Structured Literacy and Typical Literacy Practices
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TCXXXX10.1177/0040059917750160<sc>Council for Exceptional Children</sc><sc>TEACHING Exceptional Children</sc> 750160research-article2017 Structured Literacy Structured Literacy and Typical –11. Copyright 2018 The Author(s). DOI: 10.1177/0040059917750160 Literacy Practices Understanding Differences , Vol. XX, No. X, pp. 1 to Create Instructional Opportunities Louise Spear-Swerling TEACHING Exceptional Children Isabelle Rowe is an elementary-level services as a student with a learning Key Features special education teacher who is disability in the area of reading. beginning her second year of teaching. Although Ms. Rowe had had good Explicit means that important skills and A third grader named Curtis was preservice preparation with considerable concepts are taught clearly and directly recently placed on her caseload after exposure to evidence-based instruction by the teacher; students are not being identified with dyslexia at the for students with reading difficulties, expected to infer them simply from end of Grade 2. In preparation for her experience with specific intervention exposure or incidental learning (Archer working with him, Ms. Rowe read his programs for students with dyslexia & Hughes, 2011). Systematic and file. She knew that difficulties with was limited. Ms. Rowe was determined sequential means that skills and phonemic awareness, decoding, and to find the details of Curtis’s previous concepts are taught in a logical order, spelling are central to dyslexia, and as interventions, so that she could use that with important prerequisite skills she anticipated, Curtis did have a information to help design more taught first (Torgesen, 2006). For history of these kinds of problems. As a effective special education instruction. example, before teachers expect beginning third grader, Curtis should be She also did some reading on evidence- students to decode two-syllable words, able to decode most one-syllable and based interventions for students with they teach decoding of common one- two-syllable phonetically regular words; dyslexia. As part of her research, she syllable word patterns as well as how he also should be starting to read more repeatedly encountered the term to divide two-syllable words to complex types of texts, such as chapter structured literacy (SL), so she decided facilitate decoding them. The books, written at an early-third-grade that she needed to find out more about sequential nature of SL means that level. However, assessments in Curtis’s those instructional approaches. teachers require students to practice file showed that he had difficulty only what they have been explicitly decoding many one-syllable word SL approaches are often taught. Again, before teachers expect patterns, such as unfamiliar silent e recommended for students with students to practice decoding specific words (e.g., tame, stripe), but his dyslexia and other poor decoders (e.g., phonics word patterns (e.g., short- ability to read common sight words was International Dyslexia Association, vowel words with consonant digraphs) relatively good. He also had poor 2017). These approaches are well in reading text, or to recognize specific spelling skills, and because he often supported by research evidence (e.g., irregular words in text, they directly omitted sounds in words or substituted Brady, 2011; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & teach those skills in isolation first. SL other sounds that did not belong, Ms. Barnes, 2007; Foorman et al., 2016; approaches also build in cumulative Rowe often could not even recognize the National Reading Panel, 2000). practice and ongoing review of intended word in Curtis’s misspellings. Examples of SL approaches include the previously learned skills, so that Ms. Rowe was not surprised to Wilson Reading System (Wilson, 1988), students retain these skills and develop discover that Curtis had an excellent Orton-Gillingham (Gillingham & automaticity. oral vocabulary and good listening Stillman, 2014), the Lindamood An additional feature of SL, and of comprehension, because she knew that Phoneme Sequencing Program explicit teaching approaches in general such strengths are found in many (Lindamood & Lindamood, 1998), and (Archer & Hughes, 2011), is a high degree students with dyslexia. However, when Direct Instruction (e.g., Carnine, of teacher–student interaction, with she reviewed his history, she was Silbert, Kame’enui, & Tarver, 2009). considerable time spent in direct somewhat puzzled to see that Curtis Although these programs vary in some teaching. In these approaches, was perceived as doing well in reading ways, they all share several key instruction requires frequent responses as a kindergartner and throughout first features. from students, and