Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals

201 Pages·2001·9.367 MB·English

by  Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins

A practical quick-read resource for
recommend
school principals! · ·
Reading is crucial for students to obtain the essential skills and
knowledge to survive i_n today's complex, technological world. Elaine
K. McEwan offers middle and high school principals the tools to lead
their schools to reading excellence. Raising Reading Achievement in
r. .
Middle and High Schools presents the current status of student
achievement in America, links the importance of reading to learning,
clarifies the learning process of reading, and shows how to engage
students to read effectively. ·
Some special features of this book:
. Five simple-to-follow strategies for raising reading achievement
. Critical attributes of the process illustrated graphically ·
• A glossary of reading jargon
• Goals-at-a-glance for every chapter
. Review of exemplary reading programs that work
Middle and high school teachers can dev~lop a plan for raising reading
achievements in their schools. Raising Reading Achievement in
Middle and High Schools offers a plan with a proven track record.
This is an essential resource for administrators both with and without a
background in reading instruction or curriculu~. Reading specialists
'and central office administrators will also find this a crucial tool in
elevating reading programs and formulating district improvement goals.
11,e
Principals
Guide to
Raisina
t,
Reading About the Author:
Achie,ement
Elaine K. McEwan is a partner and
educational consultant with the McEwan
Daine K. !ld:11au Adkins Group offering training in
instructional leadership, team building,
raising achievement, and school-community
relations. A former teacher, librarian.
principal and .assistant superintendent for
"i:1
instruction in a suburban Chicago school ::r
Managing 00
district, she is the author of over two dozen tJ
Unmanageable vi.
~ -ents books for parents and educators. ~
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A Sage Publications Company
Elaine K. HcEwan 90000>
2455 Teller Road
HaryDamer
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-2218
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Call: [phone] Fax: [phone]
ISBN 0-8039-6787.-X
www.corwinpress.com

