Featured Presentation
D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D.
HB - International Dyslexia Association
March 6, 2010
Houston, TX

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (National
Research Council)

Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the
Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for
Reading Instruction (National Reading Panel)

The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research (National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development).

National Assessment of Educational Progress 2007 Reading Results
for 4th Grade
“The mission of public schooling is to offer every child full
and equal educational opportunity, regardless of the
background, education, and income of their parents. To
achieve this goal, no time is as precious or as fleeting as the
first years of formal schooling. Research consistently
shows that children who get off to a good start in reading
rarely stumble. Those who fall behind tend to stay behind
for the rest of their academic lives.”
—Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999, p. 61
 Until the turn of the millennia, NAEP
trend data in 4th grade reading scores
suggested unacceptably high rates of
below basic reading proficiency among
vast segments of the population of
children. The achievement gap was
widening, particularly in rural and urban
centers and in specific ethnic populations.
The Nation’s
Report Card
on Reading –
NAEP 1971-2008
http://nces.ed.gov/
4-6 Overview
NAEP, 2008: Trends
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/2005/2005463.asp
4-6 Overview
©2006 Utah State Office of Education & Emma Eccles Jones Center USU
14
NAEP, 2008: Trends
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/2005/2005463.asp
4-6 Overview
©2006 Utah State Office of Education & Emma Eccles Jones Center USU
14
NAEP, 2008: Trends
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/2005/2005463.asp
4-6 Overview
©2006 Utah State Office of Education & Emma Eccles Jones Center USU
14
NAEP, 2008: Trends
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/2005/2005463.asp
4-6 Overview
©2006 Utah State Office of Education & Emma Eccles Jones Center USU
14
NAEP, 2008: Trends
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/2005/2005463.asp
4-6 Overview
©2006 Utah State Office of Education & Emma Eccles Jones Center USU
14
For those nine-year-olds tested under NAEP, SBRR is the
only form of reading instruction they have ever known. Their
instruction and their teachers' professional development has
been evidence based and rooted in our strongest scientific
principles. We have applied what works in their classrooms,
and used scientific measures to determine instruction, PD,
and resource acquisition. We've let the research chart the
path, and now we're arriving at the destination. Reading
scores are up, and they are up in a way far more significant
than we have seen in past years. The only significant change
to the process or variable in the formula between 2004 and
now is the successful implementation of SBRR.

Retrieved from http://nrrf.org/eduflak4-29-09.htm, 2.1.10
The only logical conclusion from this is that SBRR, and
Reading First, actually work. We focused our dollars and our
efforts on teaching children in the elementary grades to read
with scientifically based reading instruction. We've hemmed
and hawed and questioned and doubted for years now about
the effects. But if one looks at the Long-Term NAEP trends,
the only logical conclusion one can make, at least looking at
the recent gains on elementary reading scores, is that SBRR
works. And the drop-offs in reading achievement gains in the
later grades only speak to a greater need to expand the reach
of SBRR and fund and implement scientifically based reading
programs in our middle and secondary grades as well.

Retrieved from http://nrrf.org/eduflak4-29-09.htm, 2.1.10
But these positive outcomes for elementary school
reading (and don't let anyone fool you, they are indeed
positive outcomes) still can't mask the far greater
concerns raised by these NAEP scores. The achievement
gap is still staggering, and we seem to have made no
effort in closing such gaps over the last two decades. If
we look at our middle schoolers, white students are
scoring nearly 25 percent higher on math and reading
tests than their African-American and Hispanic friends.
For African-American and Hispanic students, the
achievement gap seems to grow over the years, and is at
its worst in high school.

Retrieved from http://nrrf.org/eduflak4-29-09.htm, 2.1.10
The
Nation’s
Report Card
on Reading –
NAEP 19712007

The most expensive burden we place on society is
those students we have failed to teach to read well. The
silent army of low readers who move through our
schools, siphoning off the lion’s share of administrative
resources, emerge into society as adults lacking the
single prerequisite for managing their lives and acquiring
additional training. They are chronically unemployed,
underemployed, or unemployable. They form the single
largest identifiable group of those whom we incarcerate,
and to whom we provide assistance, housing, medical
care, and other social services. They perpetuate and
enlarge the problem by creating another generation of
poor readers.”

Fielding, L., Kerr, N., & Rosier, P. (1998). The 90% reading goal, p. 6-7. Kennewick, WA: National
Reading Foundation.
During the 1990s and early 2000s the “Reading Wars”
were raging. Why have we turned to evidence-based
practices in reading instruction?
 Resolving disputes in practice should
be grounded in evidence rather than
the product of political processes.

