Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals PDF
Preview Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals
A practical quick-read resource for recommend school principals! · · Reading is crucial for students to obtain the essential skills and knowledge to survive i_n today's complex, technological world. Elaine K. McEwan offers middle and high school principals the tools to lead their schools to reading excellence. Raising Reading Achievement in r. . Middle and High Schools presents the current status of student achievement in America, links the importance of reading to learning, clarifies the learning process of reading, and shows how to engage students to read effectively. · Some special features of this book: . Five simple-to-follow strategies for raising reading achievement . Critical attributes of the process illustrated graphically · • A glossary of reading jargon • Goals-at-a-glance for every chapter . Review of exemplary reading programs that work Middle and high school teachers can dev~lop a plan for raising reading achievements in their schools. Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools offers a plan with a proven track record. This is an essential resource for administrators both with and without a background in reading instruction or curriculu~. Reading specialists 'and central office administrators will also find this a crucial tool in elevating reading programs and formulating district improvement goals. 11,e Principals Guide to Raisina t, Reading About the Author: Achie,ement Elaine K. McEwan is a partner and educational consultant with the McEwan Daine K. !ld:11au Adkins Group offering training in instructional leadership, team building, raising achievement, and school-community relations. A former teacher, librarian. principal and .assistant superintendent for "i:1 instruction in a suburban Chicago school ::r Managing 00 district, she is the author of over two dozen tJ Unmanageable vi. ~ -ents books for parents and educators. ~ ,ec, .. _,.~--.. /' ,l: 3 0C0l) ' r.i V, @ - N 0 0 0 ' . A Sage Publications Company Elaine K. HcEwan 90000> 2455 Teller Road HaryDamer Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-2218 1111111111111111 Call: (800) 818-7243 Fax: (800) 417-2466 ISBN 0-8039-6787.-X www.corwinpress.com ........ SING l{EADlNG Aett I EVE.MENT IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS 5 Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals Elaine K. McEwan CORWIN PRESS, INC. A Sage Publications Company Thousand Oaks, California Copyright © 2001 by Corwin Press, Inc. All rights reserved. When forms and sample documents are included, their use is authorized only by educators, local school sites, and/or noncommercial entities who have purchased the book. Except for that usage, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information: Corwin Press, Inc. A Sage Publications Company 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 E-mail: [email protected] Sage Publications Ltd. 6 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PU United Kingdom Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd. M-32 Market Greater Kailash I New Delhi 110 048 India Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McEwan, Elaine K., 1941- Raising reading achievement in middle and high schools: 5 simple-to-follow strategies for principals/ by Elaine K. McEwan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7619-7578-0 (c: alk. paper) ISBN 0-7619-7579-9 (p: alk. paper) 1. Reading (Secondary) 2. Reading (Middle school) 3. Middle school principals. 4. High school principals. I. Title. LB1632.M35 2000 428.4'071'2-dc21 00-011047 This book is printed on acid-free paper. 03 04 05 06 07 08 8 7 6 5 4 3 Corwin Editorial Assistant: Kylee Liegl Production Editor: Nevair Kabakian Editorial Assistant: Victoria Cheng Typesetter/Designer: D&G Limited, LLC Cover Designer: Michelle Lee Contents PREFACE XI Who This Book Is For Xll What This Book Is Not Xlll Overview of the Contents xiii For Principals on the Go xiv An Invitation to Read xvi The Challenge xvi ABOUT THE AUTHOR xix 1. Middle and High School Reading Achievement: Where Do We Stand? 1 What Do Adolescents Deserve? 