Visit us at: 1 LACO Literacy Committee: Spring, 2010 Update Joan Firestone, Director of Early Childhood Laura Schiller, Literacy Consultant, Learning Services

2 Recent Activities Recruited new members, leaders Focused our goal Struggling readers in upper elementary and middle school will improve their comprehension of expository text by increasing their use of comprehension strategies, metacognition and critical thinking Looked at progress

/06 – 2009/10 Oakland County MEAP Reading 3.8 Combined for African American Students School Year Number of Students

/06 – 2009/10 Oakland County MEAP Reading 3.8 Combined for Hispanic American Students School Year Number of Students

/06 – 2009/10 Oakland County MEAP Reading 3.8 Combined for Students Eligible for Free or Reduced Priced Lunch School Year Number of Students

/06 – 2009/10 Oakland County MEAP Reading 3.8 Combined for English Language Learners School Year Number of Students

/06 – 2009/10 MEAP Reading 3.8 Combined for Students with IEPs

8 Recent Activities Analyzed results of Spring, 2009 survey Over 700 responses from 26 districts General and special education teachers working with students in grades 3-8 Literacy specialists, reading support teachers and administrators for grades 3-8 Thanks for your help

9 Survey Results Survey consisted of list of research supported best practices Respondents indicated how fully each best practice was used in their classroom or district Identified practices that at least 30% of respondents said were not well used

10 Survey Results—Core Instruction Not enough... Reading support in science/social studies classes Use of strategies found effective with struggling students Modification of core instruction based on assessment data

11 Survey Results—Struggling Readers Not enough... Screening of all students’ reading levels Research based intervention programs Progress monitoring of struggling students

12 Current Work Improve core comprehension instruction Perfect fit with proposed Common Core English Language Arts Standards Steeper gradient to reach college/career readiness Focus on comprehension instruction Increased focus on expository/informational text Includes literacy in social studies/science standards for grades Comparing current ELA GLCEs and proposed Common Core Standards

13 Please Consider Which set of standards requires deeper understanding and comprehension of text? What are the implications for your district?

14 Current Work Improve intervention practices for struggling students Difficult to do Focus on Adolescent Accelerated Reading Initiative