Running head: ADDRESSING READING NEEDS 1

Addressing Reading Needs at the High School Level

Jolene Gensheimer

Seattle Pacific University

ADDRESSING READING NEEDS 2

Addressing Reading Needs at the High School Level

Background

Liberty High School is a public school in the east Renton highlands and the Issaquah

School District with an enrollment of about 1300 students. The mission statement of Liberty

High School is “Liberty High School students will be prepared for and eager to accept academic,

occupational, personal and practical challenges of life in a dynamic and global environment.”

According to the most recent OSPI data, 62.8% of students are white, 18.9% are Asian,

9.9% are Hispanic/Latino, 2.4% are Black/African American, 5.2% identify as two or more

races, .5 are Pacific Islander, and .2 are Native American. 1.9% of students are transitional ELL.

Special Services students make up 9.3% of the student population. 10.2% of students qualify for

free and/or reduced lunch prices. The percentages of minority students and students with

free/reduced lunch have each increased significantly over the last few years. According to OSPI

data, five years ago 72.3% of the LHS population was white, and 10 years ago 80.7% of the

population identified as white. This indicates that our minority population is increasing at a rate

of about 10% every five years. Here is the data from the OSPI Web site:

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Our enrollment continues to increase each year as there is a great deal of development

occurring in our service area. There is one middle school that feeds into the high school. Our

principal is Sean Martin, and this is his second year as principal. He was an assistant principal at

Liberty prior to being promoted to principal and was a high school English language arts teacher

before becoming an administrator.

School Improvement Plan and Rationale

We are in the last school year of working on our current School Improvement Plan (SIP).

The Washington state legislature has mandated new graduation requirements for high school

students. These new requirements mean that students starting with the class of 2019 can only fail

one course in their entire four years of high school and still graduate on time. The credit

“cushion” that helped many struggling students to graduate on time has been removed, and now

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every credit is crucial to students. Here is the data regarding the number of credit deficient

students at LHS:

The subject area that students most often fail at Liberty High School is English language

arts (ELA). Reading is an essential skill that is foundational for success in ELA classes and all

core classes. Therefore, ELA is an area that is targeted for the SIP goals. This is an excerpt from

LHS’s SIP plan that indicates our current goals through the year 2018:

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And here is a summary of the progress toward the SIP goals:

It is clear that gains have been made in reducing credit deficiency; however, there is still a great

deal of progress needed in this area. In addition, each department was asked to choose a goal and

work to grow and develop in that area this year. For the past few years, the ELA department has

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worked on synthesis writing goals, and we continue to refine our work in that area. For the 2017-

18 school year, my department chose critical reading skills as our primary focus.

Professional Learning Plan

As a result of the data and information in the School Improvement Plan and the goal of

my ELA department, I have decided to focus my final project plan on department staff

development in the area of critical reading. In addition to the information already provided, it is

important to note that the number of ELL students at LHS has been steadily rising. As a

department we have also discussed that one of the top reasons students fail ELA classes involves

reading skills. Either students do not do the reading or their reading skills are below grade level.

As students get older, the reading texts become more difficult and many students are not

equipped to handle the challenge. Another unfortunate observation is that students often do not

do the assigned reading and complain about being forced to read. As we study the research on

teaching reading, we will be able to begin to address this growing anti-reading sentiment. As

Peggy Kittle asserts in her book Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in

Adolescent Readers, “If school reading is only like boot camp, we lose readers. And I’m not just

talking about dropouts. I’m talking about thousands of kids who survive English class with

SparkNotes and skim the surface of their content classes, reading next to nothing that is assigned

to them in four years” (Kittle, 2013, p.2). In addition to the lack of true reading in English

language arts classes, there is a general reading decline. “Carol Gordon and Ya-Ling Lu (2007)

report that ‘all adolescents are reading less’” (Kittle, 2013, p.2). As a result, a focus on

improving reading skills is an important endeavor that supports my department growth as well as

students at Liberty High School.

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Frequently, teachers identify goals or work we want to do and then get so busy that we do

not follow through with completing the work. The ‘tyranny of the urgent’ is a very real demand

for teachers, and good intentions are sometimes set aside to meet the demands of the day. As

Zepeda says in her book Professional Development: What Works, “Compartmentalized into their

separate cubicles of classroom and office, educators too often feel distant from one another”

(2012, p. 127). My colleagues and I often feel this isolation and would appreciate increasing

collaboration. This professional development plan will unite the department and develop stronger

cohesion and consistency in our reading instruction.

Another important element of this plan is that I will be leveraging the knowledge of

teachers in my building as we collaborate. Teachers typically love education and have a wealth

of resources to develop and share. The Teacher Leadership Task Force’s report, “Redefining the

Teacher as Leader (IEL, 2001), emphasized that teacher leadership is not about ‘teacher power.’

