I feel as if my current school does a good job at evaluating the scientific programs and practices that we choose for our students. When we are implementing a new form of assessments, new grading policies, homework policies, guided reading practices, and more, we always are able to join a board of deciding members. At these meetings, we are presented with different options with reliable research from each. As teachers, we get to vote on which new practices are put in place. Once it has been decided, we always have a someone from the company or program to explain the processes, how it works, and why it works. These are usually found during our professional development days. During this time, we are evaluating the scientific basis of the programs and practices. I also feel as if my school uses data to plan strategically from year to year. When a program or practice seems out dated or is not providing the student achievement that we need, we push towards a new program or practice. For example, last year our main form of assessment was NWEA Map Data. We were not getting the best student achievement anymore from this, so after a lot of research and professional development, we have made the switch to the iReady program this year.

I believe major challenges in establishing the scientific base of a program or practice are when schools and educators do not put the time and effort it takes to find reliable research on programs and practices in their school. “When reviews are done to determine if a specific practice is “evidence based,” they typically begin by defining a practice and then identifying the research design used, the quality and quantity of research studies, and the magnitude of effect” (Test, Kemp-Inman, Diegelmann, Hitt & Bethune, 2015, p. 59). It is essential that educators provide quality and quantity research studies for programs and practices.

Reference

Test, D. W., Kemp-Inman, A., Diegelmann, K., Hitt, S. B., & Bethune, L. (2015). Are online sources for identifying evidence-based practices trustworthy? An evaluation. Exceptional Children, 82(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402915585477

ReplyReply to Comment

When thinking about the purpose of schooling, I find that it is to provide students with quality education and to prepare them for lifelong learning as well as to be successful, caring individuals. When thinking about providing quality education, it’s important to follow what the research says about specific programs and practices. Cosgrove, et.al. (2018) conducted a study that compared the learning gains of students in a classroom with “traditional” instructional strategies to a classroom using research-based instructional strategies (RBIS). The “traditional” class incorporated roughly 60% lecture time, 20% instructor-led activities, and 20% of other activities. In the RBIS group, students received instruction with greater opportunities for engagement, multisensory learning techniques, and student-directed exploring of content. The results showed improved performance of students in an RBIS classroom than those with traditional instructional methods (Cosgrove, et.al., 2018).

With this in mind, it’s clear that using programs that are scientifically-based can lead to an improvement in learning outcomes, yet it’s necessary to evaluate the authenticity and level of research conducted in support of or against specific practices and programs. There is an abundance of programs available for usage and many of them offer research backing them, however, some programs can be contradictory. Additionally, not all programs are applicable for all learners. For example, while I often use the Wilson Reading System for my students with Dyslexia, despite this being a highly researched and evidence-based program, I wouldn’t use it with a student who has primarily comprehension deficits. It’s important to evaluate programs and practices specifically when thinking about student learning needs and what a student’s individual instructional focus is.

As a special education teacher, many of the professional development opportunities I’ve received have been recommended by administrators in central office with the hope of giving consistency from school to school. I find this to be problematic because our schools aren’t made up of the same learners or diversities. However, a strength in this process is that the district does provide professional development opportunities from whichever program or practice is selected. On a more individualized level, my school offers our teachers an abundance of training opportunities in research-based programs and methods. The entire staff is Orton Gillingham Classroom Teacher trained, with about half of the school attending Greg Tang math workshops on an ongoing basis, Lindamood-Bell training, Wilson training, and International Baccalaureate workshops to support our IB school model. I feel as though my school does a nice job of looking at the data of student performance in support of these professional development opportunities prior to offering them to staff.

In my school district, we have an SRBI Teacher who is responsible for analyzing data on assessments, meeting with classroom teachers to discuss tiered supports for students, and designing intervention plans for struggling learners. This is a challenging role, especially because we have over 800 students at my school and only one SRBI Teacher. However, my administration is involved in this process as well as the reading teachers and oftentimes a school psychologist or social worker to support any social-emotional challenges that may arise. This type of meeting occurs weekly, with a larger discussion of current data on student performance occurring three times a year after the beginning, middle, and end of year assessments have taken place. The data from these conversations is used to determine gaps in populations and to ensure we have a highly trained staff to meet the diversities of our population of learners.

Reference

Cosgrove Sarah B., Olitsky Neal H., Cosgrove, S. B., & Olitsky, N. H. (2018). From “Traditional” to Research-Based Instructional Strategies?: An Assessment of Learning Gains. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 108, 302–306.

Usually when parents confide in my regarding their child’s performance, I start by asking what their goals for their child are. Parent insight is essential in helping a child succeed. Porter (2008) brings up an important point, “Whereas teachers can change year by year, parents have ongoing experience with their child and therefore bring with them considerable expertise in their child’s needs and how best to meet these” (p. 80).