the teacher provides grade. He was not identified as needing immediate feedback with clear intervention until the beginning of Key Features of Structured correction as needed. The teacher Grade 2. Literacy Approaches provides step-by-step demonstrations of Ms. Rowe’s school uses a multitiered- Key features of SL approaches include skills and leads students in guided systems-of-support model, with (a) explicit, systematic, and sequential practice. Explicit instruction also uses universal screening and tiered teaching of literacy at multiple levels— nonexamples as well as examples. For interventions as part of the general phonemes, letter–sound relationships, instance, if teachers want students to education system. Unfortunately, syllable patterns, morphemes, learn the vowel-r (VR) syllable pattern although Curtis had received tiered vocabulary, sentence structure, (words that have a vowel followed by an interventions throughout Grade 2, he paragraph structure, and text structure; r, which changes the vowel sound), they had not made good progress in those (b) cumulative practice and ongoing present both VR words (e.g., barn, short, interventions. Because of his review; (c) a high level of student– urn) and non-VR words (e.g., trip, rag, inadequate response to tiered teacher interaction; (d) the use of brush) for students to distinguish from interventions, he was referred for a carefully chosen examples and each other. Examples and nonexamples comprehensive evaluation for special nonexamples; (e) decodable text; and would be carefully chosen to ensure that education. He was found eligible for (f) prompt, corrective feedback. students learn the concept being taught, 2 COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN in this case, that the r in a VR syllable an intrinsic learning problem in those of these types of programs was not must come immediately after the vowel, areas. likely to benefit Curtis. She went to her not before it. Many commercial programs school principal, Ms. Watkins, and In the early stages of instruction, exemplify SL and research has asked to participate in professional when students’ decoding skills are generally focused more on effective development in an SL approach. Ms. relatively limited, most SL approaches features of instruction than on Rowe pointed out that this professional have students read decodable texts, comparing specific commercial development would enable her to help those constrained mostly to the specific programs. For example, Kilpatrick both Curtis and other students in her phonics patterns that students have (2015) reviewed evidence suggesting class more effectively. Luckily, Ms. been taught (e.g., consonant-vowel- that SL programs that emphasize Watkins had the funds for Ms. Rowe’s consonant words with a, i, and o). Just development of phonemic awareness to professional development and approved as when students read words in an advanced level (e.g., programs that the request. isolation, SL teachers would provide train students to manipulate, delete, prompt corrective feedback to students’ and substitute phonemes rather than Typical Literacy Practices (TLP) decoding errors during oral text only to blend and segment phonemes) Just as the SL approaches described reading. Table 1 provides some may be more effective than other SL previously vary from each other in some examples of the kinds of explicit programs in helping poor decoders ways, so, too, does the TLP commonly instructional activities that are common attain automatic word recognition. In used in schools. Examples of these in SL programs. any case, all SL programs have marked non-SL literacy approaches include differences from the type of reading Guided Reading (e.g., Burkins & Croft, instruction that is common in Tier 1 Fit for Students with Dyslexia 2010), Reader’s Workshop (e.g., Calkins, general education instruction and, 2000), Balanced Literacy, Four Blocks SL is especially well suited to students often, even in tiered interventions Literacy (Cunningham, Hall, & Sigmon, with dyslexia because it directly (Moats, 2017). 1999), Reading Recovery (Clay, 1994), addresses their core weaknesses in and the Leveled Literacy Intervention phonological skills, decoding, and In her readings on SL, Ms. Rowe found (Fountas & Pinnell, 2009). TLP do not spelling (Moats, 2017). Although most studies showing that SL interventions include most of the key features of SL. students with dyslexia do not have core clearly improve the reading achievement Table 2 summarizes some important weaknesses in higher levels of literacy, of students with dyslexia (e.g., Simos differences between SL and the ways that such as vocabulary, text et al., 2002; Torgesen et al., 2001). She literacy skills are more commonly taught. comprehension, and broad language also visited a special education class in TLP for Reading