Rather, ‘It is about mobilizing the still largely untapped attributes of teachers to strengthen

student performance at the ground level’” (Hilty, 2011, 115). The busyness and isolation of

teachers often prevents them from sharing and pooling their knowledge – a side effect of the

demanding job that has a detrimental impact on teacher growth and teacher learning. In addition,

Zepeda points out that “Katezenmeyer and Moller (2001) assert ‘leadership among teachers

thrives when they are involved in planning and delivering professional development’ (p. 5)”

(Zepeda, 2012, p. 5). This type of working and learning is win-win because teachers are learning

and leveraging one of their best strengths – teaching. In her article “Teachers, Learners,

Leaders”, (2004), Ann Lieberman says, “Teachers teaching teachers is a powerful strategy for

finding, developing, and using all the talents” (Blair Hilty, 2011, p. 108). This is a key element

of teacher buy-in for the professional development aspect of the plan. My ELA department

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already has an established PLC, so we are used to working together and have a good working

relationship. Increasing the depth of knowledge and understanding will have a lasting positive

impact on the department and the students.

The long-term element of this plan is another key to teacher and student growth. Staff

development provided by school districts is often short and lacks follow-up for teachers. Lasting

change is more likely to occur if teacher learning is steadily occurring over time and has a direct

application to the classroom. In her book Professional Development: What Works, Sally Zepeda

says, “Regardless of its form, professional development is effective if it is ongoing, long-term,

and related to the teacher’s content area (AERA, 2005; Garet et al., 2001). Moreover, effective

professional development becomes a part of the workday steeped in the work of teachers. This

type of professional development creates opportunities for job-embedded learning” (2012, p. 8).

These criteria will be strong overarching components to the professional development and the

concept of “job-embedded learning” will remain at the forefront of our work.

Timeline, Planning and Engagement

When What Why

August Order books for the department book clubs

Ordering the books before school starts will ensure we have the books read to go and start the studies on time. Resource needed: work with the office manager in charge of ordering

September Research, present and discuss reading rubrics with the department

When considering how to begin implementing a professional learning plan for my department, it is essential to first agree on a rubric for reading skills. We need to have a common language and common goals in order to be able to assess student reading skills and growth.

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In establishing a rubric, we will determine what we will assess and begin to discuss how we will assess it.

Resource needed: rubrics to share with department *see Appendix A for examples

September Establish Book Clubs – we will split into groups of three and each group will read a book and then we will discuss the findings The three books are:

1. Readicide by Kelly Gallagher2. Notice and Note: Strategies for

Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

3. Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Peggy Kittle

Book clubs will provide a way to learn about our subject area and help us keep up with current research. “Book studies support smaller groups of teachers to meet at a regularly scheduled time to engage in discussions, to reflect on what has been read, and then to envision how a new practice might be implemented once back in the classroom” (Zepeda, 2012, p. 191). Initially, we will need to establish a reading schedule, facilitators and a protocol for book clubs. “High functioning book study groups have a facilitator to keep the group on task and to assist with running the book study meetings” (Zepeda, 2012, p. 192).

Resources needed: books, year-long meeting schedule, examples of book study protocol *See Appendix B for examples of book study protocols Resource needed: book GLAD trainer to speak at our February meeting

September - December

Continued meeting and discussion relating to book groups. We will meet once a month to discuss and record the findings from our reading.

We will all annotate our books as we read and everyone will be encouraged to keep a journal with thoughts, questions and applications. “The real work is the discussion and analysis of the book related to

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classroom practices. Book study members need the opportunity to share insights, to ask tough questions, and to learn from the perspectives of the book study members. This open period of discussion, analysis, and reflection is an important aspect for book study members” (Zepeda, 2012, p. 193).

January The January meeting will be focused on choosing the applications to our planning and teaching based on our book study research

As we discover what the current research says about teaching reading at the high school level, we will work on creating lesson plans to include the new ideas we discover. As Zepeda says, “Teachers need learning opportunities that are a part of their daily work” (2012, p. 81). Keeping the work embedded in our jobs will ensure that the lessons we create are relevant and focused on student growth in the area of critical reading.

Resource needed: confirm February date with GLAD trainer; offer to make copies of resources for her that she will want to share

February February meeting: guest speaker! Our building GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) trainer will present GLAD reading strategies at our meeting.

February homework: practice a GLAD strategy in your classroom

GLAD is a program that provides teaching strategies for helping ELL students understand content and improve reading skills

*See Appendix C for an example of a GLAD strategy

Resource needed February: GLAD speaker

March - April Continue practicing new strategies in our classrooms

Critical Reading Scope and Sequence

We will work on our long-term planning. Through creating a scope and sequence, we will determine what elements of reading need to be taught when. This scope and

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Development sequence will include grades 9-12. May Teacher Observations As we work to implement the

lessons we have created, we will observe each other teaching. We will do an informal process of Lesson Studies (chapter 10 of Zepeda) with observations focused on the teacher and on the students. “A lesson study is a form of job-embedded learning that is grounded in data. According to the National Education Association Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE), data are collected by teachers observing teachers. Through these purposeful interactions, ‘teachers have the opportunity to discuss the lessons and their analysis, while refining their practices according to what the evidence suggests work well with their students’ (2003, p. 3)” (Zepeda, 2012, p. 225).

