Literacy for Learning

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Literacy for Learning

• Mel Riddile, Ed.D.
• riddilem_at_principals.org

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Mel Riddile - NASSP

• Mel Riddile
• riddilem_at_principals.org

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Carnegie.org/literacy
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When we leave here today

• Believe Students can succeed!
• Why We must teach literacy skills.
• Hope We can raise student achievement!
• CommitmentWe will teach literacy skills.

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The education pipeline loses young people at many
points along the path.
For every 10 who start H.S.
Fewer than 7 will get a diploma in 4 years
4 will enroll in college the fall semester after
graduation
Fewer than 2 will complete a 2 or 4 year degree
within 150 of the required time.
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Achievement Gap
Majority
Minority
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Believe
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Do you believe?

• An eighteen-year-old who is not college-ready
  today has effectively been sentenced to a
  lifetime of marginal employment and second-class
  citizenship.
• Wagner and Keegan, 2006

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Do you believe?

• The most important things are usually the most
  difficult!

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Do you believe?

• Labels limit learners

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Do you believe?
All students can learn
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Teachers
2/3
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Principals
2/5
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Achievement Gap
Expectation Gap
Majority
Minority
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On-Target - College- and workplace-ready
1/5
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Dropouts
Successful students dont drop out!
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Why literacy!
Students learn and grow
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Why literacy!
Literacy is about students, not adults!
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Our mission
We must do for other peoples children what we
would want done for our own.
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Vision
If you dont have a vision for what your students
can achieve, who does?
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DNA

• Every school has its own!

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HOPE
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Hope

• You can do it too!
• With the same students

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Hope

• You can do it too!
• With the same students
• With the same staff

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Failing School

• February 2000
• Stuart is a failing school.

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Essential Questions

• Can a failing school succeed?
• Can the culture of a school change?
• Can the changes be sustained?

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One School
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J.E.B. Stuart High School
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Demographics

• 93 minority
• 66 second language learners
• 70 poverty
• 30 mobility rate

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An international student body

• Stuart has no ethnic majority
• 40 Hispanic
• 12 White
• 14 Middle Eastern
• 21 Asian
• 10 Black
• 3 Other

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An international student body

• 88 countries
• 66 languages

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Indicators of poor performance Academic
Achievement

• High D and F rates
• 76 or 3 of 4 students read below grade level
• Passed only 1 of 11 end-of-course exams in 1998
• SATs were the lowest in school system
• Low expectations
• Two schools in one

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Indicators of poor performance Student Behavior

• Poor attendance
• 89 attendance 24 days per year
• system average was 95
• Poor discipline but high suspension rates
• Gang problems
• Drop-ins
• Retention Rate
• Declining enrollment in elective programs

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AYP
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Roadblocks

• No one will graduate.
• Just keep us out of the papers.
• I never raised test scores
• Failing school
• Why do you want to know their reading levels?
• Fist pounding
• Thats what we hired you to do!
• You must be cheating!

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Alignment

• Principals can profoundly influence student
  achievement by leading school change, but they
  cannot turn schools around by themselves. SREB

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Alignment

• District leaders need to create working
  conditions that support and encourage change for
  improved achievement, rather than hindering
  principals abilities to lead change. -SREB

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Four years later
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• This is not a Hollywood movie set!

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Important to note

• Demographics remained consistent for a decade.
• No changes in boundaries
• No magnet programs

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Over a nine year period there was continuous
progress.

• Reading scores rose from 64 to 94
• Same student population
• Same teachers

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Over a nine year period there was continuous
progress.

• Algebra scores rose from 32 to 98
• Same student population
• Same teachers

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Over a nine year period there was continuous
progress.

