HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN TO READ WHY DO SOME CHILDREN HAVE DIFFICULTIES HOW CAN WE HELP ALL STUDENTS LE

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HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN TO READ?WHY DO SOME
CHILDREN HAVE DIFFICULTIES?HOW CAN WE HELP ALL
STUDENTS LEARN TO READ?A presentation to the
parents of AlbuquerqueG. Reid Lyon,
Ph.D.President and CEIOSynergistic Education
Solutions
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WHAT DO KIDS NEED TO KNOW TO READ?

• A HECK OF A LOT

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I NEED TO KNOW MY SOUNDS TO READ
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How Do Children Learn to Read?

• Phonological Awareness (PA)
• Phonological awareness involves the understanding
  that spoken words are composed of segments of
  sounds smaller than a syllable.
• It also involves the ability to notice, think
  about, or manipulate the individual sounds in
  words.

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How Do Children Learn to Read? What is Phonics?
It is a kind of knowledge.
Which letters are used to represent which
phonemes?
It is a kind of skill.
Pronounce these words
blit
fratchet
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How Do Children Learn to Read?

• FLUENCY

Fluency is the ability to read text quickly,
accurately, and with proper expression National
Reading Panel
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VOCABULARY

• The fourth grade reading slump reflects a
  language gap as much as a reading gap Why?
• Reading tests (e.g., NAEP) in 4th grade are
  primarily measures of reading comprehension
• It is impossible to comprehend what is read
  without the vocabulary relevant to what is being
  read

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HOW VOCABULARY INFLUENCES READING COMPREHENSION

• Reading comprehension, at a minimum, depends
  on decoding/word recognition accuracy and
  fluency, VOCABULARY, AND BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
• A student must be able to read correctly
  approximately 95 percent of the words accurately
  in text to comprehend what is read
• MOREOVER, to comprehend, a student must know
  the meanings of 90 to 95 percent of the words
  being read
• The unknown 5 to 10 percent can be inferred
  from text

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The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language on
Reading Growth
Reading Age Level
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5
High Oral Language in Kindergarten
5.2 years difference
Low Oral Language in Kindergarten
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Chronological Age
Hirsch, 1996
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Cunningham Stanovich, 1999)
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Factors Affecting Student Achievement
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Major Sources of Reading Failure

• Socioeconomic Factors Poverty
• Biological Factors Genetics and Neurobiology
• Instructional Factors Predominate

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Environmental Influences

• By kindergarten a child from disadvantage
  typically has twice the vocabulary as a youngster
  born into poverty
• The typical 5-year-old from an urban environment
  and disadvantaged home enters kindergarten at the
  5th percentile in vocabulary
• By age 16 advantaged children have four times the
  vocabulary as children born into poverty

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What We Hear Many Educators Say

• Theyre poor
• Their parents dont care
• They come to schools without breakfast
• Not enough books
• Not enough parents . . .

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Percent of 4th Grade Students Performing Below
Basic Level - 37
White
27
Black
63
Hispanic
58
Poor
60
Non-poor
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Percent Performing Below the Basic Reading Level
National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003
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Reading Students Entering High School Better
Prepared, But Leaving Worse
Total 290
Total 288
Source NCES, 1999. Trends in Academic Progress.
Data from Long Term Trend NAEP
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High School Graduation Rates
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THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS

• Their average earnings of 22,000 per year is
  close to the poverty line for a family of four
• Almost 50 of heads of households are on welfare
• They have 8 times the poverty rate of college
  graduates
• Their average lifetime wages are 1,000,000 less
  than a college graduate
• They are twice as likely to smoke

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THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS

• They have 19 times the incarceration rate of a
  college graduate
• They comprise almost 50 of the prison population
• A one-year increase in the average years of
  schooling for high school dropouts would reduce
  murder and assault by almost 30, car theft by
  20 and arson by 13
• They have significantly higher drug and alcohol
  abuse
• They earn only 22 as much as a professional
  degree holder and 40 of a college graduate

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College Readiness Rates
White
African Hispanic
American
HS Graduation Rate
College Readiness
Rate Source Public High School and
College-Readiness Rates 1991-2002 Manhattan
Institute Report Feb 2005
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College Graduation Rates
Students with bachelor degrees between 24 and 29
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population
Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement,
2003
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African American and Latino 17 Year-Olds Read at
Same Levels As White 13 Year-Olds
Note Long-Term Trends NAEP
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
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Employment Change by Education1992 2002
Source Employment Policy Foundation tabulations
of Bureau of Labor Statistics / Census Current
Population Survey data MTC Institute.
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Why Scientific Research Is Critical To Instruction
Essential for identifying effective
instructional practices
Provides reliable information about what works
and why and how it works
Essential for designing new effective teaching
methods
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Alternatives To Research-based Instruction
ANECDOTES
UNTESTED BELIEFS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING
FADS, QUICK FIXES, AND APPEALS TO AUTHORITY
STUDENT FAILURE
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Research Questions

• How do children develop language abilities?
• How do children develop social competencies?
• How can we foster childrens emotional health?
• How do children learn to read?
• Why do some children have difficulties learning
  to read?
• How can we prevent reading difficulties?
• How can we remediate reading difficulties?