June Refining of plans and scope and sequence; determine continued goals for next year

This is an important time of reflection about what we have learned and implemented. We will work an action guide for next year. We will evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and what we still want to accomplish. “Through ongoing investigation and reflection about practice, teachers invent better ways to explain lessons, entice reluctant learners, bring unruly classes under control, and ignite children’s imaginations. Exercising their intellect and judgment in these ways enhances their abilities to teach effectively; and teachers feel empowered when they take charge of their teaching” (Blumenrich, 2015, p. 51).

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Conclusion

Collaboration in education is a critical building block to creating strong schools and

powerful education for students. The energy created by collaboration creates a power that

impacts the learning environment and the culture of the school. It is true that “if student

achievement is to improve, then teachers need time to learn, practice, implement, observe and

reflect” (York-Barr, 168). Utilizing more research-driven, practical professional development

strategies has the power to make all of those professional development hours worthwhile. By

engaging in research, practicing new research-strategies and participating in teacher

observations, we have the opportunity to improve and enhance our curriculum creating a positive

impact on student reading skills and achievement. Our growth as teachers has a powerful impact

on our classrooms. When we are given the opportunity to authentically grow, we do. Zepeda

supports this when she says, “The cornerstone of successful professional development is the way

in which adults are engaged in learning. Adults need and want to grow professionally; they

desire ongoing learning opportunities in a place nestled within their own schools so they can

improve practice” (2012, p. 46). Our ultimate goal is to help students become strong readers and

therefore reduce the number of credit deficient students. By learning new strategies to teach our

students, more students will pass classes and graduate on time.

References

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Blumenrich, M. & Falk, B. (2015). Research and teacher self-inquiry reawaken learning.

Kappan Magazine.

E.B. Hilty. (2011). Teacher leadership: The “new” foundations of teacher education. New York,

NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.

Kittle, P. (2013). Book love: Developing depth, stamina and passion in adolescent readers.

Portsmouth, NE: Heinemann.

Lieberman, A. & Miller, L. (2004). Teacher leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

OSPI Report Card. Retrieved November 1, 2017 from

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/Summary.aspx?

schoolId=1454&OrgType=4&reportLevel=School&year=2012-13&yrs=2012-13

Walpole, S., & Beauchat, K. A. (2008). Facililtating teacher study groups. Literacy Coach

Clearinghouse, (June 2), 1-6.

York-Barr, J., Sommers, W. A., Ghere, G. S., & Montie, J. (2006). Reflective practice to

improve schools (Second Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Zepeda,S. (2012). Professional development: what works. New York, NY: Routledge.

Additional Resources

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Appendix A - sample reading rubrics:

Developing Basic

College Level Reading Skills

Determines meanings of new words through context clues with teacher prompting, otherwise avoids new words.

Uses main idea, supporting details and organizational patterns to guide reading approach in assigned reading situations with teacher prompting

Can sometimes identify language devices and language adaptations in written materials when directed that these are in the material

Rarely comprehends enough of written materials to logically comprehend, accept or reject the concepts

Uses the same literal reading techniques for all types of written materials regardless of type or purpose, even though study reading requires specific types of reading techniques

Novice Beginning

College Level Reading Skills

Generally avoids new words in written materials.

Has difficulty in identifying main ideas, general support sentences and organizational patterns.

Has difficulty identifying language devices and language adaptations In written material even when directed that these are in the material.

Rarely comprehends enough of written materials to logically comprehend, accept or reject the concepts

Has difficulty using literal reading techniques for written materials regardless of type or purpose, even though study reading requires specific types of reading techniques

No ScoreResponse is not

adaquate for scoringResponse is not

adaquate for scoringResponse is not

adaquate for scoringResponse is not

adaquate for scoringResponse is not adaquate for

scoring

Source: www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/jfulks/BSI_SLO/.../ASCCC%20reading%20rubric.xls

Source: https://www.plymouth.k12.ma.us/uploaded/schools/PNHS/PNHS_Front_Office/Files/

PNHS_Critical_Reading_Rubric.pdf

Appendix B – book study protocol examples:

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Source: http://www.literacycoachingonline.org/briefs/StudyGroupsBrief.pdf

Source:https://dcps.duvalschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?

moduleinstanceid=17098&dataid=15227&FileName=professional_book_study.pdf

Appendix C – samples of the GLAD big book strategy:

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Source: https://dcps.duvalschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?

moduleinstanceid=23868&dataid=25717&FileName=GLAD%20July%202015.pdf

Example of Big Book concept adapted for high school (sample by Jolene Gensheimer):

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Both GLAD big book dystopian examples created by Jolene Gensheimer