Even before I joined the MAT program, I was warned to expect to have students who couldn't read, at least not past an elementary school level. There's a part of me that balks at this and wonders how the American education system could so thoroughly fail its children; but then another part of me thinks, oh wait, its Georgia. Now, blaming the state or the culture of learning is unfair, but failing that, how does a student get to high school six or eight years behind in their reading abilities? That's a lot of people who have all agreed over and over again to let that child slip through the cracks. This doesn't just include people in the educational system, like teachers and school administrators - but the student's family and their networks of social support (their churches, their family friends, etc.).
I have no idea how a student can fall so behind in reading ability. While naming the reasons for this problem are important, there are more immediate questions to answer, like how in the world do I teach a class of students with wildly different reading abilities? I wonder about this not simply because of a few dire warnings about the situation but because I've seen it confirmed in my observations at local public schools. An eleventh-grade English teacher I've just finished observing spent some time after school tutoring a girl whom she later told me was, at rough estimate, at a fifth-grade reading level. A few other students in her class are at a third- or fourth-grade level. Many students are at, maybe, an eight-grade reading level.
Though the reasons they are so behind are important, even more important is how to teach these students the content I'm required to, and help them improve their reading abilities. I'm not so idealistic to think I can get their reading abilities to an eleventh-grade reading level, but I can't imagine simply ignoring their reading deficiencies.
Last week, I wrote a query about how much students should read, but I see where that question can't be answered until student reading ability is realistically considered. There are some eleventh-grade texts a student will not be able to read, and certainly not with the same depth an on-track student will. But what to do with them?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tim, I agree that it is very disheartening to see students falling so far behind in school because of their low reading abilities. I think that it is great that you are committed to helping your students improve their reading abilities, rather than simply letting them "slip through the cracks" like so many of their other teachers have. It may not be the easiest thing to do, but how else will these students succeed in school, if they cannot improve their reading levels at the same time the difficulty of their classes are increasing?
ReplyDeleteTim,
ReplyDeleteYour question is a very complex one - as you well realize. Complex questions require multifaceted interventions - and usually never have easy solutions. Working with the range of abilities that you see - and will more than likely have as a teacher - will require knowing your students (struggling readers are more different than they are alike), a sophisticated toolkit of instructional strategies, and creative genius in communicating your passion for your content area to engage your students.
You seem to have a genuine, earnest desire to "plug the cracks." It begins with a student's motivation to want to read and a purpose for reading. Then connecting readers with text they can read. Finally, giving them a forum and an opportunity to respond to the text to enhance their understanding. Reading and writing are reciprocal processes. Writing supports reading development - at any stage. The following is a wonderful article that demonstrates the art of bringing students to text.
Long (2008). The full circling process: Leaping into the ethics of history using critical visual literacy and arts-based activism. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(8), 498-508.
Kylene Beers text: "When Kids Can't Read: What teachers can do" is one of the best books for practical advise in helping struggling readers in middle grades and high school.
Sounds like a possible inquiry - When students can't read in high school, what can a teacher do? You might want to focus more in your particular content.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think we don't do enough to connect writing with reading. Whenever a student is asked to write, it's usually for the teacher's eyes only. Perhaps if we gave students an incentive to write to each other, it would become more of a social activity and they would be motivated to improve their writing AND their reading. Waddaya think?