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Illinois School Board Journal
May/June 2003
10 ways board members can help reading teachers
by Karen Becker
Karen A. Becker is an associate professor with Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois.
No matter how much emphasis is placed on standards, policies and assessments in reading, school board members should recognize that good, effective reading teachers are critical.
In fact, Richard Allington singled out effective teachers as being more important than curriculum materials, pedagogical approaches or proven programs.
Following this premise and with recent educational policies emphasizing "no child be left behind," I asked 25 of my graduate students about professional development within their school districts. Each was an Illinois-certified teacher involved in a masters program to become a certified reading specialist.
Using eight survey questions on professional development for teaching reading, I was able to glean important information to share in the popular "Top 10" approach. Here are the results:
1. The size of the district or grade level does not matter. All types and sizes of schools were represented in the survey - large, medium and small districts - as well as all grades from early childhood through high school. This is important because too often some faculty, administrators and school board members feel certain outcomes do not pertain to their district because of its unique factors.
However, participants from a wide representation of districts wrote about the importance of teaching reading in their settings and how reading must be addressed in professional development programs.
2. Know the current professional development topics on reading presented in your school. The majority of participants said topics within the last two years included guided reading, four-block scheduling, phonics, word knowledge, fluency, comprehension and writing.
However, about 30 percent indicated that no topics for teaching reading were covered by their schools' professional development programs in the last two years. This is a serious consideration given recent emphasis on reading, as well as the influx of recent research in this area.
3. Add hot topics using reading professionals. The only way to find out about these hot topics is to talk with reading teachers, read recent articles on teaching reading, and discuss ideas with other school board members and educators. Survey information revealed that reading teachers want to know more about strategies that work and how to incorporate these strategies in the classroom.
Another hot topic was early literacy. This surprised me, because I thought teachers would want to know more about their own particular grade level. However, it makes sense that teachers are interested in early literacy because this research and its outcomes influence future success in reading programs for students.
Knowledge of early literacy is critical to understand how students learn to read and to identify areas where students experience difficulties learning to read. More importantly, it is critical to know how these reading difficulties may be addressed for success.
4. Add reading specialists to your professional staff. I know adding new staff to an already over-extended payroll is difficult. However, adding reading specialists may be beneficial in emphasizing the importance of teaching and learning reading.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley agrees that every elementary school should have the reading specialists they need to make a difference. The International Reading Association goes further, stating that high schools should have the same instructional support.
Reading specialists can serve as catalysts to help students become lifelong readersand should assist every student and teacher in the teaching of reading.
The reading specialist should oversee all reading programs within the school or the district, a leadership role often overlooked and rarely used. The position statement of the International Reading Association, supported by the Illinois Reading Council, says that reading specialists need to be a resource to other educators, parents and the community.
That document also found many teachers feel overwhelmed with the tasks that face them, given the range of abilities and achievement of students in their classrooms. Reading specialists, along with classroom teachers, can serve as positive influences on reading achievement.
"They can assess the reading strengths and needs of students and provide that information to classroom teachers, parents and specialized personnel such as psychologists, special educators or speech teachers in order to provide an effective reading program," the position statement says.
School board members may recognize that reading specialists become agents of change when they work with classroom teachers and parents to create and assist total school reform, especially in reading.
5. Look within your district for untapped talent. Reading specialists can bring a great deal of knowledge to the teaching of reading. This knowledge can be shared with classroom teachers through their own district professional development programs. During their course work, reading specialists are required to develop programs for other teachers, paraprofessionals and parents. Why not allow them to share this skill with others in your district?
Reading specialists also are required to take courses that may position them as leaders in professional development and the supervision of reading programs. Unfortunately, school district personnel and school board members often do not know this. It is important to use talent often overlooked within the district instead of so-called experts from outside the district.
Although training is given in graduate programs in education/reading, your reading specialist should be comfortable in providing this service to teachers. In addition, if the reading specialists are comfortable, teachers will feel the same in using the reading specialists in the classroom, as well as seeking out the reading specialists to answer everyday questions. This adds to the credibility of the "expert" with teachers, especially when former speakers can be sought out right in the school district.
I am not saying not to pay these professionals. Treat them like professionals and pay them. It will be well worth the money.
Reading specialists also can serve on professional development committees to help all teachers reach other professional goals. In a previous Journal article, "Keeping track of re-certification for Illinois teachers," Lynn Bush and I wrote: "As schools continue to move toward additional educational reform, one fact remains obvious is that a plan for professional development for teachers is strongly needed."
6. Improve reading instruction through teacher ownership. Also recognize the untapped resource of teachers within the district who may be taking reading courses or attending workshops, and who may be willing to share new, practical information. R. S. Barth says most researchers agree that who the teachers are and what teachers do within the classroom are directly related to what teachers do outside the classroom.
