Strategic Learning Editions: Embedding Flexible Supports for Learning Comprehension Strategies in Digital Text

This 2001-2004 research project is funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Bridget Dalton (bdalton@cast.org) is the Project Director. CAST team members include Bart Pisha, Peggy Coyne, Maya Eagleton, Susan Deysher, Tracey Hall, Sheela Sethuraman, and Bob Dolan.

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Reading is at the core of the educational experience. Unfortunately, this fundamental literacy skill is a struggle for many students, including the majority of students with learning disabilities. Many of these students never develop the automatic word recognition essential to fluent reading and text comprehension (Ehri, 1994). Those who have mastered word decoding often still have great difficulty reading for meaning (Swanson, 1999), lacking strategies for monitoring their comprehension and taking action when they do not understand (Graham & Harris, 1996).

The impact for these students is far greater than not doing well in reading. Students who read poorly read less, and those who read less learn less (Stanovich, 1986). Beginning in fourth grade, when the emphasis shifts from learning to read to reading to learn, students' comprehension difficulties spill over into all academic areas (Chall, 1996). The consequences for these students can be severe given the climate of high stakes testing in many states. In 1994, only 65% of America's nineteen-year-olds with special needs (some 5.5 million of which are students with learning disabilities) graduated from high school (NCES, 1998).

The research base supporting reading strategy instruction to develop comprehension in students with and without disabilities is well established (National Reading Panel, 2000; Swanson, 1999). However, the current practice of research-based methods is quite limited. Too often, teachers are ill-trained in the effective teaching of comprehension strategies. Even when trained, teachers often lack the time and resources to provide the accumulated opportunities for supported practice that struggling readers need.

Furthermore, in most classrooms, printed books are the prevailing technology - a medium that provides little support for the teacher at the point of instruction or for the emergent or struggling reader who is trying to practice new comprehension skills. Although supports and adjustments can be provided using traditional, printed text, these adjustments are difficult to accomplish on more than an individual basis.

In contrast, the inherent flexibility of digital text enables the provision of adjustments and supports on a classwide basis. Technology-based reading environments have the potential to greatly extend teachers' reaches, helping them to overcome the barriers to successful reading comprehension instruction imposed by minimal time and resources.

The Project

Building on work begun in OSEP-funded research and development projects such as Strategic Reader and Engaging the Text, CAST is developing prototype Strategic Learning Editions: computer-supported, interactive, digital versions of short stories, novels, and informational Web pages with built-in instructional supports such as:

• Comprehension strategies
• Graphic organizers
• Embedded assessment, and
• Decoding supports.

The goals of this three-year study are to:

• Investigate the effectiveness of Strategic Learning Editions to support reading strategy instruction for students with and without learning disabilities in grade 6-8 inclusion classrooms and resource rooms. (Qualitative studies in Years 1 and 2 will lead to an experimental study in Year 3, comparing a computer versus non-computer-supported approach to strategy instruction.)

• Study how teachers gain expertise in teaching reading strategies to students with and without learning disabilities and develop effective methods for supporting the successful implementation of this approach by teachers in inclusion classroom and resource room settings.

The project will deliver:

• A refined technology-based approach to reading strategy instruction (Strategic Learning Editions) for grade 6-8 inclusion classrooms and resource rooms;
• Teacher support materials; and
• A series of research reports, including in-depth case studies of students and teachers, and reports of the final, experimental study of the intervention.

In addition to contributing to student progress and teacher practice, the study will contribute to curriculum development efforts by providing a model for integrating traditionally used curriculum resources (such as novels and picture books) and new resources (such as the Internet) in ways that permit customizable reading instruction on a classwide basis.

Activities

CAST is conducting the Strategic Learning Editions project in inclusion classrooms and resource rooms at middle schools in Peabody and Ipswich, MA. CAST is also working with the New Bedford Global Learning Charter School, one of 10 schools around the country selected to replicate the "High Tech High" school design, with funding in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Funding

Funding for this project is provided by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education, Award No. H324D010040. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.

References

Chall, J. (1996). Stages of Reading Development (2nd ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

Ehri, L. (1994). Development of the ability to read words: Update. In R. Ruddell, M. Ruddell, & H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (4th ed., pp. 323-358). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Graham, S. & Harris, K. (1996). Addressing problems in attention, memory, and executive functioning: An example of self-regulated strategy development. In G. R. L. N. A. Krasnegor (Ed.), Attention, Memory and Executive Function (pp. 349-365). Baltimore: Paul Brooks.

National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

NCES (1998). Digest of Educational Statistics (NCES 98-015). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

Stanovich, K.E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360-406.

Swanson, L. (1999). Reading research for students with LD: A meta-analysis of intervention outcomes. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 32 (6), 504-532.

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