We need quality control mechanisms
and consumer protection in educational
research and practice.
What does the evidence say about
Reading Fluency Instruction?
“Because the ability to obtain
meaning from print depends so
strongly on the development of
word recognition and reading
fluency, both of the latter
should be regularly assessed in
the classroom, permitting
timely and effective
instructional response.. (p. 323).
Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998
Practices Recommended in the
Report as “Research-Validated”

Focused on analysis on:
1) Guided oral repeated reading;
2) Independent reading
(encouraging more reading on their
own).
Practices Recommended in the
Report as “Research-Validated”

77 guided, oral repeated reading
studies were analyzed.

Results show that guided, oral,
repeated reading is effective in
promoting reading fluency.

The Effect Size was = .41 of a
standard deviation or
approximately 14 percentile
points difference).
Practices Recommended in the
Report as “Research-Validated”




14 studies were located and
analyzed looking at independent
reading practice (SSR, Dear,
Accelerated Reader, voluntary
reading).
Mostly of the studies were of
poor quality.
Only studies 3 found differences.
The differences weren’t large
enough to be considered
educationally significant (Effects
of less than 5% difference).
Accuracy and Automaticity
 Readers decode words accurately.
 Readers decode words effortlessly.
Reading Speed or Rate
 Readers read with an age or grade level appropriate
rate.
 Reading speed is adjusted for purpose and text
difficulty.
Expression and Prosody
 Readers read with smoothness, phrasing, and
inflection.
Comprehension
 Readers comprehend important ideas.



Skilled readers can read words in context three times
faster and read words in lists two times faster than can
struggling readers.
With this distribution of fluency in a classroom whole class
instruction and singular approaches will not be likely to
meet the needs of all children.
Struggling readers are slower because of problems in list
reading as context doesn’t make any unique contribution
to fluency rates and accuracy.
Jenkins, J.R., Fuchs, L. S., Van den Broek, P., Espin, C., & Deno. S. L. (2003).
Accuracy and fluency in list and context reading of skilled and RD groups:
Absolute and relative performance levels.
Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18 (4), 237-245.
25 words
make up
33% of the
words you
read!
Thorndike-Lorge magazine count.
Ed. E.L Thorndike & I. Lorge. New
York, 1944: Columbia Univ.. [entries
from "The teacher's word book of
30,000 words"; on RLIN]
107 words
make up
50% of the
words you
read!
* Zeno, S. M., Ivens, S. H.,
Millard, R. T., & Duvvuri, R.
(1995). The educator’s
word frequency guide. New
York: Touchstone Applied
Science Associates,
Inc.

930 words make up 65% of the words you read!

5,000 words make up 80% of the words you read?

13% of words occur only once in one million words
Zeno, S. M., Ivens, S. H., Millard, R.T., & Duvvuri, R. (1995). The educator’s word guide. New York: Touchstone Applied Science
Associates, Inc.
Hiebert, E. H. (2004). Texts for Fluency and Vocabulary: Selecting Instructional Texts that Support Reading Fluency
THE SIGHT WORD STRATEGY
See the word
Say the word
Spell the word
Cover the word
Uncover the word and check it
Look at the word again
Spell the word
Cover the word
Write the word
Uncover the word and check it
Pass out a card with the word on it.
Cut the word into letters
Scramble the letters
Spell the word
Do this 3 times
Find the word in a book, on a wall,
on a chart—highlight it or color it
Dictation: Students write the word
and show it
Do this 3 times
 Effective fluency lessons include practice and
explicit instruction on the elements of fluency.
 Fluency practice is effectively accomplished using a
variety of effective practices such as readers’
theater, oral repeated readings, buddy or paired
reading, assisted reading, closed caption TV, choral
reading, etc.
Worthy, J., & Broaddus, K. (2002). The Reading Teacher, 55(4), 334-343. Worthy, J., & Prater, K. (2002). The Reading Teacher,
56(3), 294-297.
 Explanations – explicit teaching of the terms
and components of fluency.
 Modeling – teacher demonstrations of fluency
and disfluency characteristics.
 Scaffolding
 ME, YOU and ME, YOU
 Easier texts to more difficult
 Charts, visuals, diagrams to convict you of
teaching fluency terms, concepts, and
fluency fix-up strategies
Effective fluency lessons include practice and
explicit instruction on the elements of fluency.

