Practice Brief-Struggling Readers.pdf

Several documents inform the content of this brief, among them ReadingInterventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers: A Meta-Analysis withImplications for Practice (Scammanca et al., 2007) and Academic LiteracyInstruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center onInstruction (Torgesen et al., 2007).Our intention is to provide a comprehensive overview of the currentknowledge on best practices for teaching older students with readingdifficulties. For details on the research that supports each recommendedpractice, please see Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers:A Meta-Analysis with Implications for Practice, available online athttp://www.centeroninstruction.org/files/COI%20Struggling%20Readers.pdf.A Brief Background in Essential Components of ReadingAccording to the National Reading Panel report (NRP, 2000) there are fiveessential areas of early reading and each contributes to the reading process.They are:• Phonemic awareness – an auditory process that involves hearing soundsthat make up words. Skills in this area include rhyming, blending soundstogether to make words, and segmenting words into separate sounds.• Phonics – recognizing that sounds link to letters and that those letters arecombined to make words. To read and spell words, readers use theirknowledge of the alphabetic principle to identify patterns of letters thatrepresent specific sounds.• Fluency – reading effortlessly and automatically, recognizing individualwords “by sight.” Fluent reading sounds natural, as if the reader isspeaking casually.• Vocabulary – understanding and using words in listening, speaking,reading, and writing.• Comprehension – the purpose of reading. Involves complex cognitiveprocesses that enable the reader to gain meaning from text and repairmisunderstandings when they occur.2