Why Silent Reading Rates and Stamina are More Important than Ever!

Freddy Hiebert currently of TextProject, Emily Hayden of Iowa State and I recently published an empirical paper about patterns of silent reading. This is the work we have been pursuing for quite a while. Studies of silent reading in the context of reading development is a crucial element in expanding our understanding of reading in the context of new literacies. Reading in the 21st century is quickly becoming a substantially different task than before- a task that, as educators and researchers, we need to explore. The reading task in the age of new literacies combines much of the old skills (e.g. decoding, word knowledge, fluency)  with newer challenges emerging from distractions, nonlinear texts, and the richness of multimodal texts.

I believe that one of the least understood elements of reading in the 21st century is persistence. This is inherently a different challenge than it was as little as twenty years ago. Modern readers seem to be almost assaulted by distractions and behaviors that challenge their attention to a continuous text. At the same time, comprehension of complex texts can emerge only from sustained close reading. In this, I go back to the notion of motivation as the ability to sustain attention to a specific task- reading.

The results of the study show that many students do not persist in reading even when they comprehend well. At the same time, it is clear that students that do persist in reading with comprehension adjust their reading rate after one text section and then slowly increase their reading rate. These patterns show the benefits of persistence and highlight the challenges of distraction. If students are distracted they will attempt each piece of the text as if new, unable to use the feedback from the previous section to adjust their reading rate to ensure comprehension. It is very likely that such behaviors make reading considerably less efficient and thus increase the odds that readers will not persist reading longer texts with comprehension.

I believe we have two challenges, the first is to research reading in modern contexts and the second to develop a framework for instructing silent reading with persistence and comprehension. From our conclusion:

"...we believe that the most pressing issue within reading instruction at present pertains to instructional tasks and interventions that support silent reading proficiency. One of the few projects on supporting silent reading within classroom settings in the archival literature is that of Reutzel, Fawson, and Smith (2008). This study, conducted with third graders, showed that a treatment of silent reading produced similar results on assessments of ORF as oral reading practice... To date, we have been unable to find a framework for designing tier-one, classroom instruction that begins in the early grades and ensures that students develop strong patterns of silent reading. If we are to prepare students for the tasks of the twenty-first century, such frameworks for instruction are urgently needed." (Hayden, Hiebert, & Trainin, 2019)

Are We Ready for Cyborg Ed?

Knee Replacement Vimeo

 I have been recovering from ACL surgery in the last two weeks. As I move (with difficulty) about, many passers-by notice my condition and share their own experiences. As a result, I am much more aware of the number of people who have had knee replacement surgery. The anecdotal information is informative but I was looking for a sense of the data on a US wide perspectives. Over a million operations of knee and hip replacements are conducted annually according to the CDC. If I add pacemakers, stents, and even selective plastic surgery the trend is clear. We are becoming what science fiction used to call cyborgs, a combination of man and machine. It improves our quality of life and increases our life expectancy.

Prosthesis Legs

I believe that mobile technology in the form of phones and tablets is very similar. We always have it with us and we communicate with it constantly. In fact, we have come to rely on digital tools as a way to store information (phone numbers, email addresses, calendar etc) and provide access to information that in the past needed to be looked up laboriously or just memorized. The fact is that we are becoming cyborgs not just in limbs but in our mind as well. I know some lament this development, hey I am not completely sure I like it at times. But, like it or not, it is happening. The question is, what does it mean and are we ready for it?

In the book we are currently writing, called Mind, Models, and Mentors, my colleagues (Brooks and Sayood) and I had a long discussion about the way the internet changes education. If we are truly becoming cyborgs then education has to adjust. The key is moving away from knowledge accumulation and memorization to problem-solving and searching.

