Feature Article

The Traits of an Effective Reader

Excerpted from the Spring 2001 Journal of School Improvement. For the full article by Dean Arrasmith and Kevin Dwyer, please go to http://www.ncacasi.org/jsi/2001v2i1/traits.adp.

What do good readers know and what are they able to do?

The Northwest Regional Education Lab (NWREL), set out to answer this question.  After reviewing reading literature, synthesizing the skills outlined by state reading standards, and observing student readers, NWEL identified the following six traits of an effective reader.

1. Conventions: Reading the Lines
Readers must learn to recognize and identify the conventions that create meaning and expectations in the text. For beginning readers, "decoding conventions" means deciphering the words, symbols, punctuation, and grammar in a text. Conventions also means recognizing genre conventions and the organizational framework of a text-the conventions of a poem, story, novel, newspaper, or textbook.

2. Comprehension
When readers establish comprehension, they create meaning from a text. Comprehension occurs when readers make predictions, identify plot elements such as major and minor characters, and select main ideas and significant and supporting details. An essential component of comprehension is the reader's ability to self-monitor or recognize when the text is not making sense and to develop strategies to overcome problems.

3. Context: Reading Between the Lines
Context involves reading between the lines to identify the setting, the vocabulary reflective of the setting, and the tone and voice of the author. Readers realize context when they describe historical time periods, find evidence of social issues, and recognize cultural overtones in the text. Context also includes placing ideas and concepts in a "bigger picture" to help students see the practical application of mathematical or scientific concepts.

4. Interpretation
When readers interpret, they "fill in gaps" in the text, using clues and evidence from the text to analyze problems and draw conclusions. Readers develop interpretations when they make plausible explanation of ideas or arguments by recognizing and dealing with ambiguities in the text, reconciling those ambiguities through interpretation.

5. Synthesis: Reading Beyond the Lines
Synthesis involves reading beyond the lines, as students must apply and synthesize knowledge from outside the text. Readers synthesize when they combine information in new ways to order, sort, or outline information from the text. Readers must compare and contrast information from multiple sources or determine cause and effect.

6. Critiquing for Evaluation
Evaluation occurs when readers are able to enter into a dialogue with the text and make the text their own. Readers evaluate by expressing opinions, raising questions, challenging the text, challenging the author, and noting bias and distortion. Evaluation represents the highest level of critical thinking and reading.

When readers use each of the six traits to complete a thorough comprehension of narrative or informational texts, they are, in essence, reading the lines, reading between the lines, and reading beyond the lines (Gray, 1960; Pearson & Johnson, 1978). The traits identify the six critical reading skills necessary to develop readers who can process knowledge from print material, make meaning of it, and apply this meaning in other situations.

To learn more about the six traits and how teachers can use them in their classrooms, visit the Spring 2001 issue of the Journal of School Improvement at http://www.ncacasi.org/jsi/2001v2i1/traits.adp

Success Stories - Schools Share Promising Reading Interventions

Representatives from the following schools will be presenting more information about their reading interventions at NCA CASI's Annual Meeting in Chicago April 6-9. They join close to 100 practitioners who will be leading sessions at the meeting to share practices that work. To find out more about the meeting, go to http://www.ncacasi.org/event/meeting.

Reading Rotation at Belleville High School, KS by Tana Trost, Spanish Teacher
To improve the expository reading skills of our students at Belleville High School, we have designed a cross-curricular intervention that we call Reading Rotation that has provided us with a framework for facilitating the application of any number of reading strategies intended to improve students' comprehension, reading speed, focus and concentration, and general knowledge at the secondary level.

For 50 minutes eight times a year, students gather in mixed-grade level groups with two or more instructors, most of whom teach content areas other than English, to follow a prescribed procedure for reading a 2 ½-page essay excerpted from a magazine, journal, or newspaper published during the previous year. The procedure includes skim reading, timed-reading, testing, application of reading strategies, and discussion. In their English classrooms, the students have been trained to use QAR, SQ3R, graphic organizers, and discussion as reading strategies. Students are asked to apply one or more of these strategies to the reading selections during Reading Rotation each month. The selections are from eight different content areas-math, science, business and technology, health and family, language arts and communication, agriculture, social science, and fine arts. The students take a 10-point quiz before they apply the reading strategies and retake the identical quiz after using the strategies. English instructors record the quiz scores as part of the student's grade.

Our data collection shows that class averages of Reading Rotation quiz scores have improved over the three-year period of the NCA cycle. Also Belleville High School's state assessment scores for expository reading comprehension have improved or remained high.

You can find out more Belleville's success with Reading Rotation by attending their presentation on Tuesday, April 8, at 8:30 a.m. at the NCA CASI Annual Meeting.

Sustained Silent Reading at Jay County High School, IN by Wood J. Barwick, Principal
Yikes! Our kids aren't reading, and we're letting them get by with it! Every day, nearly every teacher in our building faces the reality that many members of the class haven't read the assignment. Are they capable of reading it or have they just decided to let it go…again? It's a "Catch-22;" we can't waste the time because there is curriculum to be covered and learning to be insured, but we're certainly not able to use the lesson exactly as planned. What to do?

