Schools That Successfully
Serve Diverse Student
Populations
Debra S. Peterson
Minnesota Center for Reading Research
University of Minnesota
www.cehd.umn.edu/reading/
Characteristics of Effective Schools
Taylor, Pressley, & Pearson (2002)
CIERA HOPE/ Prospects
BTO
Urban
Ed.
Texas
Title I
Chicago
Collaboration
X
X
X
X
Assessment
X
X
X
X
Parents
X
X
X
X
Leadership
X
X
Collective
Efficacy
X
X
X
X
X
Collaboration
Collaboration on reading
instruction across the school:
 Grade-level teams
 Grade-level teachers and
specialists
 Across-grade levels
 There is a sense that everyone
is responsible for every child
Assessments


Data on students are collected
weekly and used to inform
instruction on a daily basis.
Data are regularly analyzed by
grade-level teams including the
specialists (i.e. ELL, Special
Education, Title I) that work
with those students.
Parents As Partners


Schools intentionally work to
create an inviting environment
for parents and the community.
Teachers think of parents as
partners in the students’
education and communicate
weekly/monthly with them (i.e.
phone calls, websites,
newsletters, home visits).
Leadership


Shared leadership between
administration and teacher
leaders in decisions about
school-wide reading instruction
Many schools have a leadership
team that includes
administrators, reading
coaches, representatives from
each grade level and specialists
Collective Efficacy

School personnel believe that
everyone is working together to
support students and that this
coordinated team effort will
result in students’ increased
growth and achievement in
reading and writing.
Building Teachers’ Knowledge and
Application of Scientifically-Based
Reading Research




Common understanding across the grades and
across schools of the scope and sequence of
skills/strategies, the district framework for
instruction, consistent language and
terminology
On-going, job embedded, collaborative
professional development
Mentors or coaches to model, observe, provide
feedback on instruction for reflection on and
refinement of practice
Time to use student assessment data to inform
instructional decisions as grade level teams
and across grades in each school
Discussion Question
Talk with a partner about the
elements of effective schools
that you have experienced:
 Collaboration
 School-wide Use of Assessment
Data
 Parent Partnerships
 Leadership
 Collective Efficacy
Characteristics of Accomplished
Teachers: A National View from Taylor,
Pressley, Pearson (2000)
Knapp
Chicago
Prospects
CIERA
CELA
NY/NJ
FINDING
Balanced
Instruction
x
x
x
x
x
Higher
Order
Thinking
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Effective
Management
Things to Consider When Designing
Balanced Literacy Instruction




Balance of whole group/small
group
Balance of grade-level/
instructional-level materials
Balance of heterogeneous/
homogenous groups
Balance of skills/strategies
Balance of Whole Group and Small
Group



Research does not specify an exact
percentage (50-50, 60-40??)
Too much whole group instruction
means there is less differentiation of
instruction occurring for students
who struggle or who need challenge
Too much small group instruction
means students are working on their
own for long periods of time (i.e. off
task behavior, not enough explicit
instruction and modeling from the
teacher)
Balanced Instruction



Provide many opportunities for explicit
instruction in the 5 main areas of
reading (phonemic awareness,
phonics/word recognition strategies,
fluency, vocabulary and
comprehension) in both whole group
and small group situations
Provide many opportunities for guided
practice in small groups
Provide many opportunities for
independent practice with feedback
from the teacher
Consider Reading Levels
Frustration Level- Reads with
less than 90% accuracy
 Instructional Level- Reads
with 93-95% accuracy
 Independent Level- Reads
with more than 95%
accuracy

What Do You Do When Grade Level
Material is At Students’ Frustration
Level?




