A couple of weeks ago on the Sprig Blog, 10 actions to increase literacy equity in schools was covered. It’s a highly recommended article for those who want to take action to address the existing literacy equity gap. 

The effort to reduce literacy inequity is a massive undertaking. It’s one that requires multiple actions. The original research conducted to write that piece included more than 10 ideas! Thus, as a part two of the same series, Sprig Learning presents to you, “7 More Actions Schools Can Take Today to Increase Literacy Equity”.

These 7 actions are just as applicable and research-based as those mentioned in the first part of this series. Sprig hopes some of these (if not all), are incorporated into future school improvement plans. 

Actions to Increase Early Literacy Equity

1. Strengthen Instruction Using What Has Been Proven to Work

For literacy equity to flourish, it’s important that every student has access to  high-quality instruction rooted in evidence-based research.

For example, introducing phonics and phonemic awareness early on is a recommended practice for boosting literacy achievement. The National Reading Panel reviewed 52 studies of phonemic awareness instruction and 38 studies on phonics instruction to find that they produced positive effects on early literacy development, especially when applied in kindergarten and grade 1. 

2. Ensure Professional Development Is Aligned to Evidence-based Reading Instruction

With a push towards structured literacy that places an equal emphasis on both knowledge and practice of reading, it’s important that preservice teachers receive the right training. But as some of the preparatory programs have not revised their syllabus yet, the professional development (PD) offered by schools and school districts must bridge the gap and effectively train all educators. 

When PD sessions address strategic reading instruction that is backed by extant research, educators are in a better position to address literacy inequity. Educators get access to new information which they can use to optimize their existing teaching practice. It’s also an opportunity to review and align the vision of the school to mitigate literacy inequity. 

3. Create a Culture of Literacy by Explaining What is being Taught

To progress towards literacy equity, it’s important to include young learners in discussions of what is working versus what is not. They need to understand all that is being done, and why it is being done, i.e. to provide themselves the best chance to succeed as an early reader, and in life.

The What Works Clearinghouse is an initiative of the Institute of Education Sciences that acts as a trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. It reviewed the literacy achievement literature to find 10 studies showing significant association between motivating and engaging instruction and the improvement of students’ reading comprehension. 

It was recommended that the purpose of each lesson be explained, as well as the utility of various comprehension strategies. Students felt more confident knowing that what they were learning would help them to read. 

4. Improve Kindergarten Readiness using Data and Outreach

In an article published by the  National Conference of State Legislatures, it says that prekindergarten standards should align to each state’s K-12 standards. In this way, kindergarten readiness is improved, which is a major factor in determining early literacy equity. Sprig created an evidence-based early Literacy resource map for the US, where one of the questions answered for each state is if the state connects birth to age 5 data with K-3 education. 

To address literacy inequity at its root, kindergarten readiness must improve. Where applicable, schools and the community as a whole can offer a helping hand to parents with either knowledge or learning resources. This can increase parental involvement, which is a big indicator of early reading success. 

5. Use Appropriate Differentiated Instruction Measures

In a report by Northwestern Evaluation Association on data-powered strategies for literacy development, the use of data to differentiate learning is highlighted throughout the main points. Sprig has written at length about the virtues of differentiated instruction (from the teacher’s point of view) and personalized learning (from the student’s point of view).

Among many of the positive qualities of differentiated instruction, its ability to mitigate literacy inequity is very potent. Having data of each student makes a world of difference in tailoring instruction according to each student’s needs and abilities. Teachers are able to optimize instructional groups and lesson plans for their classrooms.

6. Provide Developmentally Appropriate Assessments

All early literacy researchers recommend the use of age relevant or developmentally appropriate assessments. Assessments provide valuable data that can be used to identify students who need extra support, and also inform instruction. 

It increases all around accountability in the school when there are enough detailed formative assessments. In order to increase literacy equity, there needs to be a working system that monitors the progress of every student. For different terms at each grade level, there should be a baseline expectation of where each student is on all of their foundational reading skills.   

7. Develop an Effective Intervention Strategy

Interventions should be applied early and as often as necessary to ensure young learners understand the concepts that are required of them to become a strong reader. Thus, early interventions must be modified to suit the specific skills and knowledge that is appropriate for each student. 

