We often hear researchers talk about the importance of explicit reading instruction. But what does that really mean? “Explicit” refers to anything that is fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied.

In Reading Horizons latest webinar, Teacher Trainer and Dyslexia Specialist, Shantell Berrett, discussed why explicit instruction is key for struggling students, beneficial for every student, and why it should be applied to all teaching to increase the effectiveness of student learning.

Here are some of the main ideas from her presentation:

1.    Be Clear

• Only give one instruction at a time
• Use visual examples
• Enforce a feedback loop asking students if they understood instructions or material

2.    Be Concise

• Teach only necessary information to avoid confusing your students
• Instruct no more than 5 minutes without student involvement to keep students engaged and focused
• Don’t teach things that are similar yet different within a close proximity of time

3.    Be Connected

• Assume nothing - don’t expect students to know things that are obvious to us
• Draw explicit lines by pointing out connections to prior knowledge
• Connect new information to prior knowledge

Fun Fact!:

For students to remember 90% of what they are taught they need to either use or teach that information immediately after instruction.

To view the recording click here! >

Struggling readers, low-income students and English language learners are all students that are considered “at-risk.”

However, as pointed out by teacher Eric Fox in an Education Week article today, the definition of "at-risk" students could easily be redefined:

“…I battle ignorance, apathy, lack of vision, lack of motivation, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, disorganization, and a bad memory on a daily basis. I don't have enough degrees and have never been elected to public office, so much of what I say may not seem important. My view is minuscule. I can't see the landscape with trends and data points. I just see the trenches.

…Every child, adolescent, or young adult who enters our school doorways is at risk of not developing his or her potential. I've never heard an elementary student say, "I want to make meth when I grow up," or "I can't wait until I'm old enough to go to prison," or "When I'm a teen mom, I can really play house."”

- Eric Fox, Teacher, Jenks, OK

Every student struggles with something. No student has a perfect life. Every student needs an education that challenges them and helps them learn more about their interests and their possibilities.

Of course, struggling readers and English language learners are among the entire student population that are "at-risk" and researchers have found strategies that can help them reach their potential:

1. Explicit and systematic phonics-based curriculum
2. Multisensory, Orton Gillingham-based instruction
3. Positive reinforcement and a focus on strengths

In recent news it’s been revealed that more and more students are struggling with reading making the implementation of these strategies as important as ever. In fact, “at-risk” readers are in many instances becoming the norm.

By using the above strategies with every student from the start of their education there will be less "at-risk" readers and teachers will have more time to focus on some of the other factors that make every student "at-risk of not developing his or her potential." 

Learn strategies for teaching “at-risk” readers with Reading Horizons free 30-day online training! >

Finland has become a point of fascination for educators around the world. In 2009 Finland was the highest performing country on the international assessment, PISA, with only the city of Shanghai, China performing better.

Making Finland’s education success more interesting: only 30 years ago Finland’s education system was much like that of the United States:

“Thirty years ago, Finland’s education system was a mess. It was quite mediocre, very inequitable. It had a lot of features our system has: very top-down testing, extensive tracking, highly variable teachers, and they managed to reboot the whole system.”

- Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University

So what did Finland do to turn its education system around? There are 5 key reforms that have led the country to its current educational success:

1. Teachers must have a master’s degree.

To become an educator in Finland, candidates must get through a very competitive program. In fact, 2,400 people competed for the 120 coveted spots in the fully subsidized master’s program for schoolteachers last year. Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, Finnish educator and author noted: “[In Finland] it’s more difficult getting into teacher education than law or medicine.”

2. Children begin school at age 7.

To start children’s schooling before the age of 7 is seen as a violation of childhood in Finland.

3. Homework and testing is scorned until the teenage years.

“The first six years of education are not about academic success, we don’t measure children at all. It’s about being ready to learn and finding your passion.”   - Dr. Sahlberg.

4. Same number of teachers as NYC employed with almost ½ the students.

Finland employs the same number of teachers for 600,000 students, as New York City employs for its 1.1 million students.

5. Children are schooled from ages 7 to 16 and then go to vocational or academic programs.

After completing basic education at the age of 16, 95% of the country goes to vocational or academic high schools.

There are countless tools designed to improve the education system: common core standards, standardized tests, teacher evaluations, etc, etc, etc... But are these strategies effective? Are they really preparing students to be successful, innovative, and productive members of society?

