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to read well ln early elementary school.
Those who don't learn to read well ln these
early years usually face a school tra|ectory of
fallure that lncludes poorer overall learnlng
and poorer self-esteem, as well as a greater
chance of severe behavloral problems and
eventual school dropout. These negatlve
consequences of poor early readlng happen
to many struggllng readers, desplte the fact
that these chlldren started school ready
and eager to learn. As a soclety, we owe
all struggllng readers the best posslble
schoollng opportunltles and a fast start
ln developlng llteracy. et, desplte pollcy
makers and educators endorslng the need
for better early llteracy lnstructlon for
struggllng readers, the attalnment of the
lowest-achlevlng chlldren has not lmproved
over the last few decades.
For years, schools have been provldlng a
number of programs, generally not research
based, for struggllng readers who fall to learn
to read well ln early elementary school. These
strategles lnclude speclfc programs that take
the chlld out of the classroom for speclallzed
lnstructlon, desplte the fact that research
suggests that classroom teachers may be
the most effectlve professlonals to help
struggllng readers. Although some of these
programs work well, many do not make a
permanent dlfference to overall performance.
ln addltlon, many of these programs requlre
costly tralnlng of speclallzed teachers who
dellver the program outslde normal lessons.
Thus, many schools fnd these programs too
costly or not sustalnable.
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At the unlverslty of horth Carollna we
have developed a program, Targeted
keadlng lnterventlon (Tkl), whlch uses a
dlfferent strategy to help struggllng readers
make rapld progress ln readlng. we traln
classroom teachers to help struggllng
readers, slnce they are the professlonals
who know the chlldren the best, spend the
most tlme wlth them, and can sustaln the
lnterventlons after we have left thelr school.
we have found our Tkl program to be as
effectlve as programs that pull chlldren out
of thelr usual lessons, whlle ensurlng a more
permanent, posltlve dlfference ln readlng for
the struggllng readers.
Tkl has the followlng elements that can be
employed by almost all schools, even wlth
llmlted economlc resources:
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0OFUPPOFJOTUSVDUJPO Classroom
teachers work one-to-one wlth one
struggllng reader at a tlme every day for
1 mlnutes whlle the rest of the class ls
focused on another task. Thls effclent
lndlvlduallzed lnstructlon targets the most
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Marnle 0lnsbergEFTDSJCFIPX
Better(US)aut11 pp06-07 coach.indd 6 10/11/11 14:29:23
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51RUCCLtkC RA0R5
uslng a llteracy coach
presslng need of the student ln readlng.
These sesslons contlnue dally untll the
chlld makes rapld progress ln readlng
and can be moved lnto small-group and
personallzed lndependent actlvltles to
malntaln readlng galns. These sesslons
optlmlze the chlld's engagement and
motlvatlon because of the focus on thelr
lndlvldual learnlng.
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0ianostic thinkin and "instructional
match." kecent evldence has emphaslzed
the lmportance of "lnstructlonal match,"
that ls, gearlng readlng lnstructlon to
the sklll level of the chlld. Fffectlve
teachlng requlres classroom teachers to
thlnk dlagnostlcally and to personallze
lnstructlon for each struggllng learner.
8y learnlng a set of dlagnostlcally
effclent word ldentlfcatlon and
text comprehenslon strategles that
are matched to the sklll level of the
struggllng reader, classroom teachers can
dramatlcally lncrease struggllng readers'
progress ln early readlng.
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Rapid acceleration of decodin abilities
and text comprehension. The prlmary
goal of readlng ls readlng comprehenslon,
but thls goal can be thwarted by the
lnltlal barrler of word ldentlfcatlon. The
teachers ln our program relentlessly
work on students' word ldentlfcatlon
abllltles, frst by helplng them crack
the code. Systematlc, multl-sensory
lnstructlon ln sound-symbol relatlonshlps
wlthln the context of words and text can
rapldly help the student crack that code.
Thls multl-sensory word work must be
followed by gulded oral readlng, uslng
a book that targets the chlld's level of
word dlffculty. Thls gulded oral readlng
not only relnforces word ldentlfcatlon,
but also helps the chlld learn to
summarlze, answer questlons, and
dlscuss lmpllcatlons from the text. These
lntegrated components maxlmlze the
ultlmate goal of early readlng lnstructlon:
readlng comprehenslon.
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fscalatin opportunities to read. A recent
study lndlcates that the average rd
grader reads for only 1S mlnutes of each
school day. 0lven that struggllng readers
are llkely to read even less than average
readers, a dramatlc shlft ln teachlng ls
essentlal to enable struggllng readers to
become confdent readers. Tkl teachers
press toward the goal of code cracklng,
whlch lncludes dally, challenglng readlng
practlce durlng one-to-one and small-
group sesslons and, lmportantly, follow
that wlth repeated readlng of the same
text. These and other opportunltles
for readlng practlce bulld the chlld's
word ldentlfcatlon automatlclty (slght
word speed), fuency, and readlng
comprehenslon.