Explanation:
Lesson Plan
What:
 Today boys and girls, we are going to be learning about how to read
expressively. Important parts of reading expressively are pausing, stopping,
and raising or lowering our pitch as we read. Pitch is how high or low the
sounds are that we make with our voices (demonstrate high and low pitch).
Marks on the page called punctuation marks (point to) help us to know
when we need to pause, stop, raise or lower our pitch.
Why:
 We need to read expressively so that we can show that we understand
what we are reading. Punctuation tells us what we need to know about
how to express the words, phrases, and sentences with the right pauses,
stops, and pitch.
When/Where:
 Whenever we read, we should pay attention to the punctuation so that
we know where to pause, stop, and raise or lower our pitch.
Modeling:
Example
To begin, I am going to read this page with good expression paying
attention to what the punctuation tells me to do, such as pause, stop and or
raise or lower my pitch. Please look at the page on the overhead. Notice
that I have colored each punctuation mark with a different color to help you
see them more clearly. Follow what I read with your eyes. Listen very
carefully to see if I stop, pause, or change my pitch where I should.

Non-example
Now I am going to read this page with poor expression paying no
or little attention to what the punctuation tells me to do. I won’t pause,
stop or raise or lower my pitch. Please look at the page on the overhead.
Notice that I have colored each punctuation mark with a different color to
help you see them more clearly. Follow what I read with your eyes. Listen
very carefully to see where I should have changed my reading to stop,
pause, or raise or lower my pitch.

Scaffolding
Whole Group (Me & You)
 Now that I have shown you how and how not to read this
page, let’s practice it together! We will begin reading this page
all together. (Point) Watch my pen so that we can all stay
together.
 Now we will read this again using echo reading. How many
of you have ever heard an echo? Show me if you know what an
echo is by putting your hands on your head like this. So if I say,
HELLO..the echo will say HELLO. I will read and you will echo
me… Let’s begin…
Small Group/ Partners/Teams (Me & You)
 Now turn to your neighbor. Partner 1 will read and the other
will echo. After Partner 1 reads, Partner 2 reads.
Individual (You)
Next, take your fluency
phone and read this page
again to yourself listening
carefully to see where of IF
you are stopping, pausing,
and raising or lowering
your pitch.

Select an appropriately challenging, engaging,
and short reading selection.
Start with:
 Choral reading – echoic, unison, antiphonal,
and mumble reading
Select an appropriately challenging, brief, and
engaging piece of reading.
 Paired Reading – Buddy, Peer, Tutor
 Assisted Reading - NIM, Read along tapes,
CDs, etc.
Select an appropriately challenging, brief, and
engaging piece of reading.
 Individual Recorded Reading
 Cassette tapes/Audio Computer Files
Select an appropriately challenging, brief, and
engaging piece of reading.
 Reader’s Theater
 Radio Reading
 Recitation
What does the evidence say about
Reading Vocabulary Instruction?
“Learning new concepts
and the words that
encode them is essential
for comprehension
development” (p. 217).
Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998
Practices Recommended in the
Report as “Research-Validated”
• Vocabulary should be
taught both directly
and indirectly.
• Repetition and multiple
exposures are
important to learning
new vocabulary.
Practices Recommended in the
Report as “Research-Validated”
• Learning vocabulary in rich
contexts is valuable.
• Vocabulary learning tasks
should be restructured
when necessary.
• Vocabulary tasks should
entail active engagement.
 Incidental Vocabulary Learning
 Examples:
 Read Aloud
 Interactions
 Wide Reading
The Weighty Word
Book
By
Paul M. Levitt
Douglas A. Berger
Elissa S. Guralnick
Illustrated by
Janet Stevens
ISBN:0-917665-13-9


Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
Typical Teacher Questions
 Word Selection – Which words? (Tier 2)
 Strategy Selection – Which strategies? (Definition,
Contextal & Conceptual)
 How many per day? (2 -3)
 How many per week? (10-11)
 What does explicit vocabulary instruction look like?
 Explain the word meanings, model how to get word meaning from
multiple exposures – contextual, conceptual, and definitional.
 Provide guided practice with words in multiple task formats
Albasa
Albasa will usually be found at grocery stores and
resturants.
People like to eat albasa on their hamburgers, although
albasa are tasty with a variety of dishes.
Since albasa are a vegetable, they are also nutritious.
One disadvantage of albasa is the strong odor
which has been known to produce crying symptoms among
those who slice them.
Gipe, J.P. (1980). Use of a relevant context helps kids learn new word meanings. The Reading Teacher, 33,(5), 398-402.
Albasa
Albasa will usually be found at grocery stores and
resturants.
People like to eat albasa on their hamburgers, although
albasa are tasty with a variety of dishes.
Since albasa are a vegetable, they are also nutritious.
One disadvantage of albasa is the strong odor
which has been known to produce crying symptoms among
those who slice them.
Gipe, J.P. (1980). Use of a relevant context helps kids learn new word meanings. The Reading Teacher, 33,(5), 398-402.
Hochspannungstrohmabnehmer
Example: lightning rod, Ben Franklins’ kite and key
Non-example: wooden post, plastic pole
 Relevant attributes: metal, touches an exposed electrical
wire, found on top of a streetcar or light rail train
 Irrelevant attributes: slender, lets off sparks
 Superordinate term: electrical conductor
 Coordinate term: electrical plug