Recently, Rick Roach, a member of Florida’s Orange County Board of Education, decided to take the standardized test required of all 10th grade students in his state, here are some excerpts from his experience:

‘[The chairman] said that by 2013 or 2014, he wanted 50 percent of the 10th graders reading at grade level....I’m thinking, ‘That’s horrible.’ Right now it’s 39 percent of our kids reading at grade level in 10th grade. I have to tell you that I’ve never believed that that many kids can’t read at that level. Never ever believed it. I have five kids of my own. None of them were superstars at school but they could read well, and these kids today can read too.

"So I was thinking, ‘What are they taking that tells them they can’t read? What is this test?"

He asked someone who works at the board to help him take the FCAT but state law only allows it to be taken by students, so it was arranged for him to take a version of it.

On the reading section, he scored 62 percent, a ‘D’ in Orange County. On the math, he said he knew none of the answers but guessed correctly on 10 of the 60.

“On the FCAT, they are reading material they didn’t choose. They are given four possible answers and three out of the four are pretty good. One is the best answer but kids don’t get points for only a pretty good answer. They get zero points, the same for the absolute wrong answer. And then they are given an arbitrary time limit. Those are a number of reasons that I think the test has to be suspect.

It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a bachelors of science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate.

I help oversee an organization with 22,000 employees and a $3 billion operations and capital budget, and am able to make sense of complex data related to those responsibilities.

I have a wide circle of friends in various professions. Since taking the test, I’ve detailed its contents as best I can to many of them, particularly the math section, which does more than its share of shoving students in our system out of school and on to the street. Not a single one of them said that the math I described was necessary in their profession.

It might be argued that I’ve been out of school too long, that if I’d actually been in the 10th grade prior to taking the test, the material would have been fresh. But doesn’t that miss the point? A test that can determine a student’s future life chances should surely relate in some practical way to the requirements of life. I can’t see how that could possibly be true of the test I took.”

Aside from discovering the rants of Rick Roach, I have also run across several articles this past week about the common core standards being unrealistic and leaving little time for what younger students need the most: play, social skills, and the arts.

By increasing the number of standards teachers and students must master perhaps we are actually lowering the standard of education. Suffocating creative thought. Teaching every single child in our nation the same things, the same way of thinking, instead of teaching them to think differently and come up with new ways to solve problems.

Undoubtedly there is foundational knowledge that is important for students to know, but often that knowledge doesn’t compare to the value of creativity, innovation, and problem solving – skills that are difficult to measure by the only measure most education systems use: standardized testing.

As so well put by Annie Profitt (Goldie Hawn) in the 1987 movie, Overboard:

“My children are in need of medical assistance! And you can sit here and smugly lecture me on the importance of tests? Tests which exist to pigeonhole children's potential, a thing which cannot possibly be measured!”

More and more, people are realizing that standardized testing is not an effective measure of student achievement or potential. What do you think should be changed? How should students' be assessed?

Many teachers and parents, perhaps including you, worry about the future of their dyslexic students. Because reading and other language skills are difficult for these students it is easy to imagine them living with academic and career struggles for the rest of their lives. However, research has not found this to be the case.

Author and Researcher, Margaret B. Rawson, dedicated 55 years of her life studying the lives of 56 dyslexic boys. Her findings are published in her book, Dyslexia Over the Lifespan, which reveals consistent patterns of learning and achievement for students with dyslexia. And guess what? For most of them - a bright future is in store.

Rawson discovered that these students tend to be “late-bloomers” in regards to their education and that they usually perform very well in high school and college, eventually finding themselves in successful careers. In fact, the most difficult period for these students is in their elementary and middle school years. 

In regards to these findings, Dr. Fernette and Brock Eide, writers of The Dyslexic Advantage, quoted how a dyslexic dad had once explained this trend in his own life..."then suddenly I seemed to be getting smarter and smarter, and the other students seemed to be getting dumber ..."

As I read these findings I couldn’t help but wonder if these difficult early years are largely responsible for the bright futures obtained by many dyslexics. By dealing with a challenge from such a young age they undoubtedly learn valuable lessons that help them develop a strong character. To get through their difficulties they must become determined and patient - qualities that set them up for a lifetime of success.

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Watch this free webinar presented by Dyslexia Specialist, Shantell Berrett, to learn the teaching techniques that best help dyslexic students thrive:

"The Power of Explicit Instruction" >