Frequently Asked Questions About Reading Instruction
Developed by the Curriculum Review Team
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| Q. | 16. Why should I use the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) measure if the students are not able to use the strategies we teach them such as picture cues? |
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Picture cues are meant to provide a temporary support for students when they encounter unfamiliar words in text
during the early stages of learning to read. They are an aid for students who cannot yet read the words in the
passage accurately and fluently on the basis of the word's printed representation. Our goal is to help students
acquire all the skills and knowledge they need to accurately and fluently identify words in text while
simultaneously developing an understanding of the meaning of the passage. The Oral Reading Fluency test from
the DIBELS is a direct assessment of how well students can read grade level text without the "outside supports"
that will not always be available as students move to text at higher levels of difficulty. Students who remain
dependent upon "picture cues" as an aid to reading grade level text are not developing the kinds of word reading
skills that are increasingly required in late elementary, middle, and high school.
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| Q. | 17. Which assessments measure comprehension? |
| A. |
The following assessments include a measure for comprehension that has sufficient evidence of reliability and validity: DAR (Diagnostic Assessment of Reading) ERDA (Early Reading Diagnostic Assessment) GMRT (Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, 3rd ed.) GRADE (Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation) WRMT (Woodcock Reading Mastery Test) This is not a comprehensive list of tests to measure reading comprehension. Additional information is available on the FCRR website: http://www.fcrr.org/assessment |
| Q. | 18. What do you recommend for students who continually score in the red (high risk) on the DIBELS measures? |
| A. |
The most likely explanations for lack of progress of students who perform in the high risk range on the DIBELS are: 1) instruction
is not targeted on the right skills or is not being delivered effectively; 2) not enough time for instruction is being provided;
and 3) instruction is not being provided in a small enough group. Small group instruction provides a more powerful opportunity for
the teacher to monitor and correct recurring errors, and to make an assessment of the areas where the student is most in need of
additional instruction and practice. The smaller the group, the more effectively can these two critical things be accomplished.
For many students, the only way their reading skills will be accelerated toward grade level performance is through a sufficient
amount of focused small group instruction. If the teacher has access to an instructional program that supports explicit, systematic
instruction and effective, coordinated practice, then the first areas to focus adjustments on are amount of time for instruction
and instructional group size. Of course, a fundamental assumption here is that the instruction available to the student will be
responsive to reading performance data, and will be directly focused on areas of greatest instructional need.
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| Q. | 19. What is the difference between Core, Supplemental, and Intervention instruction? |
| A. |
Core Instruction is instruction provided to all students in the class, and it is usually guided by a comprehensive core reading program. Part of the core instruction is usually provided to the class as a whole, and part is provided during the small group, differentiated instruction period. Although instruction is differentiated by student need during the small group period, materials and lesson procedures from the core program can frequently be used to provide reteaching, or additional teaching to students according to their needs. Supplemental Instruction is instruction that goes beyond that provided by the comprehensive core program because the core program does not provide enough instruction or practice in a key area to meet the needs of the students in a particular classroom or school. For example, teachers in a school may observe that their comprehensive core program does not provide enough instruction in vocabulary, or in phonics, to adequately meet the needs of the majority of their students. They could then select a supplemental program in these areas to strengthen the initial instruction and practice provided to all students. Intervention Instruction is provided only to students who are lagging behind their classmates in the development of
critical reading skills. This instruction will usually be guided by a specific intervention program that focuses on one or more of the
key areas of reading development. This type of instruction is needed by only a relatively small minority of students in a class. In some
cases, students in 2nd and 3rd grade may have lagged so far behind grade level development of reading skills that very little content
from the grade level comprehensive core program is suitable for them. In these cases, students may need to receive instruction guided by
a comprehensive intervention program that is specifically designed to meet their specific needs while at the same time accelerating their
growth toward grade level reading ability. |
| Q. | 20. What materials should I use for targeted instruction for my struggling students? |
| A. |
Targeted Supplemental Reading Programs (TSRP) and Targeted Intervention Reading Programs (TIRP) provide instruction in one or more areas of reading skill. They are intended for flexible use to support extra instruction for all students, or in more intensive interventions to meet the needs of specific areas such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, or comprehension. If students in second or third grade are so far below grade level in their reading skills that very little of the instruction and practice supported by the comprehensive core program is appropriate for them, they may be more effectively served in a group or classroom that receives instruction guided by a targeted intervention program. Many programs that can be used effectively to support supplemental instruction or interventions have been reviewed by FCRR, and reports are available at: http://www.fcrr.org/FCRRReports/reportslist.htm |
| Q. | 21. What exactly is meant by immediate intensive intervention (iii), or 'triple i'? |
| A. |
Immediate intensive intervention is specifically designed and customized instruction for homogeneous small group or one-on-one
reading instruction. It is considered "immediate" because it should begin as soon as the teacher becomes aware that a student is
lagging seriously behind in the development of one or more critical reading skills. It involves systematic and explicit
instruction that specifically address the student's deficiency in a component skill, and it also involves more frequent progress
monitoring on target skills to ensure adequate progress. Immediate, intensive interventions can be provided by the classroom
teacher, a reading resource or special education teacher, or a well-trained and supervised paraprofessional. They can be provided
both within and outside of the 90 minute reading block. For example, during the small group instructional period within the 90
minute block, a resource teacher could provide an intensive intervention to one small group of students, while the teacher was
providing differentiated instruction to another group of students, and the rest of the students were working at independent reading
centers. One key to success for intensive interventions is that they must increase the instructional intensity available to the
child. To do this, interventions should be offered every day in as small a group as possible, and they should be delivered by a
skilled instructor. For more information about organizing and delivering immediate intensive interventions within a school, please
see A Principal's Guide to Intensive Reading Interventions for Struggling Readers in Reading First Schools by Joseph Torgesen:
http://www.fcrr.org/staffpresentations/Publication1a.pdf (PDF)
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| Q. | 22. What can we use for intervention when third grade students are not successful with the Comprehensive Core Reading Program? |
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Comprehensive Intervention Reading Programs (CIRP) are intended to replace the core reading programs for students who are reading one or more years below grade level, and who are struggling with a broad range of reading skills. Comprehensive Intervention Programs include instructional content based on the five essential components of reading instruction integrated into a coherent instructional design. A coherent design includes explicit instructional strategies, coordinated instructional sequences, ample practice opportunities, and aligned student materials.
Comprehensive Intervention Reading Programs provide instruction that is more intensive, explicit, systematic, and more motivating than instruction students have previously received. These programs also provide more frequent assessments of student progress and more systematic review in order to insure proper pacing of instruction and mastery of all instructional components. If the CIRP is used as a replacement for the Core Reading Program, the CIRP must be taught by a highly knowledgeable teacher with a relatively small group of students.
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