ABSTRACT
In a recent summer school intervention, we developed elementary grade teachers’ expertise in the broad areas of reading-fl uency, vocabulary, comprehension of narrative and informational text, and reading stamina. Th e National Reading Panel (NRP) report (available online at https://www.nationalreadingpanel.org) identifi ed fl uency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension as critical components of skilled reading. We believe that reading stamina, or persistence while reading texts of increasing challenge, is also critical and related to fl uency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Recent analyses of student test performances (Guthrie, 2002) have noted that too many children seem unable to sustain independent reading for more than a brief period, and few children can sustain a theme or hold the details of longer texts (5-10 pages) often found in both school assignments and reading assessments. We call this reading stamina. Additionally, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data show that the longer the passage, the lower the proportion of children who
Anne McGill-Franzen UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
Jacqueline Love Zeig UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
are able to respond correctly, even when passage diffi culty is constant. Similarly, the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS), an international comparison of reading performances of nine-yearolds (fourth graders in the United States), dramatically illustrated the weaknesses American students have in reading informational texts compared with their peers internationally (available online at https://www.pirls.org). Although American children performed well above the international average in reading narrative texts, their performance in reading informational text fell well below. Th e available data indicated a need for interventions targeted to improving reading instruction beyond the early decoding skills, and especially an increased emphasis on reading informational texts, commonly referred to as “reading to learn.” Finally, motivation-the desire to read-has received increased emphasis on the part of reading researchers. Without motivation to read, it is unlikely that students will develop the stamina and strategic reading behaviors that lead to increased performance on state and national standards. Motivation, in fact, has been called the “missing pillar” in the NRP report (Allington, 2005). Although essential for sustained engagement with reading (Guthrie, 2004), motivation was not listed as a critical component of reading instruction. In a recent meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies, Guthrie and Humenick (2004) identifi ed four kinds of classroom practices that were highly associated with motivation-(a) setting knowledge goals,
(c) providing interesting texts, and (d) enabling peer collaboration while reading. Th us, the general framework for our intervention was determined both by current knowledge in the fi eld of reading education, in particular, research that addressed the use of drawing and visual supports for students who struggle with reading and writing, and the present direction of policy toward a focus on the components of the NRP report.