"While memory remains important, it is clear that technologies (language, writing system, printing press, Internet) change the demands on human memory. What was essential a thousand years ago in order to discuss a text effectively (memory of the whole text) is potentially less critical now when we can easily refer back to texts in paper or digitally. This does not mean that students are learning (memorizing) less; instead it means that they need to memorize a different subset of knowledge linked to more complex operations and procedures." (excerpt from Brooks, Sayood, and Trainin, 2016)

I do not believe that there should be no content knowledge. The most needed tasks and information should be available in long-term memory and immediately accessible. The rest... should be accessed through search. This change is guided by three interlocking facts:
1. We have devices that allow us to be constantly connected. They are fast and comprehensive.
2. Modern knowledge is too extensive for anyone to know it all in detail.
3. Knowledge is developing and updating at increasing speeds. It makes what your Dr. learned in med school 10 years ago is now potentially obsolete or even dangerous.

As a result, the skills that our students need are the skills of searching and evaluating the quality of information available, problem-solving and self-regulation of our memory to make sure that we remember is accurate and still relevant.

The term cyborg has always been a negative one. Reality around us shows that we are becoming cyborgs, mechanically, and cognitively. This is our evolution and we must make sure that we adjust our schools to fit reality.

EdFuture is Now- Predictions

By Parry https://www.flickr.com/photos/21585925@N07/

My colleague Al asked me to think about trends in educational technology in the next 5-7 years. It is both a lovely and futile to try and predict where things are going. As I thought about it I found myself thinking of changes that are already in mid stride. To make it clear I am interested in technology and technology induced trends only as they impact education. Other trends (e.g. self driving cars) are exciting but have little relevance to the thing I know much about.

In the next few weeks I will blog about each group of predictions independently but here are the main topics I will try and tackle.

Already here:
1. Mobile
2. Flipped
3. Social

In the works:
4. OERI
5. Augmented reality
6. Individualization
7. Gaming

Social Engineering:
8. Citizenship
9. Leisure

Fashionable but educationally negligible:
10. Wearables
11. VR
12. User Interface beyond touch and voice.

Why is Teaching New Literacies Important

The NAEP results came out this week. They did no show much improvement in closing the gaps. In fact, there is now growing public discussion about the ways high stakes assessments may be preventing us from minding the gap by focusing all of our attention on the artifacts of assessments that are increasingly drifting away from real world application.

As part of the discussion Don Leu the director of the New Literacies Research Lab reminded us that the gap is much bigger for new literacies (as measured by the ORCA). The impact of such gap- the new digital divide is the key reason to use technology and teach students to use it effectively. What Leu's research shows is that some students get a lot of support for these kinds of activities at home and some schools. At the same time, other students from lower SES and minority status are getting much less opportunity to develop skills such as searching effectively, sorting and synthesizing.

As a result, teaching students about technology and literacy in digital environments should be part of the core skills that all students learn. Technology is not just a tool to achieve learning in other domain. Instead, if we truly want a more level playing field all students must learn to use web-based tools for learning.

This is a moral imperative!

Testing Teachers: Arts and Technology Integration

This week I was invited to participate in a state panel examining which test Nebraska should use as one of the criteria for certification. Teacher testing has become very popular across the states with encouragement from the office of education. There is very little evidence that such tests are connected in any way to teacher quality. For example in a recent report Angrist and Guryan (2013) say: "The results suggest that state-mandated teacher testing increases teacher wages with no corresponding increase in quality." The tests, however, are apparently here to stay and even Nebraska usually one of the last holdouts on testing has decided to cave in.

Nebraska has chosen to work with ETS and our task at the panels was to review from a selection of tests and make a recommendation about which tests are most appropriate and what should a cutoff score be. One of the more relevant options we considered was the Parxis II with emphasis on pedagogical decision making. As we read through the items (which I cannot disclose) I found that quit a few addressed arts integration through theatre, movement and visual art. It was clear that integration ideas were well integrated (at least into the version of the test I saw). 

Technology was mentioned in two items only. The technologies mentioned were: looms and books on tape... There was nothing that incorporated Internet searches, evaluation of Internet resources, reading on screen, or any of the other skills mentioned in our state standards, the common core standards and professional organizations. Now, I know there is no consensus over what exactly do new teachers need to know, but no technology integration, no reference to digital modes of literacy?

We made sure our concern registered. I worry because tests (even marginally reliable ones) cause some educators to "reverse engineer" their curriculum. We need more about technology integration in our pre-service programs not less. As for the tests, they need to adapt quickly to these changes to stay relevant.