By Todd Brekhus, President, Capstone Digital
Reading is one of the most critical skills that today’s students must learn and quickly put to use during their academic career. Many studies have shown that by grade 4, students that are not reading at grade level are more likely to do poorly in school, drop out, face more economic disadvantages, or unfortunately enter the prison population (Early Warning Special Report, Certification Map infographic).
The reading crisis in U.S. education is well documented, and today’s educators are struggling to identify and assist students reading below grade level. While there are many tools available to assist educators and students, I believe that the most important approach to this problem must include providing a student-centric learning environment. Personalized learning is the goal of many schools and districts, but how do we get there from here? I suggest that taking a small step towards making our lessons and schools student-centric can help us build an environment that we can build personalized learning on in the future.
There are several key elements to making reading student-centric that educators can adopt in their existing reading programs, exercises, and drills. Making reading student-centric doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming.
1. Provide reading materials in a variety of formats. Make sure you have books, journals, and electronic resources to appeal to all types of students.
2. Offer a variety of subjects and genres. Research shows that providing materials that students find interesting motivates students to read more. And, reading practice builds reading skill.
3. Supply lots of reading materials available for students. Students need to read materials that are in their reading level, so having lots of material means a better chance of meeting the student developmental zone for reading growth.
4. Include optional reading scaffolds for students to use when reading. These optional reading scaffolds can help build reading skills if used appropriately; include audio, animations, and dictionary tools.
5. Suggest options for students to deliver assignments. For example, instead of a written book report, offer students the chance to respond to a book through a presentation, play, dramatic retelling, or written report. Students will often choose the response that they’re most comfortable with (and the format of the final delivery will drive how students choose to learn as well).
6. Create an opportunity to practice, which is an important part of learning any skill. Set aside time for reading, and encourage student development of listening and writing skills as well.
7. Consider upgrading to smarter learning systems that include adaptive content, assessments, and technology scaffolds, that are built based on recent research findings, and continually learns from student interactions.
Administrators can choose how best to adapt current practices and instruction in the pursuit of adopting 21st century goals within education. Starting with a student-centric viewpoint and following these tips can start your institution down the path to personalizing learning for all students.