Literacy Blogs

Teacher question: In an effort to streamline the workshop model in our district, I am looking for your stance on focused independent reading and/or any articles that you have written that support the importance of students reading at school with a specific focus in mind rather than "reading just to read"?   Shanahan response:  Unfortunately, there aren’t studies of this. People who are claiming that “focused independent reading” works better than having kids just reading on their own are theorizing. I can tell you that the pattern of studies that I’ve reviewed over the years suggests that efforts to teach reading through kids’ reading practice tend to be most effective when they look ...

Teacher question: We place children in different kindergarten (or prekindergarten) tracks based upon their performances on a readiness screener—and in consultation with parents. However, our state now has a “Read by Grade Three” law, which requires retention in third grade for students who don’t meet that standard.  We have several students who are very young, meaning they are barely 5, who scored rather high on our placement test. We also have a group of students that are older and scored low on the same test. We are concerned about both groups. We would really like to know the research behind kindergarten placement and what the best practice is to help us ...

Teacher question: I've been thinking a lot about a response to teachers who only want to teach whole-class novels. When I say whole-class novels, what I see most often is the traditional approach most high school teachers take. Reading at home, lectures, comparative reading (but with very little instructional support). Also, what do you offer as a suggestion for teachers who are willing to rethink their novel practice (so long as they still get to teach novels)? Shanahan response: Lyndon Johnson used to talk about “two-handed economists.” He’d ask economists for their advice, and their responses were always, “Well on the one hand… but on the other hand….” Your question makes me feel ...

Teacher question: Here is my dilemma.  My administration has decided that if a student has 3 or 4 points of data on an ORF (Oral Reading Fluency) graph that shows they are not making progress then the entire reading intervention program must be changed.  It doesn't matter to them if the student had been making progress for months before in the same program.  I was told by my principal that our school district is being sued because of RTI.  When a student is not making progress as evidenced by the ORF and the reading specialist doesn't change the program then the school district is at risk of being sued.   The ...

Teacher question: There is a big argument in my new district over whether or not it is a good idea to teach children to use the three cueing systems. What do you think?  Why don’t you ever write about the cueing systems? Shanahan’s response: I don’t write about them because I’m not a fiction writer. Don’t get me wrong, cueing systems exist, but their value in reading instruction is a magnificent work of the imagination. How do we read words? Perhaps we just guess dumbly when we see a word. For example, guess what this word is: Þßàm¤. Obviously, that can’t be what readers do. There are far too many words for that ...

Blast from the Past: This entry was first posted on March 17, 2019 and was reposted on May 22, 2021.  I'm surprised this entry hasn't drawn more attention. These days I'm often asked, "How do you teach reading comprehension?" or "Shouldn't we stop teaching reading comprehension and focus on building knowledge?" This topic, teaching text structure, should be a valuable response to those questions. I have added references and some links to additional practical supports for such teaching and have tacked on a new conclusion that provides 10 reasons that reading teachers should focus on text structure.  Teacher question: I was wondering what ...

Teacher question: My district is looking to improve our current intervention model. Currently, our reading interventionists operate on a pull-out model. However, we have heard that a push-in model can be be more effective so are interested in moving in that direction. What does the research say about the effectiveness of pull-out versus push-in for reading intervention? If one is more effective than the other, what would that entail?   Shanahan response: When people tell you that you should adopt a model or approach that ...

Teacher question: My district instituted a weekly "checkpoint" (a short passage and multiple-choice assessment aligned to our standardized test). Teachers are required to give this, and then break it down by standard in a meeting with a coach. I've argued that these tests are likely not measuring what they think they are. They believe that these can tell teachers whether students are mastering certain standards and questions. We have a large proportion of students below grade level. I'm concerned that valuable teaching time, focusing on working with complex texts, is going to be spent on testing, and that the nature of the ...

Blast from the Past: First posted on February 15, 2019 and reposted on February 10, 2023. This entry seems timely given recent legislative efforts to impose early literacy assessments aimed at identifying dyslexia. Legislatures across the country have been passing laws requiring screening and monitoring assessments. However, when you look at the states that have such legislation we're not seeing improvements in reading achievement. That reminds me that there is a very small research literature on the positive impact of early assessment on learning. Despite potential benefits of early screening, it only really helps if it leads to instructional efforts ...