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Answering Fundamental Questions About Teaching
and Learning Through NIH Multidisciplinary
Research

• NIH-NICHD Research Site Composition
• Educators
• Psychologists
• Neuroscientists
• Geneticists
• Pediatricians
• Neurologists
• Radiologists
• Linguists
• Economists
• Research Methodologists
• Demographers

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NIH-NICHD Multidisciplinary Research Program
(North America Lyon, 1985-2005)
Childrens Hospital/ Harvard LDRC Waber
U of Washington Berninger
U of Massachusetts Rayner
Emerson College Aram
Toronto Lovett
Beth Israel Galaburda
Mayo Clinic Kalusic
Tufts Wolf
Yale Shaywitz
Syracuse U Blachman
Haskins Labs Fowler/Liberman
U of Michigan Morrison
SUNY Albany Vellutino
U of WisconsinJohnson-Glenburg
Stanford Reiss
Carnegie-Mellon
Northwestern UBooth
Boys Town Smith
Rutgers UScarboro-ugh
Johns Hopkins Denckla
U of Southern California Manis/Seidenberg
Purdue U Hynd
D.C./Houston Forman/Moats
Colorado LDRC Defries
Duke UGoldston
U of KansasShumaker
U of Missouri Geary
Georgetown U Eden
U of Louisville Molfese
Univ of California IrvineFilipek
ColoradoMoats
Gallaudet ULaSasso
San FranciscoHerron
Bowman Gray Wood
U of California San Diego, Salk
Institute Bellugi
U of Arkansas Med Ctr Dykman
Georgia State R. Morris
U of GeorgiaStahl
U of Houston Francis
Yale Methodology Fletcher
Florida State Torgesen/Wagner
U of Texas Med Ctr Foorman/Fletcher
Univ of Florida Alexander/Conway
NICHD Sites
U of TexasVaughn
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Applying What We Know From Neuroscience to
Improve Education And Student Learning
Motivate
Evaluate
Student Achievement
Modify
Teach
Apply
Assess
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A Theoretical Model for the Brain Circuit for
Reading (Component Processes)
Phonological processing correspondence between
letter and sound
Relay station Cross-modality integration
Phonological processing articulatory mapping
Graphemic analysis
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Patricia Kuhl - U. Washington
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Learning Begins Early
Kuhl -U. Washington
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The Effects of Scientifically Based Instruction
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Percentage Point Gains
16 13 15 19 19
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Individualization
Computerized Instruction
Mastery Learning
Application
Tutoring
Instructional Media
Marzano, 2002
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Student Performance is Increased When Teachers
use Science Based Instruction
100
90
Avg. Teacher
80
70

Least Effective Teacher
60
50th percentile
50
Effective Teacher
40
30
Teachers Trained with Science Based Methods
20
10
50 3 63 96
Marzano, 2003 Wallberg, 2002
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Hartsfield Elementary School Progress Over Five
Years
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Proportion falling below the 25th percentile in
word reading ability at the end of 1st grade
30
20
10
1995 1996
Torgesen, Alexander et al., 2001
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Hartsfield Elementary ProgressOver Five Years
40
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Proportion falling below the 25th percentile in
word reading ability at the end of first grade
20
10
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Average Percentile 48.9 55.2
61.4 73.5 81.7 for entire grade
(n105)
King Torgesen (in press)
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• WHAT CAN WE DO?

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Early Intervention is Effective

• Prevention studies in reading (and behavior)
  commonly show that 70- 90 of at risk children
  (bottom 20) in K- 2 can learn to read in average
  range (Fletcher et al., 2006)

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THE PREPARATION OF EFFECTIVE TEACHERS AND
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSA NATIONAL IMPERATIVE

• Education is the primary prerequisite to our
  nations ability to compete in the global
  marketplace
• Education is the most important factor in
  obtaining productive employment and supporting a
  family
• The future of our country is in the hands of our
  nations teachers and educational leaders

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THE IMPACT OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING ON THE FUTURE OF
CHILDREN AND OUR COUNTRY

• Teacher effectiveness is the most significant
  factor in the learning and achievement of
  students from kindergarten through high school
• Effective school leadership adds significant
  value to the effectiveness of a teacher
• The quality of our teachers and educational
  leaders will determine the quality of life
  tomorrow

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The Effective Teacher The Most Important
Factor in Learning and Achievement

• Most effective teachers can improve student
  academic achievement by over 50 percentile points
  in one academic year
• COMPARED TO
• Ineffective teachers have little impact on
  student achievement 0 to 14 percentile point
  gain
• Average difference in achievement between
  students with most effective teachers and least
  effective teachers is 39 percentile points

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ARE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION UP TO THESE CHALLENGES

• 60 of Teachers Report their Undergraduate
  Program in Education Did Not Prepare Them for the
  Classroom
• 62 of Teachers Report their Masters Program in
  Education Did Not Prepare them For the Classroom
• 57 of Teachers Report Their Doctorate Degree in
  education Did Not Prepare Them for the Classroom
• The passing grade for students in school is
  usually 65 percent
• By this criterion, colleges of education receive
  an F

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The Effective School LeaderEssential for
Teacher Effectiveness

• Effective leaders increase the impact of an
  effective teacher by at least 10 percentile
  points
• Effective leaders are 90 percent more likely to
  ensure that effective programs are sustained over
  time in their schools

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Remember

• The person who says it can not be done should
  not interrupt the person doing it.
• --Ancient Chinese Proverb

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VOCABULARY

• The fourth grade reading slump reflects a
  language gap as much as a reading gap Why?
• Reading tests (e.g., NAEP) in 4th grade are
  primarily measures of reading comprehension
• It is impossible to comprehend what is read
  without the vocabulary relevant to what is being
  read

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Interventions Reading Comprehension

• Teach comprehension strategies explicitly
• Work on oral language development, esp.
  vocabulary
• Teach learning adjuncts in content graphic
  organizers, summarization
• Provide organizational support (works for
  everyone)

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CONSEQUENCS

• WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LEADERS DONT LEAD?
• WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TEACHERS ARE NOTPREPARED TO
  TEACH READING USING SCIENTIFICALLY BASED READING
  INSTRUCTION?
• WE SET KIDS UP FOR FAILURE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE