D
6
14
Provide Necessary and Additional Support for any Reader
Before COVID-19, an after-school intervention for fifth graders at the school department’s elementary school was specifically designed to support students who indicated that reading outside of school posed several challenges. Students voluntarily participated in two, forty-five-minute, reading interventions each week for three months. Based on winter MAP scores, reading achievement increased, surpassing the outcomes of students who received daily reading instruction and twenty minutes of daily reading during the school day. The results, though largely contingent on teacher expertise and curricular liberties were positive. For example, through intentional practices focused on independent reading, the entire class exceeded expected growth by a full point, as measured by the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). In the fall, the class average was 202.91, or 2.09 point behind grade-level expectations. The winter scores rose to 208, now one point behind grade level expectations.
Part of the increase in scores, or closure of the achievement gap can be attributed to an after school reading intervention, with the attributes shown in Table 5, as a focus of student’s reading. Six students, identified as below grade-level readers on the Fall MAP, were invited to participate. Four students surpassed their personal growth targets. Two did not, suggesting a need for a different or more intensive intervention consistent with most Response to Intervention models. For this population, additional reading, outside of the school day, with a deliberate focus also had a positive impact. Their fall MAP scores averaged 192.3, well below the grade-level average of 205. Their winter scores increased 8.17 points, which exceeded their expected growth by two points.
Though focused independent reading should not be considered failsafe, it does show that an impact can be made even with readers who have a history of reading challenges, thus suggesting that providing students with the “Right to Read” has an immediate, beneficial impact on many readers.
Conclusion:
While there is no substantial evidence supporting independent reading in classrooms, many teachers have noted the difference between readers and reading achievement related to independent reading practices. Students from low socioeconomic communities, such as the rural school department exemplified in this context, often have less opportunity and support to read, in and outside of school, than affluent communities. Opportunities begin with access and literate households before kindergarten and continue with the value of literacy teachers implicitly or explicitly placed on reading as an activity in school, more than a progression of measurable skills. It’s imperative that schools reconsider the role of independent reading and the effects on student achievement. What if a school department could be turned around simply by endorsing and monitoring the impact of independent reading? As presented here, there is a possibility that formalized independent reading practices could significantly change reading achievement. In turn, the community has a chance to rebuild their legacy rather than be trapped in the memories of what once was.