PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 EncyclopediaState standards for reading differ in both content and level of specificity. Aspects ofreading usually covered include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension,literature, vocabulary, and habits and attitudes. In kindergarten, students are expectedto recognize or decode basic words. 24 Phonemic awareness and phonics are emphasizedin kindergarten and first grade, receive less attention in second and third grade, andtend to disappear from the curriculum by fourth grade (except for students who arenot yet reading well). In some sets of state standards, reading and writing standards areclosely integrated. For example, an expectation might be that students use letter-soundcorrespondence to “decode/use words in context.” All state standards have comprehensionas the ultimate goal of reading instruction.Reading Instruction in the Primary GradesGuidelines for reading instruction at the state and district levels and for federal grantfunding have increasingly emphasized approaches supported by rigorous research.The Reading First section of NCLB, requiring that proposed reading programs focus onstrategies and professional development based on “scientifically based reading research,”has provided much of the impetus for this trend.Instructional TimeAs in all other aspects of reading education in the United States, instructional time variesfrom state to state, district to district, and school to school. In some cases, states issueguidelines for the amount of instructional time spent on reading instruction. Usually,districts set the time frames. Often, the time frame of a language-arts block is 1½ to 2hours in the morning, during which both reading and writing are taught. Sometimes thewhole time is devoted solely to reading. Especially in the early grades, reading instructionis often given far more time than other subjects, such as social studies, science, art,and music. 25Schools that use the major commercial reading programs spend time on phonemicawareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. In grades K–2, the majorportion of instruction is spent on the first three areas. As students move to the highergrades, comprehension is given more emphasis. Instruction at all levels involves retrievingexplicit information from the text and making inferences. Emphasis on interpretation oftext and critical thinking varies from program to program, school to school, and teacherto teacher.United StatesInstructional MaterialsSome states, notably Texas and California, have state requirements that textbooks beapproved by schools and districts. While there are no specific federal criteria for programmaterials, states receiving Reading First funding sometimes use the guidelines establishedby the Institute for Development of Educational Achievement at the University ofOregon. 26Reading texts are produced by a handful of large publishing companies. Thecommercial programs offer an array of components that can be selected to build a428