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Literacy coaches work with classroom
teachers. Llteracy coaches who watch the
teacher worklng wlth a struggllng reader
ln weekly and]or blweekly 1 mlnute
sesslons are the llnchpln to the success
of Tkl, by helplng classroom teachers
make sophlstlcated dlagnostlc declslons
that result ln rapld readlng galns for a
struggllng reader. weekly or blweekly
coachlng sesslons, elther llve or vla
webcam, have been shown to permanently
change the way teachers thlnk about and
teach thelr struggllng readers. Teachers
beneft from havlng an expert ln readlng
development walk alongslde them as
they work wlth each reader. ln these
weekly]blweekly sesslons, the coach
observes a one-to-one Tkl sesslon, and
then brlefy dlscusses the student's most
presslng need. Through thls professlonal
relatlonshlp, the teacher learns more
about readlng development, dlagnosls,
and effclent strategles that proft not only
the one chlld, but the other students ln the
class as well. webcam technology, such as
Apple's lChat or FaceTlme, or Skype, has
been especlally useful ln provldlng thls
ongolng support ln a cost-effectlve manner
to teachers across the country.
Cenc|usien
Struggllng readers ln early elementary
school are at very hlgh rlsk for later school
fallure, and other negatlve outcomes,
unless we lntervene early to maxlmlze the
posslblllty of good readlng skllls for these
chlldren. kecent research has endorsed
small-group and one-to-one support from
classroom teachers as belng partlcularly
benefclal for struggllng readers, especlally
where thls ls dlagnostlc. Llteracy coaches,
who scaffold the lnstructlon of teachers as
they work wlth struggllng readers, can create
the best context for struggllng readers to
lmprove dramatlcally ln readlng.
Abeut the authers
Lynne vernon-feaans ls the wllllam C.
Frlday 0lstlngulshed Professor ln the
School of Fducatlon at the unlverslty of
horth Carollna at Chapel hlll. She heads the
Targeted keadlng lnterventlon Pro|ects.
Marnie 0insber ls an lnvestlgator at the
Frank Porter 0raham Chlld 0evelopment
lnstltute at the unlverslty of horth Carollna
at Chapel hlll and ls the Program 0eveloper
for the Targeted keadlng lnterventlon
Pro|ects.
further reading
Targeted keadlng lnterventlon
http:JJtaretedreadinintervention.orJ
Foorman 8k and Torgesen } (zoo1), Crltlcal
Flements of Classroom and Small-group
lnstructlon Promotes keadlng Success ln
all Chlldren, -FBSOJOH%JTBCJMJUJFT3FTFBSDI
BOE1SBDUJDF, 16(), zo-1z.
Snow CF, 8urns SM, and 0rlffn P (Fds.)
(1S), 1SFWFOUJOH3FBEJOH%JGDVMUJFTJO
:PVOH$IJMESFO. washlngton, 0C: hatlonal
Academy Press.
vernon-Feagans L et al (zo1o), A 0lagnostlc
Teachlng lnterventlon for Classroom
Teachers: helplng Struggllng keaders
ln Farly Flementary School. -FBSOJOH
%JTBCJMJUZ3FTFBSDIBOE1SBDUJDF, z(),
1S-.
Amendum S}, vernon-Feagans L, and
0lnsberg MC (zo11), The Fffectlveness of
a Technologlcally-facllltated Classroom-
based Farly keadlng lnterventlon: The
Targeted keadlng lnterventlon, 5IF
&MFNFOUBSZ4DIPPM+PVSOBM, 11z (1),
1o,-1.
0lnsberg MC, vernon-Feagans L, and
Amendum S (zo1o), webcam-coachlng for
Professlonal Learnlng, "DBEFNJD&YDIBOHF
2VBSUFSMZ, 1(1), o-.
0espite pe|icy makers and educaters endersing the need
Ier better ear|y |iteracy instructien Ier strugg|ing readers,
the attainment eI the |ewest-achieving chi|dren has net
impreved ever the |ast Iew decades.
What we knew
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keadlng fallure can lead to a tra|ectory
of fallure ln school and soclal and
emotlonal dlffcultles.
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kesearch suggests that classroom
teachers may be the most effectlve
professlonal to help struggllng readers.
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Support for struggllng readers should
focus on lndlvldual needs.
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Teachers, and therefore struggllng
readers, beneft from llteracy coaches.
Better(US)aut11 pp06-07 coach.indd 7 10/11/11 14:29:23