Learning styles and comprehension in secondary special education

¶ … Multiple Instructional Strategies Used to Teach students to Each of Their Learning Styles Improve Their Reading Comprehension Levels Significantly More Than Students Who are Taught Using the Traditional Instructional Strategies?

It was proposed recently by Keer (2004) in the work: "Fostering Reading Comprehension in Fifth Grade by Explicit Instruction in Reading Strategies and Peer Tutoring" British Journal of Educational Psychology (2004) 74-37-70) proposes assessment and use in an approach as to teachers and learning styles differentiation in a down to earth manner while addressing the needs of teachers in their practice of incorporation through "informed decisions" as to areas/units possible for incorporation of learning styles.

A study in Belgium, "Fostering Reading Comprehension in Fifth grade by Explicit Instruction in Reading Strategies and Peer Tutoring" stated that through research it has been discovered that "explicit reading strategies instruction and engaging students in interaction about texts promote student's reading comprehension ability. The present intervention study combines both aspects." The aim of the study was the examination of benefits in education in relation to "explicit reading strategies instruction, followed by practice in (a) teacher-led whole-class activities (STRAT), reciprocal same-age (STRAT+SA), or - cross-age peer tutoring activities (STRAT + CA) on fifth graders' reading comprehension achievement." The sample used was twenty-two fifth graders and 454 students from 19 different schools in Belgium. The Method was a "quasi-experimental pretest post-test retention test design in three experimental (STRAT, STRAT, + SA and STRAT + CA) and a matched control group"

This is a primary school study on the proficiency of readers citing many of the fields' experts in relation to reading. The study states that "Metacognitive strategies are self-monitoring and self-regulating activities, focusing on the process and product of reading. They include readers' awareness of whether or not they comprehend what they read, their ability to judge the cognitive demands of a task, and their knowledge of when and how to employ a specific cognitive strategy as a function of text difficulty, situational constraints, and the reader's own cognitive abilities. (Baker & Brown, 1984; Dole 2000; Duffy et al., 1987; Ehlrilich, Kurtzcostes & Loridant, 1993; Gourgey, 2001, Lories, Dardenne & Yzerbyt 1998; Van Den Broek & Kremer, 2000; Van Kraayenoord & Schneider, 1999, Weisbert 1988)

The need for "explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies" is listed as crucial. Individual students respond on different levels to reading instruction. Studies show however, that even the students who do not comprehend as well as others still do better when provided with strategies and instruction for comprehending what they have read. A part of the instructions is the "why, when and where as well as how" to use these strategies in reading comprehension. The study also found that peer interaction is important to children in the process of learning to read as well as increasing the level of cognitive comprehension for the students. Stated in the study is that "Conversely, in order for children to become self-regulated readers and thinkers, they need to take an active role and to recognize and resolve their own discrepancies with texts (Almasi, 1996; Gourgey, 2001).

The study further related that since peer interaction is so important and so crucial and as well a very successful method in advancing reading skills in children that it would seem that many teachers would be utilizing this method - not so states the study. The study presents 'peer -- tutoring' as an effective aide in teaching reading comprehension skills and strategies. This study defines 'peer-tutoring' as being 'people from similar social groupings who are not professional teachers, helping each other to learn and learning themselves by teaching'. Peer tutoring is characterized by specific role taking: at any point someone has the job of tutor, while the other is in the role as tutee (Topping 1996). The study lists as materials needed to conduct the innovation in the classroom as being: " (a) an extensive general description of the background, aims, and the organization of the interventions (b) lesson scenarios describing the objectives, the necessary materials, the preferable instructional techniques, and the successive phases of each lesson, and - supplementary student materials, such as strategy assignments cards and reading texts."

In the work "Helping Older Struggling Readers" written by Terry Salinger, a chief scientist at the American Institute for Research in Washington, D.C. The focus is on comprehension, instruction, intervention techniques, and older struggling readers. Stating that "reading ability is central to students' learning, their success in school, and ultimately their success in life" that "individuals, whether child or adult, are seriously disadvantaged if they cannot read well." According to a report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) there had been no overall change, according to reports on reading during the years 1992 to 2000. The NAEP determined basic level is not attained by at least forty percent of all students and is higher among children from minority or low-income homes. The good news, according to this writing is that in recent reports it has been stated that 'educators, now more than ever before have the understandings and tools to help children develop as readers in the critical early years in school." In relation to research-based reading instruction the National Reading Panel Report of 2000 claims that scientific research should be the basis for reading programs. The scientifically-based reading program address the major "components of reading acquisition as being phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension" the study assigns the following definitions to each of these:

Phonemic awareness: understanding that what is heard represents a sequence of sounds.

Phonics: sounds in words can be broken down into smaller units.

Fluency: grouping of words into meaningful units and making the connections between.

Comprehension: extraction of meaning from what is read and making the connection between what is read and what is known.

Vocabulary: knowledge consisting of 'different types of knowing' in a process of knowing and refining as well as learning of new words.

In relation to 'older struggling readers' the report reveals that the problem may be the ability to see the connection in the five components. The correct instructional methods for these older students, according to this study is to "give them some more of the same."

This study also speaks of "focused language study" and how it can give students "insights into how words are constructed at the macro and micro level." Researchers have shown that children "look for meaningful clusters of letters as they decode words and also think in terms of clusters as they spell." (Treiman, 1992) "So it makes sense to teach older students to attend to units of sound that are larger than phonemes but smaller than words." The study further relates that there are important structures within words and sentences that are so 'subtle' that students may not understand or may miss but that the knowing of these important things is crucial in becoming a fluent reader. "Direct and implicit" instructions for reading are noted as integral and the use of aides such as dictionaries. Other instructional material and aides for reading instruction are stated to be: modeling, through vocabulary, how words can be formed with the basis of "root words," discussions in relation to word origin, semantic mapping, and guidance for using reference resources. The study states that: "students also need to learn the meaning of idioms, phrases, and colloquial expressions in addition to learning single words." Teachers should remind students to use the comprehension strategies they have learned while reading as well as involving the students participation in discussion after reading sessions to increase the capacity of the student in comprehension of reading.

The article "Read Aloud and Learn" in Literacy Today, June 2003, states that: "the three most common activities in traditional teaching fare poorly; by listening, children on average retain 5% of the information delivered; reading 10%; and audio-visual techniques 20%. By contrast, discussion 50%, practice by doing 75% and explaining to others 90%." These statistics should be of the utmost importance to teachers who are serious about their art in their practice of teaching as to its success. Also cited in this report is "peer-led interaction" stating that: "there is evidence that opportunities to participate in peer-led interaction on structured reading activities also make up an important part of reading instruction that aims at an actual increase in comprehension, high level cognition and the application of self-regulation strategies. (Almasi, 1996; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2000; Klingner, Vaughn & Schumm, 1998; Mathes & Fuchs, 1994, Rosenshine & Meister, 1994; Simmons, Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes & Hodge, 1995).

Boosting reading skills is the focus in the article by Sharon Grimes entitled "The Search for Meaning: How you can boost kids' reading comprehension." A poor part of Baltimore, Maryland, Lansdowne has more than sixty percent of its enrolled students that are eligible for reduced lunches with thirty-four percent of the parents of students enrolled that never finished high school. In a report that was published the total number of parents in Lansdowne that read to their children was a depressing fourteen-percent. Wondering what to do the articles tells that the study of David Pearson entitled "What Research Has to Say to the Teaching of Reading published by the International Association 1992 was the "most compelling research available." Pearnson's research claimed that "thoughtful proficient readers make connections, draw upon prior knowledge, create visual imagery, make inferences, ask questions, determine important ideas, and synthesize what they read." Lansdowne set out to test this at their school with their students. The spring of 2003 saw the invitation of Debbie Miller who is the author of "Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades" published by Stenhouse, 2002, to create lessons incorporating the analytical skills into the first through third grade classrooms. "Millers work is an expansion on Pearson's" study in relation to strategies needing to be addressed toward all the "components of a good reader. " Before Miller arrived to work with the school the entirety of the staff read Miller's book reading as well "Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding," Stenhouse 2000 written by Harvey and Goudvis. Included were several checklists for checking comprehension in reading. Two of the checklists are shown below:

Before reading, student uses information from the title, cover, summary or about the author to:

Make connections to the text based on prior experiences in their own life, other texts, or the larger world.

Poses questions about the text

Visualizes missing information

Makes predictions about the text

Set a purpose for reading

Adapted from Reading Checklist in Report)

During reading, student

Make connections to the text based on prior experiences in their own life, other texts, or the larger world.

Makes meaning by asking and answering questions

Merges prior experiences with the text to visualize key details

Infers meaning and is able to support inferences with specific examples from the text

Uses organizational pattern of text to determine importance

Determines importance by discriminating between key ics/themes and supporting details/events.

Adapted from reading checklist in report

In Grimes report there are five listed steps to creating a program such as this on a schoolwide basis. Those five steps are:

Build a learning community for students and staff

Provide direct instruction in reading strategies of proficient readers

Design ways that students can independently use comprehension skills

Teach teachers how to collect and analyze data in order to monitor and modify instruction.

Celebrate and share success.

In a report entitled "Collaborative Strategic Reading: 'Real-World' Lessons from Classroom Teachers" a study that stretches over 8 years of research using the 'Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) was performed with the intent to 'improve understanding of expository text.' Examination of the teachers implementation (yearlong) was performed with "five intervention and five control teachers for ongoing and follow-up support." "In all but one exception studies show that comprehension gains were associated with the quality of CSR implementation on the part of the teacher."

There are several listed elements as being critical to positive outcomes in the cases of students that have disabilities related to reading. Those elements are:

Making instruction visible and explicit

Implementing procedural facilitators or strategies to facilitate learning

Using interactive groups or partners

Providing opportunities for interactive dialogue between students and teachers

Ensuring that the building blocks of reading are evident from a bottom-up perspective

Two reasons that students with reading disabilities should acquire strategies to help them understand expository text are that they are increasingly included in general education classrooms, where the demands to read and learn from the text are substantial, and they are unlikely to be provided with supported instruction by the special education teacher during social studies and science.

According to the study there is already evidence in existence that supports the worth of "comprehension strategies" (e.g. Gersten et al., 2001; National Reading Panel, 2000)

In an article entitled "Mildly Handicapped Students can Succeed with Learning Styles" written by Carolyn E. Brunner and Walter S. Majewski a high school in Hamburg, New York the students that are mildly handicapped are "enjoying high rates of success." The "faculty developed curriculum" takes the needs as well as the strengths into consideration and the school is experiencing "unprecedented attainments" on both "local examinations and the New York State Competency tests." The program was started in 1987 and the report states that "six special education teachers and a coordinator worked together to develop units of instruction in social studies, mathematics, and language arts for special education students in grades 9-12." (Shands and Bruner 1989).

The stated goal of this program was the provision of "a program that was closely aligned to regular education." A learning style model that was developed by Rita and Kenneth Dunn in 1978 was chosen. This program was inclusive of "Five Stimuli" listed as follows:

Environmental

Emotional

Sociological

Physical

Psychological

These five elements "serve as the framework for the model's 21 elements." The staff was provided development in learning styles for special education teachers and administrators, including an assessment of their own learning styles using the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS)." (Dunn et al., 1979, 1982)

The program began assessment of the students in the fall of 1988 and based on the findings the teachers developed what they referred to as "a 'best-shot' instruction defined as one in which they would "define as instruction presented through a person's primary perceptual strength, reinforced through the student's tertiary strength. The 21 learning style elements were addressed. Emotional stimuli were in the form of motivation, persistence, responsibility, and structure. The sociological elements were included as well as the physical elements of the learning style. The psychological or cognitive elements were analyzed and the teachers started with organization of the lesson plans.

Prior to 1987 and the implementation of the new curriculum, only 25% of students passed the local examinations that were necessary as well as the State competency tests that are required to receive high school diplomas. During the first year of the program the success rate went up to 66%, the second year the success rate was 91% and remains at a steady 90%. The amazing fact is that more handicapped students passed the State Competency exams than regular education students. According to the report there have been other benefits such as students coming to the realization that they can succeed with more students earning their diploma which is accredited to the gained confidence of students.

This study states that the running of records is the best way to assess students in the area of reading.

This study states that time needs to be allotted in the routine of the teacher for doing student assessment. Running records takes time but hold benefits in assessing students in their reading. The study states that running records offer a 'window into the brain of young readers as their reading skills grow and change.' Information gained in running records is stated to be 'invaluable for informing instruction'. According to a teacher, "I use running records to form my reading groups, to guide them, and to make instructional decisions for individual students and the class as a whole." Running records, according to the study is not an easy implementation and the teachers view the process as being completely too time consuming to be practical. The focus of running records is the development of students in the area of reading skills. The study states that: 'there is no better way to get into the head of a reader than the running record.' The process of running records is learning the universal code that is used to record the reader while reading. Suggestions are made for running records on one student per day with a schedule of running records on each student every four to six weeks being considered ideal. Another suggestion offered is setting up the assessment table in a permanently designated spot in the classroom and place each student's literacy folder on the table. The key to running a record in shorthand is demonstrated by the example below.

Correct: The student read the word or words correctly.

Self-Correct: The student read the word wrong but corrected the mistake.

Asked/Told: The student asked for/was told the correct word

Pause: The student paused midword.

Reread: The student reread the passage indicated.

Transposed: The student transposed word order.

Omission: The student skipped a word while reading.

It is recommended that a record training course be take with an instructor trained to train others.

In the writing by Linda H. Mason, Department of Special Education, entitled "Explicit Self-Regulated Strategy Development vs. Reciprocal Questioning: Effects on Expository Reading Comprehension Among Struggling Readers" states that the "first wave of research in reading comprehension interventions was not aimed at the coordinated use of strategies before, during or after reading, rather, it was focused on validating particular strategies."

And further that:

reading comprehension research, therefore, has progressed from evaluating individually taught single-strategy approaches to evaluating instruction that combines strategies in a multifaceted approach."

O'Connor, et al. wrote in the document entitled "Teaching Reading to Poor Readers in the Intermediate Grade" Journal of Educational Psychology Vol. 94 (3) September 2002. That for most readers, the ability to identify words develops rapidly and is well established by third grade (Berninger, Yates & Lester, 1991) Further this document holds that interactive methods in reading instruction involving student participation is the optimum method for successful learning and comprehension in the area of reading. Vygotsky held this belief also in his belief that an individual can better perform a task or skill when doing so interactively. Also Vygotsky held that: "speech does not merely find expression in speech but indeed, it finds its reality and form." Just as the realm that has within it speech, languaging, reading, writing, and not to forget the social aspect of speech which may in some ways be the strongest evidence of that in which speech finds its reality and form -- because the sociological development aspect of speech may be the strongest developer of speech that an individual engages in. The developmental stages in students is occurring simultaneously at different speeds and levels of growth- - therefore, the opening must be provided to the student to further their individual development and must be waiting on the student to round the bend so to speak. Since "thought and word are not connected by a primary bond" (Vygotsky) then it is only logical that individual thoughts are labeled by those with whom we verbally communicate giving definition in the socially interactive process to individual thoughts.

Andrew Johnson writer of "What Exactly Are Comprehension Skills and How do I Teach Them?" In 1998 covered the ability of the student in comprehending text of the expository type and how comprehension skills were improved. Explaining that if one is to learn these skills, there must be a breakdown into steps and "taught explicitly

In the writing "Gender Differences Among Students Found Eligible for Special education" the writer states that Kindergarten through the upper secondary schools performed studies and the finding stated that 65% of the boys were eligible for special education, this rate rose to 70% between elementary and high school. The difference in rates among boys and girls was credited to the "genetic and biological differences."

Girls were found to have more problems in learning associated with 'vision, hearing, language and intellectual disabilities. Boys however, were noted to have more learning problems associated with reading, writing, psychosocial problems and attention deficit disorder.

Learning disabilities contain complex elements in theory in relation to the learning disabled student. "Learner task setting interaction assessment and planning issues are means for the enhancement of the life of the child with a learning disability. "(Smith, Corinee et al. 1985)

The FVR, or "Free Voluntary Reading" is a research examining the benefits of "silent reading" and "self-selected reading" believing them to be "powerful tools for development in reading."

Brown discusses the various methodologies applied in the learners learning to think, read and made examination of the way in which the implementation of the construct within the classroom may be applied. "Teaching Learners to think."

Inclusive in the method used for teaching learners to think, read and write in a more effective manner is described as follows:

text structure, 2) concept or cognitive mapping, 3) a shift in teaching style that helps learners achieve the reading-writing connection in content subjects.

Concept Mapping is a process that gives the thinkers, readers and writers freedom in translation of idea and conceptual elements into a creative display that can be used in reading or writing assignments."

Teaching-Style Shift: Listed, as the third aspect is the fact that a shift occurs in the style of teaching that is generally a requirement. The report states that:

Briefly, this shift involves moving from a didactic, direct-instruction teaching style to one that is more indirect and calls for student participation. Rather than cover curriculum content with wide brush strokes, teachers select key content topics to cover in depth while using the mapping strategy and the four aspects of the language arts -- listening, speaking, reading, and writing -- to help students learn the content (see figure 3). When content teachers are shown how to teach their traditional content topics with a focus on the content information, the content's organizational plan, and strategies to "deep process" the content, they find that students engage in the thinking process of the discipline with long-lasting benefits.

As for implementation in the Construct of Teaching-Learning the following is stated:

To implement the teaching-learning construct, individual teachers, schools, or districts should have some general background with text structure and cognitive mapping, as presented in this article.

Listed as Stage One" modeling is: "wherein the Teachers initially use one of the map structures in whole-class instruction to elicit and organize the content information of the topic of study"

Students need to: Read

Hear

The entire topic presentation (Before")

See

Engaging in the mapping process

Required is Sense of the Whole so that:

new vocabulary and coordinate and subordinate ideas can be logically connected to the major topic idea.

The study stated that:

Teachers usually find it difficult to finish the initial mapping lesson in one period. Depending on the depth and organizational plan of the topic, I may need two or three periods to complete the map. I try to show the topic's overall configuration plan in the first period and elicit the verbal information for the major ideas. Over continuing periods, we will root out the details that support each major graphic header on the map. The process takes time, but it's time well spent. " Stage Two of the study is in relation to "Guided Practice" wherein the teacher is able to plan for the "next level of mapping/thinking interaction." Stage Three is the stage in which students are learning the use of the strategy on an independent basis.

The Study states that "over the years we have found that applying and practicing the construct implementation plan works for student in all grade levels..."