Make text more accessible to the
students who cannot read it on their
own (i.e. listen to text read on tape,
read an easier form of the same
material)
Provide more support (i.e. small group
instruction with teacher, partner
reading, choral reading)
Access prior knowledge for the story
or topic
Have the ELL or Title teachers preteach the story or topic before it is
introduced in the classroom
Schools That “Beat the Odds”


120 minutes of reading instruction for
all students (not including: spelling,
grammar, handwriting, Writers’
Workshop)
Time used differently based on the
developmental needs of the students
(i.e. Grade 3 students should read
independently for 20-30 minutes a day
in school and can do it in one sitting—
Kindergarten students may be able to
read independently for 15-20 minutes
a day in 2 or 3 sittings)
“Beat the Odds” continued



Interventions were done in
addition to the 120 minutes of
core reading instruction.
Interventions matched
students’ needs.
Intervention teachers
collaborated with classroom
teachers to have a cohesive
reading program.
Mean Times Spent on
Reading in REA Schools
(Taylor & Peterson, 2006)
K - 91(114) min. Reading, 55 min. L
Arts - 169 Min. Literacy
Gr. 1 -106 (125) min. Reading, 37
min. L Arts - 162 Min. Literacy
Gr. 2 - 102 (124)min. Reading, 37
min. L Arts - 161 Min. Literacy
GR. 3 - 95 (120) min. Reading, 46
min. L Arts - 166 Min. Literacy
Elements of Effective Instruction
(National Reading Panel Report, 2000)





Phonemic awareness
Explicit, systematic Phonics/Word
Recognition Strategies
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Elements of Effective Instruction Not
Addressed by the NRP Report







Higher Level Thinking
Motivation
Culturally Responsive Instruction
School/Parent Partnerships
Time Spent Reading
Delivery Model
Using student assessment data to
differentiate instruction
A Model of Reading Instruction that
Maximizes Students’ Cognitive
Engagement in Literacy Learning
(Taylor, Pearson, Peterson, & Rodriguez, 2003)
Focusing on higher level thinking
Teaching word recognition and
comprehension as strategies,
not simply as skills
Using a student support stance
towards instruction in addition
to a teacher directed stance
Having students engaged in
active vs. passive responding to
literacy activities
Percent of High Vs. Low Questioning
Teachers Observed Using Particular Type of
Questioning
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
HQstn
LQstn
Theme* CharInt
RelLif
Details*
Percent of High Vs. Low Questioning
Teachers Observed Using Particular Type
of Activity
80
Retell
70
Predict
60
50
40
High QS
Low QS
PicWalk*
30
20
10
0
StLedDsc
*
Higher Level Questions to Stretch
Children’s Thinking
If you were the main character, what would
you have done the same as the main
character? What might you have done
differently? Why?
How did the character change?
Can you compare anything in this story to
something that has happened in your life?
What is the author trying to tell us? What is the
theme?
What do you think were 3 main ideas (or most
important ideas) in this article (for nonfiction)?
High Comprehension Skill Teachers
Have students make predictions, but with no
discussion as to why this is being done or
why this is helpful.
Do a picture walk as a group. Often the teacher
does much of the talking.
Have students retell a story or complete a
story map, but with no discussion as to why
this is being done or why this is helpful.
Talk about what a main idea is, what a
supporting detail is.
Talk about problem/solution, fiction/nonfiction,
etc.
High Comprehension Strategy
Teachers
Remind students to do a picture walk on
their own before they read, predict as
they read, do a story map after they
read. Review with them why this is
important, how it will help them.
Review steps of a reading strategy, such
as Reciprocal Teaching, SAIL, etc. and
remind students to do this as they are
reading. After they have read, ask
them what strategies they used.
Teacher Directed vs. Student
Support



Balancing teacher talk and
student action
Giving constructive feedback
during guided practice (i.e.
coaching)
Gradually releasing
responsibility to students (i.e.
How can you get them to do
more and you to do less?)
Active Responding



Think-pair-share instead or oral
turn-taking
Every single child writing on a
whiteboard, clipboard, journal,
etc. instead of watching one child
or the teacher write
Every single child reading instead
of reading turn-taking. This can
be done through silent reading,
whisper reading, partner reading,
choral reading, etc.
Discussion Questions:



How can the core reading
instruction in our school be even
more effective in meeting the
needs of diverse learners?
How are all students being
challenged with rigorous,
motivating reading instruction?
How can we maximize students’
cognitive engagement during
every moment of reading
instruction?