........ SING l{EADlNG
Aett
I EVE.MENT IN
MIDDLE AND
HIGH SCHOOLS
5 Simple-to-Follow
Strategies for Principals
Elaine K. McEwan
CORWIN PRESS, INC.
A Sage Publications Company
Thousand Oaks, California
Copyright © 2001 by Corwin Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. When forms and sample documents are included, their use is
authorized only by educators, local school sites, and/or noncommercial entities
who have purchased the book. Except for that usage, no part of this book may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information:
Corwin Press, Inc.
A Sage Publications Company
2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, California 91320
E-mail: [email protected]
Sage Publications Ltd.
6 Bonhill Street
London EC2A 4PU
United Kingdom
Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
M-32 Market
Greater Kailash I
New Delhi 110 048 India
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McEwan, Elaine K., 1941-
Raising reading achievement in middle and high schools:
5 simple-to-follow strategies for principals/ by Elaine K. McEwan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7619-7578-0 (c: alk. paper)
ISBN 0-7619-7579-9 (p: alk. paper)
1. Reading (Secondary) 2. Reading (Middle school) 3. Middle school
principals. 4. High school principals. I. Title.
LB1632.M35 2000
428.4'071'2-dc21 00-011047
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
03 04 05 06 07 08 8 7 6 5 4 3
Corwin Editorial Assistant: Kylee Liegl
Production Editor: Nevair Kabakian
Editorial Assistant: Victoria Cheng
Typesetter/Designer: D&G Limited, LLC
Cover Designer: Michelle Lee
Contents
PREFACE
XI
Who This Book Is For
Xll
What This Book Is Not
Xlll
Overview of the Contents xiii
For Principals on the Go xiv
An Invitation to Read xvi
The Challenge xvi
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xix
1. Middle and High School Reading Achievement:
Where Do We Stand? 1
What Do Adolescents Deserve? 3
The Current State of Reading Achievement iii the
United States 4
The Role of Standards in Raising Reading Achievement 6
Your Responsibility as an Instructional Leader 7
2. Focus on Changing What You Can Change 8
Change How You State Your Goals 10
Change How You Choose What to Teach 12
Change the Alignment of What You Teach 13
Change What You Teach 15
Change the Amount of Time You Spend Teaching It 16
Change Where You Teach It 18
18
Change How You Teach It
Change Who Is Teaching It 20
Change the Amount of Time Students Spend Practicing
What You Teach 22
Change How You Assess What You Teach 23
Change Your Expectations for Students 24
Change How You Group to Teach 27
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 2 29
3. Teach the Students Who Can't Read How to Read 31
How Children Learn to Read: A Short Lesson 32
Failing to Learn 37
Exemplary Programs 38
What Does a Good One Look Like? Remedial Reading in
High School 39
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 3 40
4. Teach Every Student How to Read to Learn 42
Cognitive Strategies: The Key to Meaning in the Act of
Reading 44
The Strategic Teacher 44
The Essential Strategies
50
Prediction
51
Question Generation
51
Question Answering
51
Summarization
52
Graphic Organizers
52
A Model for Multiple-Strategy Instruction
52
Reciprocal Teaching
53
Transactional Strategies Instruction
53
Vocabulary Instruction
56
How Can We Engage More Students in Strategic Reading?
58
Exemplary Programs
59
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 4
60
5. Motivate Every Student to Read a Lot: Reading in the "Zone" 62
The Value of Reading a Lot 64
The Importance of Reading Challenging, Well-Written,
and Varied Text 66
Challenging Text 66
Well-Written Text 67
Varied Text 69
The Necessity for Accountability 70
Deep in the Heart of Texas 70
Accountability Checks 73
Portfolios 73
Reading Journals 74
Book Reviews 7 4
Essays 74
Personal Anthologies 7 4
Every-Pupil-Response Activities 74
Teacher-Led Discussion Groups 75
Reading in the "Zone" 75
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 5 77
6. Motivate Every Student to Read a Lot: How to Do It 79
Engaging Students in Reading 81
The Right Kind of Teachers 82
Skills to Read With Confidence and Success 83
The Right Kind of Books 84
Opportunities for Directed and Focused Silent Reading
During the School Day 87
The Promotion of Books by Every Teacher 89
Superior Library/Media Services 91
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 6 92
7. Create a Reading Culture in Your School 94
The Force Is Within You 95
Principals Do Make a Difference: Instructional Leadership 100
You Can't Do It All on Your Own: Shared Decision Making 103
Look Before You Leap: Planning for Change 103
Step 1: Setting Improvement Goals in Reading
Achievement 104
Step 2: Defining the Scope of the Improvement Plan 105
Step 3: Selecting Tools and Practices for the
Improvement Plan 106
Step 4: Planning and Implementation 107
Get Mom and Dad on Your Side: The Importance of
Parental Involvement 109
What Gets Measured Gets Done: Assessment and
Accountability 110
Take Your Time: The Five-Year Plan 112
Goals at a Glance for Chapter 7 113
One Final Assignment 114
Conclusion 116
Resource A. Glossary 119
Resource B. Programs for Learning to Read 123
Reading Is FAME
124
Research Results
125
Books and Resource Materials
126
Staff Development Options
126
Program Information
126
Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes
126
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS)
127
Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery for Sight Words and
Spelling
127
Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language
Comprehension and Thinking
128
Resource Materials
128
Staff Development Options
128
Program Information
128
The Spalding Method
129
Books and Resource Materials
130
Staff Development Options
130
Program Information
130
Corrective Reading 131
Resource Materials 131
Staff Development Options 131
Program Information 131
Resource C. Strategic Reading Programs 132
The Benchmark School 133
Staff Development 133
Books and Resource Materials 133
Program Information 134
Reading Across the Disciplines 134
Program Information 13 7
HOTS: Higher-Order Thinking Skills 137
Staff Development Options 139
Program Information 139
Resource D. Goals at a Glance 140
Figure P.1. Goals at a Glance: Five Simple-to-Follow
Strategies for Raising Reading Achievement 141
Figure 2.1. Goals at a Glance: Twelve Alterable Variables 142
Figure 3.1. How Children Learn to Read 143
Figure 3.2. Goals at a Glance: Learning to Read 144
r
Figure 4.1. The Strategic Reader 145
Figure 4.2. The Strategic Teacher 146
Figure 4.3. Goals at a Glance: Reading to Learn 147
Figure 5.1. The "Zone" 148
Figure 5.2. Goals at a Glance: Reading to Raise Achievement 149
Figure 6.1. Motivating Students to Read in the "Zone" 150
Table 7.1. Force Field Analysis Work Sheet 151
Table 7.2. Sample Force Field Analysis 152
Figure 7.1. Sample Set of Core Values 153
Figure 7.2. Goals at a Glance: Seven Steps to Effective
Instructional Leadership 154