Frayer, F. D. & Klausmeir, H.J. (1969). A shema for testing the level of concept mastery. University of Wisconsin.
Definitions
Use Word in Context
Dictionary Look Up
Student Friendly
Find and Read it in the Book/Story
Vocabulary Word
Context Clue from Reading
Write the Word in a Sentence
Examples
Ainslie, D. (2001).
Word detectives.
The Reading
Teacher, 54(4), 36062.
Category/Class/
Part of Speech
Conceptual Understanding
Characteristics


Word Awareness and Word Learning Strategies
Examples
 Word Awareness
 Word Play
 Word Study
 Word Learning Strategies – When I don’t know what a word
means, how can I find out?
 Dictionary use
 Thesaurus use
 Using context clues
 Copy the cover of a book for a
vocabulary word wall (black and
white copy will do) . Put the
cover and the words from the
book at the top of the word wall.
 Write children’s names down
the left hand side of the
vocabulary word wall.
Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C., & McKeown, M. (1982). Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access
and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 506-521.
 When children use one of the
words on the wall in their
conversation or in their written
work they get a star, check, or
some other mark.
 The student with the most
marks at the end of the
designated time period (say a
day or week) is given the honor
becoming the WORD WIZARD.
Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C., & McKeown, M. (1982). Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access
and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 506-521.
Inventions
Technology
Electricity
Appliances
Jamie
Jackson
Cambry
Shania
√√√
√√√√√
√√√√√√√
√√√
What does the evidence say about
Reading Comprehension Instruction?
Reading comprehension is the process of
simultaneously extracting and constructing
meaning. Comprehension involves three elements:
1.
2.
3.
The reader who is doing the
comprehension
The text that is to be comprehended
The activity in which comprehension is a
part
-Sweet & Snow, 2003, pp. 2-3
“Comprehension is a complex process…often
viewed as ‘the essence of reading’. Reading
comprehension is…intentional thinking
during which meaning is constructed through
interactions between text and reader.
Meaning resides in the intentional, problemsolving, thinking processes of the reader that
occur during and interchange with a text.”
The National Reading Panel Report, 2000, p. 4-5
“The content of meaning is influenced by the
text and by the reader’s prior knowledge and
experience that are brought to bear on it.
Reading comprehension is the construction of
the meaning of a written text through a
reciprocal interchange of ideas between the
reader and the message in a particular text.”
The National Reading Panel Report, 2000, p. 4-5
“Throughout the early
grades, reading curricula
should include explicit
instruction on strategies
such as summarizing the
main idea, predicting
events, and
monitoring…” (p. 323).
Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998
Practices Recommended in
the Report as “ResearchValidated”
•
Six Cognitive Strategies:
• Graphic organizers. (11 studies)
• Comprehension monitoring.
(22 studies)
• Question answering. (17
studies)
• Question generation. (27
studies)
• Story structure. (17 studies)
• Summarization. (18 studies)
Practices Recommended
in the Report as
“Research-Validated”
• Two Conditions of
Instruction
• *Cooperative
learning. (10 studies)
• *Multiple strategies.
(38 studies)
Teach Story
Structure
 Setting
 Problem
 Goal
 Events
 Resolution
Story Map
Raphael, T.E., &
Au, K. H. (2005).
QAR: Enhancing
comprehension
and test taking
across grade and
content areas.
The Reading
Teacher, 59(3),
206-221.
“…an extensive knowledge base now exists to
show us the skills children must learn in order to
read well. These skills provide the basis for sound
curriculum decisions and instructional approaches
that can help prevent the predictable consequences
of early reading failure.”

(National Institute for Literacy, NIFL, 2001, p. ii)
If you would like a copy of this power
point:
D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D.
Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair Professor
Utah State University
www.coe.usu.edu/ecc
Presentations Button Left Hand Side
or
D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D.
IRA Board of Directors
International Reading Association
rreutzel@reading.org