3 The Current State of Reading Achievement iii the United States 4 The Role of Standards in Raising Reading Achievement 6 Your Responsibility as an Instructional Leader 7 2. Focus on Changing What You Can Change 8 Change How You State Your Goals 10 Change How You Choose What to Teach 12 Change the Alignment of What You Teach 13 Change What You Teach 15 Change the Amount of Time You Spend Teaching It 16 Change Where You Teach It 18 18 Change How You Teach It Change Who Is Teaching It 20 Change the Amount of Time Students Spend Practicing What You Teach 22 Change How You Assess What You Teach 23 Change Your Expectations for Students 24 Change How You Group to Teach 27 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 2 29 3. Teach the Students Who Can't Read How to Read 31 How Children Learn to Read: A Short Lesson 32 Failing to Learn 37 Exemplary Programs 38 What Does a Good One Look Like? Remedial Reading in High School 39 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 3 40 4. Teach Every Student How to Read to Learn 42 Cognitive Strategies: The Key to Meaning in the Act of Reading 44 The Strategic Teacher 44 The Essential Strategies 50 Prediction 51 Question Generation 51 Question Answering 51 Summarization 52 Graphic Organizers 52 A Model for Multiple-Strategy Instruction 52 Reciprocal Teaching 53 Transactional Strategies Instruction 53 Vocabulary Instruction 56 How Can We Engage More Students in Strategic Reading? 58 Exemplary Programs 59 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 4 60 5. Motivate Every Student to Read a Lot: Reading in the "Zone" 62 The Value of Reading a Lot 64 The Importance of Reading Challenging, Well-Written, and Varied Text 66 Challenging Text 66 Well-Written Text 67 Varied Text 69 The Necessity for Accountability 70 Deep in the Heart of Texas 70 Accountability Checks 73 Portfolios 73 Reading Journals 74 Book Reviews 7 4 Essays 74 Personal Anthologies 7 4 Every-Pupil-Response Activities 74 Teacher-Led Discussion Groups 75 Reading in the "Zone" 75 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 5 77 6. Motivate Every Student to Read a Lot: How to Do It 79 Engaging Students in Reading 81 The Right Kind of Teachers 82 Skills to Read With Confidence and Success 83 The Right Kind of Books 84 Opportunities for Directed and Focused Silent Reading During the School Day 87 The Promotion of Books by Every Teacher 89 Superior Library/Media Services 91 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 6 92 7. Create a Reading Culture in Your School 94 The Force Is Within You 95 Principals Do Make a Difference: Instructional Leadership 100 You Can't Do It All on Your Own: Shared Decision Making 103 Look Before You Leap: Planning for Change 103 Step 1: Setting Improvement Goals in Reading Achievement 104 Step 2: Defining the Scope of the Improvement Plan 105 Step 3: Selecting Tools and Practices for the Improvement Plan 106 Step 4: Planning and Implementation 107 Get Mom and Dad on Your Side: The Importance of Parental Involvement 109 What Gets Measured Gets Done: Assessment and Accountability 110 Take Your Time: The Five-Year Plan 112 Goals at a Glance for Chapter 7 113 One Final Assignment 114 Conclusion 116 Resource A. Glossary 119 Resource B. Programs for Learning to Read 123 Reading Is FAME 124 Research Results 125 Books and Resource Materials 126 Staff Development Options 126 Program Information 126 Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes 126 Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS) 127 Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery for Sight Words and Spelling 127 Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking 128 Resource Materials 128 Staff Development Options 128 Program Information 128 The Spalding Method 129 Books and Resource Materials 130 Staff Development Options 130 Program Information 130 Corrective Reading 131 Resource Materials 131 Staff Development Options 131 Program Information 131 Resource C. Strategic Reading Programs 132 The Benchmark School 133 Staff Development 133 Books and Resource Materials 133 Program Information 134 Reading Across the Disciplines 134 Program Information 13 7 HOTS: Higher-Order Thinking Skills 137 Staff Development Options 139 Program Information 139 Resource D. Goals at a Glance 140 Figure P.1. Goals at a Glance: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Raising Reading Achievement 141 Figure 2.1. Goals at a Glance: Twelve Alterable Variables 142 Figure 3.1. How Children Learn to Read 143 Figure 3.2. Goals at a Glance: Learning to Read 144 r Figure 4.1. The Strategic Reader 145 Figure 4.2. The Strategic Teacher 146 Figure 4.3. Goals at a Glance: Reading to Learn 147 Figure 5.1. The "Zone" 148 Figure 5.2. Goals at a Glance: Reading to Raise Achievement 149 Figure 6.1. Motivating Students to Read in the "Zone" 150 Table 7.1. Force Field Analysis Work Sheet 151 Table 7.2. Sample Force Field Analysis 152 Figure 7.1. Sample Set of Core Values 153 Figure 7.2. Goals at a Glance: Seven Steps to Effective Instructional Leadership 154
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