every classroom, some states are strengthening their traditional teacher preparation programs and developing systems to hold these programs accountable. The federal government currently requires states to report the pass rates on teacher licensing exams for all of their teacher education institutions. However, these pass rates vary in meaningfulness because the standards for determining pass rates differ from state to state. Quality Counts 2003 shows that five states have taken their accountability systems a step further by holding their teacher-training programs accountable for the performance of their graduates in a classroom setting. The report also found that, while 35 states and the District of Columbia identify low-performing teacher-training programs, 23 have not yet designated a single program as low-performing.
Many schools have also introduced induction and mentoring programs to address high attrition rates and improve the practice of their inexperienced teachers. Sixteen states require and finance induction programs for all new teachers (Quality Counts 2003). Other states and districts are attempting to raise teacher salaries and improve working conditions in an effort to curb early departures. Some experts and researchers argue that, while efforts to improve teacher quality as a whole are necessary, significant attention should be focused on the disparities between high- and low-need schools. Quality Counts 2003 found that, while students in high-poverty and high-minority schools are receiving instruction from less-qualified teachers on a variety of measures, states and districts are doing little in the way of targeting recruitment and retention efforts to find effective teachers for the students who need them the most. —Melissa McCabe

http://www.adl.org/tools_teachers/holiday_activities_guidelines.asp

Next page

See the archives for more!