• History scores rose from 27 to 96
• Same student population
• Same teachers

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Breakthrough High Schools
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J.E.B. Stuart High School

• Your school is a national model that others can
  only attempt to emulate. Your high school is one
  of a few in America that is actually
  accomplishing what many educators are trying to
  do, helping students from disadvantaged
  backgrounds beat the odds against them.
• Dr. Gerald N. Tirozzi
• Executive Director
• NASSP

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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
Changing America A High School Melting Pot
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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
One of the original six Breakthrough High
Schools One of thirty-nine schools featured in
Breaking Ranks II The only Virginia school
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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
Model High School
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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
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Stuart High SchoolAwards and Recognition
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Rather be B-A-D...
than be embarrassed
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Stuart High School Attendance
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Suspension rates
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1997-98 ninth grade retention rate?

• 14

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2004-05 ninth grade retention rate?

• 3

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These changes were not easy

• Time
• Focus
• Hard Work

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Demography is not destiny!
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State Scores by Free Reduced Lunch
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State Scores by Free Reduced Lunch
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Demography is not destiny!
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R A G S Reading Attendance Grades Safe
School
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Why Literacy
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Literacy
The gateway skill.
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Literacy for Learning

• Raise Student Achievement
• Improve Teaching
• Promote long-term, sustainable, schoolwide change

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Why literacy?

• Needs not wants
• Most important
• Most difficult change
• Most impact

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Why literacy?

• Raise achievement for all students
• Most difficult change

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Why literacy?

• A schoolwide literacy effort will result in
  substantial changes in the beliefs, attitudes,
  and culture of the school.
• Focus on students
• Focus on teaching
• Focus on improvement of each and every student
  DIFFERENTIATION

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Why literacy?
"We don't face issues as heavy as slavery, but
what about failing to teach a seventeen year-old
living in poverty to read? "Is that not a moral
issue of great proportions when you extrapolate
from that one child and realize the insidious
consequences for both the individual and the
society."
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Why not literacy?

• No need
• No time
• Know-how

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Time
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Time

• Time to learn
• Time to teach

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If the first assumption we make is false, then
every behavior after that is wrong.
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Time
Dr. Lauren Resnick Institute for Learning Univ.
of Pittsburgh
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It's not about ability!
Dr. Lauren Resnick Institute for Learning Univ.
of Pittsburgh
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Effort
creates
Ability
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Given time,
all students can learn.
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If time is held constant, this is what student
achievement will look like a bell curve.
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Time

• Maximizing learning time is one of the most
  effective means for increasing student
  achievement.

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Time

• Mindset

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Time

• Outliers

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Time

• 10,000 hours
• 243 days
• Math
• KIPP Schools

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Time

• Disrupting Class

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Time

• Average 1,500
• College 2,100
• Working 600

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Time

• By age 3
• College 48M
• Working 13M

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Time

• By age 3
• College-incalculabe cognitive advantage
• Working-persistent deficit

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Time
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Time

• Two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower-
  and higher-income youth can be explained by
  unequal access to summer learning opportunities.
  (Alexander et al, 2007)

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Time

• Most students lose about two months of
  grade-level equivalency in mathematical
  computation skills over the summer months.
  (Cooper, 1996).

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Time

• Low-income students also lose more than two
  months in reading achievement, while their
  middle-class peers make slight gains (Cooper,
  1996).

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Time

• When this pattern continues throughout the
  elementary school years, lower income youth fall
  more than two and one-half years behind their
  more affluent peers by the end of fifth grade.

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Time
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Utilizing the Lexile FrameworkCumulative Effect
of Summer Learning Loss
Fairchild, R. McLaughlin, B. Brady, J. (2006).
Making the Most of Summer A Handbook on
Effective Summer Programming and Thematic
Learning. Baltimore, MD Center for Summer
Learning.
3rd Grade
4th Grade
2nd Grade
1st Grade
Kindergarten
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Time

• Extended
• courses
• day
• week
• school year

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Achievement Gap
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Time Gap
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Time
Time is relevant. Outcomes are absolute.
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Old
Time is a constant. Achievement is a variable.
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New
Time is a variable. Achievement is a constant.
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• If we keep doing what we have always done, we
  will keep getting what we have always gotten.