Then, our school uses what we call a “Family, Student, Teacher Compact” that lists responsibilities of the family, student, and teacher to help support student achievement. We go over the compact and look at things that might be affecting the student’s achievement. For example, tardiness, absences, or lack of a designated space for studying or homework. Sometimes it helps bring to light things that the parent did not realize. For example, the student is tardy each morning and the morning is when their intensive intervention groups are scheduled. Therefore, the student is missing this support group several times each week.

Other times, parents may be doing all that they can and their child is still struggling. In this case, there may be an achievement gap or a true learning disability. In this case, I would go over our school’s Multi System of Support System and suggest that the student be added so that our team could help put research-based support interventions into place to help support the student to determine whether or not there is a learning gap or learning disability.

Additionally, I always share our Parent Resource Center with the families because we offer literature, activities, and other resources to help parents learn strategies to use with their children at home to help support their learning. Many parents want to help but do not know how. I also like to share things that we are working on in class and share resources that parents can refer to.

It is also important to build relationships with families and reassure the parents. Reminding them that the communication lines are always open for support can help comfort them. While many families have a different idea of what success is, every family wants their child to be successful. I give families multiple ways to contact me and provide a weekly newsletter with classroom information to make sure that they feel included in their child’s learning. Sylaj (2020) stated that, “When teachers make parental involvement part of daily teaching practices, parents increase interaction with their children at home, have more positive sensation about their ability to help their children, have higher appreciation for teachers in general and pupils improve their attitude and achievements” (p. 32). Creating these relationships is beneficial for all parties. Parents and teachers both want to see the student succeed. This is much more prosperous when both parties are working together.

Porter, L. (2008). Teacher-parent collaboration. ACER Press.

Sylaj, V. (2020). The impact of exchanged information between school and parents at the level of parent involvement in school. International Journal of Instruction, 13(4), 29–46.

Peer Response 4:

Jenna

If a parent expressed concerned regarding their child’s ability to read, I would be proactive in addressing the concerns. Assuming the chid is still in early elementary school, the questions I would ask include the following. What are your expectations for your child based on their grade level/age? How would you describe your child’s attitude towards reading? Do you have access to books in your home? Does your child enjoy interacting with books? As a young child, did your child recognize if a book was upside down, did they attempt to orient the book? Does your student enjoy reading with you or do they seem to avoid it? Have you noticed if your child shows interest in environmental print? Have you and your child shared any experiences with the local library? What are the general expectations of a writing assignment for your child? How does your child approach a writing assignment?

According to McKee & Carr (2016), evidence suggests that young children construct meaning in ways that may differ from older children and adults. In addition, it is believed that learning to read and reading to learn should occur simultaneously and continuously from preschool through middle school. Literacy skills should be developed in tandem as opposed to in isolation, and should therefore be taught in conjunction with instruction with other early learning skills (McKee & Carr, 2016). In addition, McKee & Carr (2016), suggest that mirroring the thinking processes that proficient readers may do automatically will help assist children in developing skills through modeling and exposure. In doing so, children can be encouraged to begin making connections to and with the texts they read (McKee & Carr, 2016). Based on this research, I would suggest to the parent that developing literary skills is dependent on modeling and shared experiences. I would create a parent friendly version adaptation of the Read, Stop, Think, Ask, Connect strategy suggested by McKee & Carr (2016). I would encourage the parent to expose their child to literacy as frequently as possible. I would suggest scheduling a time to participate in shared reading daily. Before beginning this routine, I would recommend taking a trip to the library or bookstore, and having the child select books that are highly motivating to them. I would then suggest shared reading strategies that may help the parent model literacy strategies for their child. For example, looking at the cover of the book and making a prediction, asking preview questions, pointing out text features, using a finger to guide as I read text in the book, embed comprehension questions throughout the text, offer shared experiences that are related to the character’s struggles/success, work on retelling main events, and sharing favorite parts when book is completed.

Having a school-wide comprehensive approach to student literacy helps teachers address parent concerns by having a uniformed response to parent concerns. Many comprehensive approaches also include a parent/home connection. If this is provided to parents, students are more likely to have substantial and meaningful additional opportunities for practice at home. Additionally, parents are more likely to be familiar with the curriculum, which will provide them with more clear direction on how to implement strategies to target building foundational literacy skills at home. This might eliminate ambiguity about how a parent can best participate in teaching reading skills at home.

References:

McKee, L., & Carr, G. (2016). Supporting beginning readers in reading to learn: a comprehension strategy. Reading Teacher, 70(3), 359–363. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1510