Applying an intervention strategy requires careful deliberation over the needs of both teachers and students, and the capabilities of the school itself.  It’s not as easy as picking an intervention program and expecting greater literacy equity, regardless of the current circumstances. But after a proper needs assessment is conducted, a cost-effective and evidence-based intervention strategy is one of the best ways to narrow the literacy gap. 

Comprehensive Instruction for Each Student to Increase Literacy Equity

There is an increase in the discussion regarding what is the right approach to early literacy, analyzing both a structured approach and a balanced approach. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s ultimately the reading results that determines the efficiency of an approach. 

So it’s crucial to not leave any stones unturned when checking if a certain addition to instruction would have made a difference in early literacy achievement. In this regard, it’s good to be as comprehensive as possible when planning instruction. 

Kymyona Burk, a senior policy fellow at ExcelinEd and former elementary school language teacher, says that the focus should be on language acquisition and comprehension in the early years, where the teachers “explicitly and systematically teach their students how to decode”. Alongside phonics and word recognition, she also vouches for sentence structure and vocabulary. 

When reading instruction covers all the bases that are recommended by research, the likelihood of a student achieving reading mastery increases, regardless of their current situation. When actions like those recommended in this article and the prior article of the series are taken, it greatly benefits every early learner.

In a recent survey conducted by Pearson of nearly 3,000 primary teachers, the top 3 challenges faced by students in 2021 were said to be: the widening of the disadvantage gap, focused intervention for individual students, and identifying gaps in learning.

Every school needs a plan to help all students achieve their full potential in the early years. Or students run the risk of not meeting literacy expectations throughout their schooling, which has been the case both before and after the pandemic. 

Sprig has previously written on components of high-performing school improvement plans, focusing on particular case studies. It has also gleaned findings from over 30 case studies to provide guidance on improving early learning student achievement.

Those articles are strongly recommended for those who want to get a fuller understanding of how to raise early literacy scores. 

Creating the right plan and formulating the right strategy are important, but sometimes it helps to review ready-made actionable recommendations to help those students who are in dire need.

What are some things schools can do today to boost reading proficiency scores and accelerate both learning gains and learning recovery? These 10 actions can be implemented by any school to increase literacy equity. 

10 Actions That Promote Literacy Equity

1. Develop and Communicate Goals Around Early Literacy

There are many examples of school districts establishing specific literacy goals for students by the end of Grade 3. It helps to have such goals in place, which sets forth the vision of what is to be achieved. Top-down accountability considers the academic wellbeing of every student. 

For example, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Clark County School District Superintendent, Jesus Jara, has a goal of increasing Grade 3 reading scores by 7 percentage points. 

2. Identify a Reading Curriculum That Is Suited to Achieving Your Goals

Identifying the right reading curriculum (or program) that aligns to the research and evidence around the Science of Reading is essential for early literacy success. This must also align to the school’s vision, philosophy and learning objectives for early literacy success.

An evidence-based reading curriculum is so important because it helps in both horizontal and vertical planning. Teachers must plan for the school year. They must also know what the learning expectations are for students at both the beginning and end of the school year. In this way, the early learning journey of every young student is accounted for. 

3. Adopt a Early Literacy Screen to Identify Student Needs

Every state and province across North America has Grade 3 or Grade 4 standardized assessment. But there are 12 states in the US that don’t have mandated kindergarten entrance assessments. In Canada, there are no mandated kindergarten entrance assessments as of now.  

If student performance will be measured at Grade 3, it also makes sense to measure a baseline. It does not necessarily have to be standardized, but can be adopted and customized by individual schools to understand how to best help each student. Sprig Language, for example, offers such an initial assessment screen that uncovers each student’s strengths, needs and interests in regards to oral language.

4. Scaffold Individual Grade 2 Learners to Proficiency

By Grade 2, emerging readers should have acquired phonological awareness and phonics skills that will enable them to stay at grade level. But at times when there has been so much disruption to learning, there are many students who still struggle with these skills, for whom scaffolding may be required. 

Given that the Pre-K to 3 period is so crucial, assumptions of proficiency must not be made. It’s important to have regular formative assessments that monitor the growth of every student’s ability to read. 

5. Adopt a School-Wide Literacy Plan

Literacy skills do not have to be restricted to language classes. Reading skills can be included in other subjects as well, such as math and science. Administrators can provide guidance to all teachers in figuring out how to incorporate certain evidence-based literacy skills into their lesson plans.

In Cedar Valley Community School in Washington, literacy intervention specialist Kim Copeland, has expanded the school’s literacy program where students can practice the literacy skills they need throughout the day, and in general education classrooms. 

6. Set High Standards 

In order to achieve literacy equity, expectations should be realistic. But they should also be ambitious to realize the highest latent potential for success for every child. 

The Leave No Child Behind report from UNESCO, says that principals in schools where the students succeed have a can-do attitude. In all the most improved schools cirted in the report, high expectations are set, where a consistent, coherent and focused literacy program is applied.

7. Identify Struggling Readers as Early as Possible

Time is of the essence in early literacy success. Whether it’s finding out if someone has dyslexia, or finding out if certain circumstances are preventing a student from gaining an optimum learning experience, such information needs to be known early on, so the right countermeasures can be taken. 

Not every state in the US has mandated dyslexia screening. But that does not mean an individual school cannot offer this screening service to its students. Early literacy intervention is a point that cannot be stressed enough. 

8. Establish a Multi-tiered System of Support

A multi-tiered system of support is a framework that aims to improve learning outcomes for all students, depending on the type of support required. A school should have a common shared language to identify students according to their level of needs.

The highest-quality evidence-based instruction should be provided to the whole classroom. But for those students who need extra support via small group instruction, such help should be made available to them.

9. Hire Positions Specializing in Literacy

It’s important to provide primary teachers the help they need to teach early literacy to all students. Literacy coaches, reading specialists, literacy interventionists, and literacy coordinators make a big difference in the quality of the early learning experience. The efficiency of such positions have been repeatedly proven. 

Fulton County Schools adopted the Every Child Reads Plan in 2021, which includes placing designated reading coaches and paraprofessionals in every elementary school in the district. 

10. Establish Collective Ownership of Literacy Goals

When hiring new positions and fostering a culture of early literacy success, it is important to obtain buy-in from all teachers, staff and administrators. 

Rollie O. Jones, principal at Kellman Corporate Community School in Chicago, says “we have a cross-section of teachers, some young, some seasoned, some in-between, but they all must buy into our vision. I look for teachers who will make that commitment to a coordinated curriculum and become part of our family here in the school.”

Programs VS Practices in Early Literacy Equity

Efforts to find the best early literacy programs usually revolve around the teaching resources used by educators. There are so many resources available and new ones are being created every school year. The findings of the effectiveness of all such programs have been discrepant. 

Rather, studies that focus on best practices have yielded more consistent results over the years. It is difficult to determine one best program that is superior to all others for achieving literacy equity.  But it is possible to determine best practices based on evidence that shows robust relationships between particular practices and high literacy achievement. 

This article showcased 10 such practices, at both a teacher and administrator level, which when applied can lead to successful outcomes for all students. 

Sprig Reading, Sprig Learning’s newest early learning platform, is an interactive tool for evidence-based instruction. It promotes teaching, assessment and differentiation best practices in early reading, so teachers have a way to teach the foundational skills and concepts, and track the progression of students. 

When making decisions on education investments, both cost and efficiency must be taken into account. Both factor into the academic ROI, where the idea is to maximize student achievement for a certain sum spent. 

There are many studies that explore the impact of educational tools, but the cost-effectiveness of these tools is often overlooked. 

Costs include the price tag of such tools, but also the cost of the resources that are required for their successful implementation. 

With the launch of Sprig Reading for the upcoming school year, it is a great time to discuss cost-effectiveness in raising reading achievement. Sprig Reading is meant to be an evidence-based, affordable solution for educators to improve the literacy scores of their students. 

Reading Intervention Can be Very Expensive

In a cost-effectiveness analysis of 7 early literacy programs that have been effective at improving reading outcomes for K-3 students, the cost per student was associated with the grade level and students’ reading struggles. 

For students at higher grade levels (e.g., Grade 3) and those that are really struggling (e.g., bottom 25th percentile), program costs were as much as $10,108 per student (or over $200,000 for a typical classroom of 20 students)!

For students in Grade 1 who were scoring in the bottom 20th percentile, the cost per student was $4,144. For kindergarten students, who were scoring well below average in the bottom 20th-30th percentile, the costs were $791 per student.

For students in Grade 1 scoring slightly below average, the cost per student was $282. Despite being at a higher grade than kindergarten, the cost implications were lower because of the focus on students who were struggling, but closer to the 50th percentile. 

Besides grade level and reading struggles, program duration also heavily influenced the pricing per student. The shortest intervention studied, at 5 weeks, was $479 per student, whereas a 28-week program ranged from $6,696 to $10,108. 

Besides the three levers (grade level, student scores, and program duration) that control costs, a major takeaway from the cost-effectiveness analysis study is the hefty price that is to be paid for each struggling reader.

At a time when students are recovering from missed learning opportunities due to the pandemic, it is not uncommon to see more than half of the class miss the mark for reading proficiency. 

For example, in a class of 20 students, this means 10 students will require some level of reading intervention.

In kindergarten, considering the lower cost per student from the two sample cases in the study ($479), the costs amount to approximately $5,000 per classroom. 

In grade 3, considering the lower cost per student from the two sample cases in the study ($6,696), the costs amount to approximately $65,000 per classroom.

Whichever way we look at it, reading intervention is a costly measure. 

Footnotes

1. Based on the following research studies: 

https://amplify.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mCLASS_MOY-Results_February-2022-Report.pdf

https://literacy.virginia.edu/sites/g/files/jsddwu1006/files/2022-04/PALS_StateReport_Fall_2021.pdf

https://www.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/Reading_on_Grade_Level_111710.pdf

2. # of students needing intervention = # of students x % not reaching reading proficiency  

3. Note that these costs are averages and costs differ based on the reading intervention needs of each student.  Based on the following research studies:

https://repository.upenn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/000d74b0-2893-4e20-9c9d-ee56824055ac/content

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1089965.pdf

4. Note that total costs assume there is a budget to support every student that requires reading intervention. In actuality, most school budgets will not cover every single student’s needs at each grade level. Total Costs = # of students requiring intervention x Average cost per student

5. Total Costs Per Grade = # of students requiring intervention x Average cost per student

As the table above shows, proven and successful early reading intervention programs can be very costly.  For a typical school, costs can quickly add up to more than $275,000 for a year to support all students in need of early reading interventions.  Now given this high price tag for a school (and school division), often difficult decisions are required to determine which students will receive the reading intervention support due to the lack of funds.

The table above further outlines the costs of Sprig Reading, an evidence-based early reading tool that supports teachers to assess, monitor, plan and instruct on the foundational reading skills. This program has repeatedly proven to bring over 90% of students to reading at grade-level.

In a typical school, the above table shows that when using an inclusive program like Sprig Reading, as early as pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, school costs can be drastically reduced as fewer students require more expensive reading intervention programs in grade 3 and beyond.  

Sprig Reading is now available for purchase or a free trial on our website. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose the option that best suits you.

Reading Intervention Can Be Exclusive

Given the high costs of reading intervention programs, it cannot be guaranteed that every student who requires help will receive it.  

Further, if students are not identified in kindergarten, latent gaps in foundational reading skills generally appear at the higher grade levels. 

Not to mention, it is more costly to intervene at the higher grade levels, as seen in the last section.  

Rather, if schools adopt a structured literacy inspired or evidence-based approach for the whole classroom, the likelihood of students requiring intervention decreases. 

Maria Murray, president of The Reading League, a nonprofit, literacy organization out of New York, says that the gap in reading can be closed with “transformative change in the classroom—not just heaping on more programs”. 

She goes on to say “Too often, it’s just an additive model with little to no attention to core classroom instruction and the knowledge that the teachers possess”.

Thus, in order to improve the methods of teaching reading to raise literacy scores, more attention needs to be paid in strengthening the curriculum and increasing the knowledge of educators.

In other words, early literacy efforts have to be widespread and inclusive. The preparation should be such that every student is ready to be helped with research-backed practices and teacher knowledge that minimizes the need for later intervention. 

Addressing the Root of the Issue of Reading Interventions

There have been studies showing the efficiency of reading intervention programs in raising alphabetics and text reading fluency scores, albeit at a very high cost per unit increase in the effect size.

Two questions arise. 

1. Are intervention solutions reaching all students and are the gains being sustained? The reading achievement per grade level is still very low across North America. This suggests that there is room for improvement in both whole classroom coverage and skills retainment.

1. Is this sustainable? Given how expensive reading intervention programs are per student, can they be sustained given the pressures from other academic needs such as after school tutoring, new teaching staff hires, and summer learning.

If the desired achievement results are not attained, it makes sense to try new evidence-based approaches that have the potential to reduce costs. For example, Stacy Pim, an elementary reading specialist in Virginia, noticed that the skills of Grade 1 students were not improving, and by Grade 2 most of them were reading below grade level. She took it upon herself to use more of her instruction time to teach students phonics-based components such as letter-sound correspondence.  Only a year and half later, Virginia enacted a law mandating evidence-based literacy training and instruction. 

EducationWeek reported that the most popular reading programs did in fact diverge from evidence-based practices in teaching struggling readers. Phonics is included as a component, but not in the systematic manner that is recommended by the Science of Reading. It is often challenging for teachers to organize classroom lessons in the correct sequence in such programs. 

Reading Intervention Is Still Needed. 

There will always be some students who require extra intensive support that can only be delivered using a pull-out method and with the help of early literacy specialists. 

But Early and Only When Required.

Research says that 80% of students should be able to read in any environment or with explicit and direct high-quality tier 1 instruction, meant for the whole classroom. 

An additional 15% of students can be moved to tier 1 with additional attention and support. This may mean actual reading intervention programs, or in-class differentiated small group instruction.

But it’s safe to say that no more than 20% of students should require reading intervention when early evidence-based approaches to early reading are implemented in kindergarten.

By focusing on early literacy tools that supplement or strengthen the foundational reading skills, it’s possible to greatly reduce the number of students requiring additional intervention programs later on. 

This reduces expenditures for the school and school districts while simultaneously ensuring every student is on a track to achieve reading success grounded in strong foundational reading skills. 

In the truest sense of the definition, it improves academic ROI!

Credits

<a href=”https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/read” title=”read icons”>Read icons created by Freepik – Flaticon</a>

Science of Reading-based literacy programs often focus on phonics and phonological awareness. They are two major factors that, when mastered, lead to reading success.

Students with dyslexia specifically struggle with these two things. They have difficulty learning how sounds relate to alphabets, and how words are composed of different sounds.

Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process language. 

With the push towards evidence-based early literacy approaches and reforms in reading instruction, helping dyslexic early learners has become a major topic in conversations surrounding literacy equity. 

Dyslexia, and other related co-occurring learning disorders like ADHD, can put affected students at a disadvantage. In a diverse classroom, the needs of such students can be overlooked, unless we pledge to take the necessary steps to provide the support they need.

In this article, Sprig covers the basics of dyslexia, and offers tips to improve reading with dyslexia in the early years of education. 

Although dyslexia is non-curable, when properly managed, it’s possible for many dyslexic students to be proficient in reading!

 How Common is Dyslexia? 

The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity estimates that dyslexia affects 20% of the population and represents 80-90% of all those who have some sort of learning disability.  

Thus, it is very common, and is the leading cause of reading difficulty for those who are struggling to read.

The International Dyslexia Association also confirms dyslexia’s wide prevalence, stating that 15-20% of the population are affected by it. 

Hence, dyslexia is a challenging reality of early literacy that needs to be addressed. 

To begin tackling the reality of dyslexia, it’s good to be aware of the diagnosis process. 

Who Does Dyslexia Affect Most?

There is not enough evidence to state that any one specific age group or gender is more affected by dyslexia. There is evidence to suggest however, that children with dyslexic parents have a greater risk of developing dyslexia.

Dyslexia starts affecting the child as soon as symptoms emerge, and if these signs are not dealt with, their likelihood of reading success dwindles with every school year.

For example, here are some guideposts for symptoms of dyslexia.

15 months: First word not uttered yet.

24 months: First phrase not uttered yet.

Before age 5: Not recognizing alphabets and common rhyming patterns, mispronouncing familiar words and difficulty learning words.

Age 5 to 6: Having problems speaking and pronouncing words, not associating letters with sounds, making reading errors not related to any sounds of letters in the sentence, expressing how difficult reading is and not wanting to go to school. 

Thus, it makes sense that, rather than just spending effort in the correct diagnosis of dyslexia, it’s better to create a system that monitors all signs of symptoms at every early grade, starting from pre-K if possible. 

Such an inclusive approach treats every early learner with a safety net. Regardless if the student is actually dyslexic or not, corrective measures can be taken by teachers at the earliest onset of symptoms. 

It begins with how familiar the teachers are about dyslexia’s impact in early literacy. 

Are Teachers Trained to Recognize Dyslexia?

Many states are enacting legislation that requires dyslexia training for teachers. 

In a study of over 500 teachers from one such Midwestern state, it was found that teachers held both scientific conceptions as well as misconceptions about the concept of dyslexia. 

For example, 94% of teachers correctly agreed that students with dyslexia have difficulty reading and spelling words. But 81% also incorrectly agreed that seeing letters and words backwards was a characteristic of dyslexia. 

It was found that the reported amount of previous training on dyslexia significantly predicted the teacher’s dyslexia knowledge scores. 

That’s why it is so important to include units in teacher professional development that cover dyslexia. 

With the right knowledge, teachers will have a strong understanding of dyslexic symptoms, be able to better assess it, and apply the correct interventions. 

Best Intervention for Dyslexia

Research confirms that the assessment and intervention approach works well for identifying and helping children who are failing to learn to read at an expected rate. 

Programs which consist of training in letter-sound knowledge, segmenting and blending, and reading from texts, tend to be better than programs which only focus on oral language skills. 

Researchers have studied the components of evidence-based interventions for literacy difficulties to recommend that interventions be:

Systematic

Well-structured

Multi-sensory

Incorporate Direct Teaching 

Involve frequent revision

All of these program traits are a part of Science of Reading-based early literacy programs. 

Advice From Dyslexia Reading Programs

• Keep it Straightforward

Single step directions that are easy to follow are best for instructing students who are challenged with dyslexia. It’s why explicit instruction is such a main feature of Science of Reading-based reading approaches. 

• Keep it Interactive

Providing multiple opportunities for participation is important for engaging students and ensuring they are regularly interacting with teachers and classmates. 

Because early reading struggles can be so discouraging, avoiding interactions all together is a common go-to move for early learners, which has to be avoided if the goal of reading proficiency by Grade 3 is to be achieved.

• Keep it Transparent

In order to bring forth true literacy equity, the learning journey of every child needs to be accounted for.  Programs should facilitate the tracking of phonemic awareness milestones and see if early learners are truly able to read without the help of any visual aid. 

Build Reading Proficiency in Every Dyslexic Learner

To date, there is no permanent cure for dyslexia. But by intervening early and sustaining high-quality early literacy instruction, it is possible to alleviate the symptoms. 

When help is available for dyslexic students, they are more likely to succeed as readers. It’s why making the right support available in the early grades is so important for reading success.

Rather than waiting for a diagnosis, which can be difficult because there isn’t an official test for dyslexia, it’s better to take timely action by observing symptoms.

When teachers have the right background knowledge in dyslexia, and have the tools to provide evidence-based literacy instruction, dyslexic students can benefit from the rigorous and repeated instruction they require, to overcome their initial learning challenges.

Achieving over 90% grade-level reading achievement will mean that a large number of dyslexic students will learn how to read. 

Sprig Reading promises to help teachers teach, assess and differentiate learning for students with dyslexia. Find out more information by joining the waitlist. Be the first in line to get details on the launch event.