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• Same lessons
• Same methods
• Same setting
• Same time frame

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Same results
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Why literacy?
Some students need more time!
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Why literacy?
We cannot learn from what we cannot read.
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2005-06 Lexile Framework for Reading
StudySummary of High School Textbook Lexile
Measures
Interquartile Ranges Shown (25 - 75)
1400
1300
1200
Text Lexile Measure (L)
1100
1000
900
800
ELA
Science
Social Studies
Arts
CTE
Math
Subject Area Textbooks
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Authentic Literacy
1. Reading 2. Writing 3. Thinking 4. Discussing
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What did it take?

• Trial and Error

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Breaking Ranks II
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If your school is

• High Minority
• High Poverty
• Second-language learners
• Student mobility

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If you want to..

• Raise student achievement
• Make AYP
• Close the Achievement Gap
• All graduates college- and workplace ready

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We set a goal

• All graduates are college- and workplace-ready

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Is there a difference between college-ready and
workplace-ready?
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2005-06 Lexile Framework for Reading Study
Summary of Text Lexile Measures
Interquartile Ranges Shown (25 - 75)
1600
1400
1200
Text Lexile Measure (L)
1000
800
600
High School Literature
College Literature
High School Textbooks
College Textbooks
Military
Personal Use
Entry-Level Occupations
SAT 1, ACT, AP
Source of National Test Data MetaMetrics
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Our schools are not the schools we knew!
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Factory Model
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Factory Model - Sorting
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Mass Customization gt costs more
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School leaders are asked to do more and more with
less and less.
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High Leverage Points
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Lexile
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Lexile Framework

• Semantic Difficulty
• Syntactic Complexity

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Lexile Framework

• Lexile.com

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Lexiles
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Lexiles as a part of the discussion

• Made it real
• Drew connections
• Practical
• Accelerated progress

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If our school was a hospital
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If our school was a hospital

• Would we use the same treatment with all
  patients?
• Would we wonder why some never improved?
• Would we treat patients with no diagnostic
  information?
• Would we allow illnesses to go untreated?
• Would we treat illnesses as early as possible?
• With chronic problems, would we emphasize
  prevention?

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..poor readers would receive critical care.
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Every teacher uses language to teach and learn.
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We cannot learn from what we cannot read.
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In the 21st Century
Literacy skills are a must.
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Learn to Read and thenRead to Learn
Adapted from Tim Cynthia Shanahan, Harvard
Review, Spring 2008
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Myths
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Kids cant read.
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Literacy and reading are the same thing.
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Education has declined.
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The issue is not that U.S. education quality has
declinedBut the economy is changing much faster
than the schools have improved. Many people
including roughly half of the recent graduates
have an education that is no longer in demand.
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Myths
The key to solving the literacy problem is to
ensure that all students are reading at grade
level by the end of 3rd grade.
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Myths
Some grades in school are more important than
others.
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Myths
What school year would be the best to take off?
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Literacy programs are for struggling learners.
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Only low performers benefit from literacy
programs.
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All students learn at the same rate.
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Myths
Adolescents cant learn to read proficiently.
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The more you read the better you read.
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Literacy is a waste of money.
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The economics of literacy

• The economic payoffs of teaching reading and
  writing skills are much higher than anything else
  we teach.
• Labor Economist and Northeastern University
  Professor
• Dr. Paul Harrington

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Literacy Must Dos
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10 Literacy Musts

• Make literacy a priority
• Policy
• Instructional Consistency
• Assessment
• Tiered Interventions

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10 Literacy Musts

• Literacy Leader
• Literacy Council
• Professional Development
• Technology Integration
• Monitor and Measure Progress

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Policies that support literacy

• Alignment
• State
• District
• K-12
• School

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Policy supports literacy

• State - Teacher Certification and
  Re-certification
• School Division - K-12 Emphasis - Strategies
• Read Alouds/Think Alouds
• Vocabulary
• Graphic Organizers
• School
• Reading Across the Curriculum
• Ongoing Professional Development