The first thing we decided to do was simply make sure that every student is given uninterrupted reading time every day to read a personally selected book. We call it sustained silent reading (SSR). For the first 20 minutes of every day, everybody is reading. We permit no intrusions on the time, and we insist that students pick their own books with guidance about reading level from a teacher or librarian. The SSR teacher observes the level of each student's engagement in reading for the day and records that observation numerically; students keep logs of the pages read each day. Students are required to pass two Accelerated Reader tests over the course of the year; most choose to take a test for every book they read. Our next challenge is to keep them reading for pleasure and get them reading for classes too.

In addition to SSR, we are integrating reading strategies across all content areas. The amazing thing about strategies for teaching reading is that they are mostly just like the strategies for teaching content. K-W-L charts, SQ3R processes, and agree/disagree responses can be used to focus students on reading for understanding before, during, and after the reading assignment. Deliberately assigning reading strategies as part of the textbook or other reading assignment will result in better readers who know the subject matter better. Making students responsible for completing anticipation guides and graphic organizers for reading notes and, in addition, regularly requiring written summaries of both content and process will improve student reading skills and obviously content knowledge grows also.

We've decided not to let kids get by without reading. Even though it puts many of us who are not reading teachers in an uncomfortable position, we are teaching ourselves to be reading teachers through professional, peer, and self instruction. You can learn more about our work at our presentation on Monday, April 7, at 1:30 p.m. at the NCA CASI Annual Meeting.

Metacognitive Strategies at Blue Valley North High School, KS by Marcia Branstetter, Teacher
Blue Valley North High School has raised reading scores through the teaching of metacognitive strategies in all content areas. Our decision to use metacognition as the basis for classroom interventions came from a cross-section of content area teachers, rather than from administrative dictates, engendering immediate faculty buy-in.

Our staff development was predicated on the belief that effective reading in different subject areas requires a variety of thinking skills and requires teachers to use their content area expertise to help their students successfully "think about their thinking." Because of that belief, our staff development focused on one single intervention: public thinking.

During our presentation on Monday April 7 at 3:15 p.m. at the NCA CASI Annual Meeting, we will model a public thinking lesson which will illustrate what proficient readers do metacognitively before, during, and after reading; explain how we were guided by the strategies our best student readers told us they used; and include specific classroom activities our teachers use to promote metacognition in their students.

Finally, we will share local, state, and standardized quantitative data that supports the effectiveness of the intervention, as well as qualitative, anecdotal data illustrating positive teacher reaction to the effectiveness of the strategies they employed.

Step up to Writing Strategies at Countryside Elementary School, IL by Dennis Pauli, Principal
Schools throughout the country are improving reading comprehension and writing performance by implementing brain-based learning strategies. Countryside School in Barrington, IL, has successfully integrated a myriad of effective teaching practices that have resulted in superior student achievement. Students consistently score well above national, state and local averages on standardized tests. What is to account for such success? A strong emphasis on the integration of reading and writing throughout the curriculum utilizing teaching methods that align with research on best practices.

At the heart of Countryside School's success has been a commitment from staff to fully implement the Step Up To Writing program. Visual in design and logical in thought, the Step Up To Writing strategies help students in multiple settings become successful readers and writers. Aligned with the latest research on brain-based learning, students-regardless of ability level-will improve their reading/writing skills utilizing multi-sensory, classroom proven teaching strategies and activities.

During our session on Tuesday April 8 at 8:30 a.m. at the NCA CASI conference, participants will experience many of the successful methods that Countryside School teachers, and teachers throughout the country, have effectively implemented. Learn how easy strategies for expository and narrative comprehension, color coded outlines, free response reading, two/three column notes, word walls and many more can be implemented into any school setting.

Commission Corner

District Accreditation
NCA CASI is developing standard and criteria for district accreditation. The district process provides a unified approach to school improvement, allowing a district to build continuity across schools and focusing the district's support systems on providing schools with the resources and tools they need to increase performance for all students. CASI will be seeking school districts interested in piloting the district criteria. Stay tuned for more information.

Early Childhood
NCA CASI is pleased to offer accreditation services for independent early childhood education programs (pre-school through grade 3). The standard and criteria for this new category of accreditation is available at http://www.ncacasi.org/standard/.

In addition, the Commission is reviewing proposed changes to the Standard and Criteria for Elementary, Middle Level, Secondary and Unit Schools (Red Book) that would incorporate criteria for integrated Early Childhood Education Programs (those programs that are part of an existing educational entity, such as a district or elementary school). The proposed changes will be presented to the delegate assembly for consideration at the Annual Meeting in April.

Annual Meeting Notes

Looking for practices that work? Want to hear more about schools like those highlighted in this e-News that are successfully raising student performance? Register today for the NCA CASI Annual Meeting, and chose from close to 100 practitioner-led sessions designed to help you further your school improvement efforts. For more information go to http://www.ncacasi.org/event/meeting/.

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