Regardless of who your talent may be, do not forget that practicality is necessary in assisting teachers. One gift you, as school board members, can provide is making sure professional development programs offer the latest techniques, but more importantly, ideas that can be used easily and effectively in the classroom the day after the program.
Some ideas have little feasibility and practicality in the classrooms. The more difficult the training is for teachers, the more likely it will not be used or used effectively. Teachers want ideas they can implement immediately.
7. Get more information about reading. Several organizations - such as the International Reading Association, the Illinois Reading Council and your local reading councils - can help school board members find out more about teaching reading. You can contact these organizations through their Web sites: IRA at www.reading.org, and IRC and local reading councils at www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org.
Many of these organizations offer low-priced booklets and brochures on recent research that may be helpful for administrators, school board members, teachers and parents. Teachers are aware of these organizations and others that may be helpful as additional resources.
Consider offering this same information to substitute teachers. By investing time with substitutes and treating them as professionals, everyone gains in the district - especially students who have to depend on them when regular teachers cannot be in the classroom.
8. Follow up on previous professional development programs. The graduate students in my survey said several times how disheartened they felt when school districts spent a great deal of money on professional development programs in teaching reading that were not reviewed.
If the district spends money on these programs, it makes sense to follow up and find out how the programs are working, and if they are working. Teachers would be more than happy to share this information. In addition, teachers may add new information, as well as other creative insights to a previously presented idea.
9. Talk to parents, students and other professionals about reading. Survey participants said it is important to get out in the field and talk to those involved in teaching and learning reading, in and out of the classroom.
School board members can ask parents and students how reading is being taught in classrooms. This conversation will allow board members to make more effective decisions about reading programs and the policies that involve reading programs.
Also, board members should consider discussing current reading programs with reading specialists from other districts, as well as professors from local universities. As a former school administrator, I strongly advocate talking about the teaching of reading to everyone, including community members who support and contribute local school dollars. These community members need to know what is going on in your school reading programs, not only to be knowledgeable about the programs, but more importantly, so they are confident their tax dollars support worthwhile programs in reading.
Conversations with constituents about the teaching of reading may develop ideas that shift from an emphasis on assessment to one that emphasizes enhancing students' motivation to read.
10. Consider all teachers as reading teachers. I said earlier that neither size nor grade level matter in providing professional development programs in teaching reading.
This may be pivotal in providing success in reading for all students, regardless of age or grade. Pre-school teachers, elementary teachers and middle school teachers may experience reading methods courses in their respective programs. However, high school teachers do not take any reading methods courses, not because they do not want to, but because they are not required in their certification programs to do so by the state.
Perhaps some high school teachers may not want to take additional course work in teaching reading because they feel their course work should be in their disciplines. However, the number of high school teachers attending course work in the teaching of reading is increasing. Often high school districts recognize this weakness and offer professional development programs to assist teachers who encounter a high number of students with reading difficulties that interfere with their understanding of the disciplines being taught.
Effective school board members can assist students and teachers by actively seeking this information from high school teachers, who may share honestly the challenges they face on a daily basis in their classrooms. Crafting such a supportive environment is crucial to the success of our high school students.
As educators, my graduate students and I actively encourage all teachers to take part in course work or workshops that concentrate on learning strategies in teaching reading in the content areas, such as social studies and science. By doing so, teachers may be better prepared to deal with the challenges that this material presents to their students.
It is too bad Illinois does not require course work in teaching reading in content areas for all teachers. All too often, school districts have to spend additional dollars on professional development programs in this area - an area that could have been easily addressed within undergraduate certification programs. All students need to be able to read the material in content area classes in order to understand and comprehend new knowledge.
I hope these 10 ideas provide school board members with the appropriate background to help their districts and administrators with professional development programs in the teaching of reading, programs that are so necessary for all students and teachers to be successful. Without your assistance and support, our students may be placed in a vulnerable position of not being successful in future academic and workplace settings.
All of us who are involved in educating students are interested in helping every teacher become an expert in teaching reading. But, maybe more importantly, we are interested in positively influencing the lives of our students.
References
Allington, R.L. "What I've learned about effective reading instruction: From a decade of studying exemplary elementary classroom teachers," Phi Delta Kappan, 2002, 83(10), 740-747
Barth, R.S. "Teacher leader," Phi Delta Kappan, 2001, 82(6), 443-449
Board of the Directors, International Reading Association. Position statement, "Teaching all children to read: The role of the reading specialist," Reading Teacher, 2000, 54(1), 115-119
Bush, L., and Becker, K.A. "Keeping track of re-certification for Illinois teachers," The Illinois School Board Journal, 2001, 69(5), 28-29, 31
Riley, R.W. "Sixth annual state of American education speech," February 16, 1999, Online at: