Resources for Building a Thriving Reading Ecosystem
Evidence Base
Maryland READS approach is grounded in the belief that strengthening systems accelerates and sustains improvement. We work to support the formal elements in a system at the state, district and local level as well as with individuals and organizations that have an impact on informal elements of our reading ecosystem that include children’s exposure to books: parental involvement in teaching children to read; child- care and after school settings that model and support reading; culture cultural contexts; children’s health and wellbeing; and, the development of a growth mindset.
Systems Thinking in Education
Those seeking to improve an education system might choose to analyze the system’s parts. In this way, they can identify individual characteristics of each part and evaluate how it functions. While this approach can offer some benefits, it has limitations. It stops short of examining the relationships between the parts. Responding to the growing demands placed on US education, solving problems such as achievement gaps, and dealing with shrinking school budgets are significant challenges. To face them effectively, educators need to value their system’s high level of interconnectivity and interdependency. What Is Systems Thinking in Education? Understanding the Functions and Interaction in School Systems | American University
Collaboration
Collaboration builds ownership, trust, capacity, knowledge, leverages implementation science, and leads to action.
- The alignment and integration of voices and efforts, and a commitment to sustained collective action toward solving complex improvement problems builds capacity and commitment that can enlarge and sustain improvement efforts. (Bocala, et. al, 2013)
- Trust (or the lack thereof) is a key factor in most, if not all, of the relationships associated with a school and its stakeholders, whether between teachers and principals, school and district staff, students and teachers, parents and school staff, or schools and their community partners. The lack of trust makes it difficult for people to discuss problems or address concerns, as well as to implement measures that can lead to lasting improvements. Bryk (2002)
- Through collaboration, we create knowledge to solve problems in a new way, essentially adapting to new challenges as they arise (Heifetz R.A., Linsky M., & Grashow A., 2009)
- Cooperative relationships among those involved in a review and decision-making process are more likely to result in actions that are collectively beneficial. Social interdependence theory (Deutsch, 1949a, 1949b, 1973, 2006; D. W. Johnson & F. P. Johnson, 2009; D. W. Johnson & R. T. Johnson, 1989, 2005; D. W. Johnson, Johnson, & Stevahn, 2011)
- The imperative to involve stakeholders in discussing challenges before working towards solutions aligns closely with Senge's charge to make the interpretation of data both public and transparent (1994). Senge defines knowledge as "… the capacity for effective action." In order to know what to do (how to solve the dilemma of improved reading achievement), you first must know what you are facing. The convening process we have outlined here will increase stakeholder capacity for effective, aligned and focused action.
Leadership
Research evidence points to the importance of principals as key leaders of instructional improvement, second only to classroom teachers in their impact on student learning (National Association of Secondary School Principals & National Association of Elementary School Principals, 2013). Supovitz and colleagues (2010) identified three categories of principal actions that have an influence on student achievement: setting the mission and goals of the school, focusing on instruction, and developing a culture of trust and collaboration. Principals who accomplish these goals understand how to empower others so that there is a collective, focused, whole-school effort that leads to steady improvement in literacy teaching and learning. Principals as Literacy Leaders | International Literacy Association (literacyworldwide.org)
Children’s exposure to books
Any exposure to books, especially being read aloud to, can help them pick up literacy faster later on. Exploring the Factors that Affect How Students Learn to Read - Waterford.org
Children’s exposure to books is related to the development of vocabulary and listening comprehension skills, and these language skills are directly related to children’s reading in grade 3. Parental Involvement in the Development of Children’s Reading Skill: A Five‐Year Longitudinal Study - Sénéchal - 2002 -
Many very young children are surrounded by written language products and are exposed to the importance and functions of reading in society. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Children's concepts about literacy are formed from the earliest years by observing and interacting with readers and writers as well as through their own attempts to read and write. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Parental involvement in teaching children to read
Parent involvement in teaching children about reading and writing words is related to the development of early literacy skills. Parental Involvement in the Development of Children’s Reading Skill: A Five‐Year Longitudinal Study - Sénéchal - 2002 -
Many very young children are surrounded by written language products and are exposed to the importance and functions of reading in society. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Children's concepts about literacy are formed from the earliest years by observing and interacting with readers and writers as well as through their own attempts to read and write National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
For most children, growing up to be a reader is a lengthy process that begins long before formal instruction is provided in school or elsewhere. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Childcare settings that model and support reading are critical for early learning outcomes.
Many very young children are surrounded by written language products and are exposed to the importance and functions of reading in society.
Children's concepts about literacy are formed from the earliest years by observing and interacting with readers and writers as well as through their own attempts to read and write
Cultural contexts
Culture is one of the primary factors that affect reading development. Exploring the Factors that Affect How Students Learn to Read - Waterford.org
Parents assist in their children's literacy development with sensitivity to culturally specific social routines in book reading and literacy resources are available in the homes of even very poor and stressed families National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
The purposes and practices of literacy and language in classrooms necessarily differ from those in any home, and all children entering school must adjust to the culture of the school if they are to become successful achievers National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Cultural contexts can be positive, negative, or neutral. Whether a student reads left to right or right to left, for example, is neither advantageous nor damaging as long as the direction fits the cultural norm. Educators should be aware, however, of which factors are positive or negative so they can assist students and their families as needed. Exploring the Factors that Affect How Students Learn to Read - Waterford.org
Another cultural factor that can affect a student’s reading comprehension is whether they’re learning a second language. English language-learning students, for example, may have trouble learning to read in English if they haven’t achieved oral fluency yet. Once a student has reached bilingualism, however, they’re actually at a cognitive advantage for learning to read. Exploring the Factors that Affect How Students Learn to Read - Waterford.org
Children’s health and wellbeing is a critical factor in early literacy outcomes
One of the most important preconditions for literacy is the integrity of a child's health and sensory organs, since the window for the establishment of such skills as language is relatively brief. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Development of a growth mindset
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck, PhD, 2006.
A growth mindset (the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be developed) is a comparably strong predictor of achievement and that it exhibits a positive relationship with achievement across all of the socioeconomic strata in the country. Furthermore, we find that students from lower-income families were less likely to hold a growth mindset than their wealthier peers, but those who did hold a growth mindset were appreciably buffered against the deleterious effects of poverty on achievement: students in the lowest 10th percentile of family income who exhibited a growth mindset showed academic performance as high as that of fixed mindset students from the 80th income percentile. These results suggest that students’ mindsets may temper or exacerbate the effects of economic disadvantage on a systemic level. Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement (stanford.edu)
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