Reading Fluency using Screen Reader Technology; Student Reflections on Learning to Read

Program Description

Submit a succinct description of the 75 minute presentation program including all of the following information.  Incomplete proposals might be excluded from consideration.

Program Format - Individual, panel, demonstration, &/or interactive

Individual and interactive

Program Abstract

This presentation uses recorded excerpts from student interviews to explain the learning outcomes and measures of reading achievement of the Delta College reading fluency program. The curriculum utilizes screen readers to help students reach fluency levels. Attendees will learn how it feels to have a print disability and what it means to learn how to read as an adult.

Program Description

     The reading fluency program at Delta College utilizes screen readers to support a top-down reading instructional strategy. Recorded student interviews will be used to explain the program’s student learning outcomes and measures of reading achievement. The target audience is for anyone teaching students with print disabilities how to read. Attendees will learn about how it feels to have a print disability and to finally learn how to read.

     The National Reading Panel’s report on the role of fluency in reading and the state of instruction in the United States identified the failure of phonological, or bottom-up, instructional methods for students with reading disabilities (Hiebert & Fisher, 2005). Bottom-up models of literacy instruction define reading as a sequential developmental process of decoding, word recognition, and reading fluency. A person with a print disability has difficulty developing the lower order processes of phonetics and word recognition and may never reach the higher order processes of discourse, reading fluency, and creative writing (Chamberlain, 2006; Vaughn, 2006; Rasinski, 2001; Putman, 2005; Lepola et al., 2005).

     One alternative to the phonetic model is the reading fluency, top-down, model. The top-down approach begins with helping a student to read every day (Rasinski, 2001; Smith, 2005). The reading fluency model necessitates fast reading and requires the ability to work with new vocabulary, abstract language, and ambiguity of written expressions. Increased reading comprehension will result from the reader’s ability to draw meaning and purpose from the reading context.

     The reading fluency program at Delta College is based on a 4 step process that starts with an orientation and continues with a 3 stage reading fluency curriculum (SJDC, 2006). The following is a description of the 4 steps and student learning outcomes:

1.  Orientation – Empathy and the desire to read;

       During the orientation:

          a.    The Teacher;

                   i.   Empathizes with a student’s prior experiences in trying to learn to read.

          b.    The Student

                   i.   Understands how learning to read by listening is different than reading with the eyes.

                   ii.   Feels that the teacher understands his/her vulnerability.

                   iii.  Understands how his/her reading achievement will be measured.  

2.      Stage One - Affect

          a.      The motivation to learn;  confidence, efficacy, and enjoyment of reading;

          b.      Reading speed.

3.      Stage Two - Fluency

          a.      User locus-of-control; independent reading;

          b.      Persistency of comprehension; reading fluency over longer periods of time;

          c.      Social behaviors; sharing read ideas and working with others.

          d.      Automaticity; reading speeds over 190 wpm.

4.      Stage Three – Flexibility and a Life Long Learner

          a.      Diversity of reading contexts; diverse learning tasks;

          b.      Flexible reading – A personal reason and goals for learning.

     The reading fluency program at Delta College provides a model for other reading programs working with people with print disabilities. The presentation uses recorded student comments to describe their experiences learning to read within the reading fluency program. The students provide a rich and meaningful understanding of how it feels to finally be included in the larger community of people who enjoy reading.

References:

Chamberlain, S. (2006, Jan). The state of reading research and instruction for struggling readers. Intervention in School and Clinic, 41(3), 169-175.

Hiebert, E., & Fisher, C. (2005, May). A review of the National Reading Panel’s studies on fluency: The role of text. The Elementary School Journal, 105 (5), 443-461.

Lepola, J., Poskiparta, E., Laakkonen, E., Niemi, P., & Pullen, P. (2005). Development of and relationship between phonological and motivational processes and naming speed in predicting word recognition in grade 1. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(4), 367-399.

Putman, M.  (2005). Computer-based reading technology in the classroom: The affective influence of performance contingent point accumulation on 4th grade students. Reading Research and Instruction, 45(1), 19-38.

Rasinski, T.  (2001). Reading fluency instruction; Moving beyond accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. The Reading Teacher, 59(7), 704-706.

San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC). (2006a) Screen Reader Application – Section A, Department (SP Ed 087A). Stockton, California: San Joaquin Delta College, Department of Special Education.

San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC). (2006b) Screen Reader Application – Section B, Department (SP Ed 087B). Stockton, California: San Joaquin Delta College, Department of Special Education.

Smith, M.  (2005). Literacy and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (1st ed.). London: Elsevier Academic Press.

Vaughn, S., & Edmonds, M. (2006, January). Reading comprehension for older readers. Intervention in School & Clinic, 41(3), 131-138.