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Vocabulary

• General Vocabulary
• - Everyday language
• Specialized Vocabulary
• - Multiple meanings in different content areas
• Technical Vocabulary
• - Specific to a field of study (concerto,
  photosynthesis)

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Consistent Instruction
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Standard Practices
Every profession has standard practices and
procedures. Why not teaching?
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Consistent Teaching Practices

• All classes have a beginning
• Bell work
• Essential/Guiding Question
• All classes have an activating strategy.
• All classes a have and end - closure.
• All students are actively engaged.
• All teachers regularly check for understanding.
• Homework is the application of learned/mastered
  course content.
• Literacy strategies are imbedded throughout the
  curriculum.
• Technology is integrated throughout the
  curriculum.

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B-E-E-P Model
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BEEP A Model of Instructional Delivery
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Assessment
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Assessment

• Differentiation
• Is it important to you?

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Assessment

• Differentiation
• Do you want your doctor to differentiate
  treatment?

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Assessment

• Differentiation
• Could a doctor treat a patient without data on
  performance?

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Assessment

• Differentiation
• How can teachers differentiate instruction
  without data?

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Evaluation

• If you dont test
• You dont know what to teach.

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Assessments

• Annual
• Many good assessments
• Matched to your population
• Reported by Lexile

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Assessments

• Annual
• Frequency determined by severity
• Decisions are not based on a single data point.

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Diagnostic Assessments

• All incoming ninth graders.
• Regularly assess all ninth and tenth graders.
• Annually assess all students.
• Frequently assess at risk students.

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Diagnostic Assessments

• Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test
• Annual Spring Testing
• ID Students
• Set up classes
• Needs of population
• Select resource materials
• IRI

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Assessment
Monitor Progress Intervene
Monitor Progress Intervene
Monitor Progress Intervene
Improve Instruction
Improve Instruction
Improve Instruction
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Sooner
Assessment
Monitor Progress Intervene
Monitor Progress Intervene
Monitor Progress Intervene
Improve Instruction
Improve Instruction
Improve Instruction
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Tiered Interventions
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RTI
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Tiered Interventions (all students)

• Primary - Reading Across The Curriculum
• Secondary Web-based
• Tertiary -Reading Classes
• ESL
• Special Education
• Communications
• Tier 3 Intervention

Targeted
Intensive
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Targeted Interventions
Primary

• Reading Across The Curriculum

Web-based
900
Secondary
Literacy Course
650
Tier 3
Tertiary
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Targeted Interventions
Highest

• Reading Across The Curriculum

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Web-based
5
Literacy Course
5
Tier 3
Lowest
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Literacy Leader
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Partnership
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Literacy Council
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Build Capacity
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Build Capacity
Once you get good people in the door, you had
better offer them something good. Fullan 2008
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Build Capacity
It is our responsibility to teach them what we
want them to know and be able to do.
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Professional Development

• Ongoing
• Job-embedded
• Content specific

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What is the role of teacher?
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Teachers use language to teach their course
content.
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Content teachers teach the language of their
subject.
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Technology
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Technology Integration

• High Interest
• Motivates
• Engages
• Individualizes
• Differentiates
• At bats
• Low-threat environment

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Technology Integration

• Blackboard compatible
• Achieve 3000
• Read 180
• Online testing
• Library Services

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At the secondary level
Literacy is like a transplanted organ. We must
take anti-rejection medication.
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Monitor Progress (Is it working?)

• Annual Pre- and Post-Testing
• Program Audit
• Evaluation
• Mid-Course Corrections

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Summary
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• Great schools are not a matter of circumstance.
  Great schools are a matter of will.
• Mel Riddile

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• Teachers in great high schools are not working
  harder than teachers in other schools.
• Dr. Willard Daggett

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• Schools cannot exceed the quality of their
  teachers.
• Michael Fullan, Six Secrets

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Mel Riddile riddilem_at_principals.org