Curriculum Documentation and Origins
I will be analyzing the Read 180 curriculum which is a reading program. For the standards I will use the Virginia Standards of Learning test and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). There are various types of documentation made about the program.
The first is peer-reviewed sources which include books, articles, internet sources and various scholarly materials where publishers have included the contributions from many experts in the field before deciding to publish it. The national level sources are also present and are available for the audiences around the nation.
There are also publisher/developer evaluations. The other types of documentation include quantitative data, quantitative investigations about the subject and various convincing evidences.
There are four approaches that are considered so as to match the standards and they include, the reading curricula, instructions assisted by the computer, the methods that aim at providing the teachers with more professional knowledge so as to understand some given instructions and methods that bring together instructions of large and small groups using computer activities.
The documentation about Read180 is well put and it enables the readers to fully understand the concepts behind it and the goals and objectives that it strives to reach.
Read 180 is a scholastic program which was developed by the educators at the University of Vanderbilt in conjunction with the Orange County of Florida and those from various public schools. It was then implemented in 1999. The prototype was developed by the Peabody Learning Lab which is in Vanderbilt University and Dr. Hasselbring Ted. At the moment, Scholastic is its marketer.
Read 180 is a program that was after more than twenty years of research based on scientific knowledge and the assistance of a group of well known and acknowledged experts in the field of adolescent literacy and researchers that dealt with reading problems. It was after intense research on the issue of reading problems that the Read 180 was developed.
The Curriculum Proper
This reading program was designed so as to respond to an educational problem that faced many students of varied ages. It was developed mainly so as to target the students that were in grades 3 to 12 and had not achieved a certain required reading proficiency.
The program was designed so as to breach the gap that existed in the skills of the individual student. This was supposed to be done by involving the each student in a session that lasted for ten minutes during which the student was issued with certain instructions which he or she was supposed to follow for the session to be successful.
The program also aims at improving the reading and comprehension levels of the students. At first, the lexile levels of the students are determined so as to know which novel the students can read in the Read 180 curriculum. This is determined using the SRI test which assigns every individual with a lexile score.
Read 180, which is identified as the most efficient reading assistant program, is a system of curriculum that gives instructions which are later assessed and with the aim of developing professionals.
It has been proven to improve the reading abilities of many readers who struggle to read. It was mainly developed for those students that are reading either two or more years before graduating (grade-level).
It also contains many features that assist in the educating of students with special needs. It was also developed due to the need to boost English language learners by providing the necessary academic vocabularies that are necessary for success in reading.
The curriculum is intended for educational purposes. There are five major components in the program. The first one is instructional reading where students read some passage after viewing a video clip from a CD and this is meant to give them some background knowledge about the subject.
The students are given a choice of language where they choose to view the preview in Spanish. The educational skills acquired here include word recognition, vocabulary use, spelling of the various words and fluency in pronunciation. Double clicking on any word gives its Spanish translated version.
The second component in the program is the modelled reading. During this session, an audio CD is played whereby a recording of fluent readings from a peer coach is recorded and the students follow along and try to pronounce the words and phrases just as fluently as the coach.
The third component is the independent reading sessions. During these sessions, the students get in to private compartments where they are to read individually. Each student reads a book that fit their individual levels of skill in reading. The students are not allowed to go into groups for discussions of the written works. This is meant to give them time to try out the skills they had acquired during the other sessions.
There is also the teacher-directed instruction where the teachers and their students have interactive sessions. This happens daily and can either be done when the students are in groups or are in their individual sessions. The lessons that are to be learnt are those of writing, comprehension in reading, improving the vocabulary and studying the characteristics of the words they encounter.
After all these sessions, there is an assessment that is done. This is done using the Lexile Framework which yields lexile scores which are not the usual, everyday scores. The lexile score indicate the difficulty that the student encounters during reading. This is done by the use of lexiles which assess the difficulty of comprehending text. The computer is used to monitor students’ performance on the activities.
Read 180 has also been acknowledged for its support for the diverse cultures and languages of the readers. This is evidenced in the package provided for in the Read 180 program which includes the audio tapes recorded in the Spanish language together with books and other multiethnic literature. This ensures that people of various cultures and languages are targeted.
This explains why the Read 180 program had been adopted and implemented in many countries and institutions. It also targets a wide range of age groups right from the 4th up to the 12th graders. This shows how user-friendly this program is. The program is not gender sensitive as it can be used equally well by both sexes.
The main goals of these components include the following:
- One of the primary goals of the program is to motivate to the students. This is achieved through the use of good looking peer mentors who appear during the video session on tape. This program focuses on getting the attention of the students and consequently motivates them into being interested in topics that deal with adolescents. It promoter frequent positive contributions from the students and captures their attention and interest throughout the session.
- The program also aims at providing basic decoding skills to the students. This achieved by providing the students with the opportunity to preview and identify some of the difficult words that are used in the passages on the CD before they are allowed to read the passage. When the students listen to a certain word pronounced on the CD, they check on the structural model and take a quiz to show that they have identified the word. This provides them with the basic decoding skills that are critical in education.
- The program also aims at promoting fluency in decoding skills. The teachers first prepare for the session which involves instructing either the students that are in groups or the whole class in general. Thereafter, follows a two-day implementation of the training in the use of software in the computer that supports the program.
- The program also aims at imparting knowledge in language comprehension. The processes addressed include, predicting, summarizing, predicting, general mental imagery and evaluation skills.
- It also aims at promoting linguistic knowledge. The student should be able to know the definitions and spellings of vocabulary.
- Promote the abilities of making inferences. This is achieved by asking the students inferential questions in the quizzes on comprehension.
Since the program involves the use of complex software, it requires that the teachers attain some certain level of knowledge and skills. Those teachers that are not computer literate might have a rough time when it comes to this.
An institution that is ready to adopt this program should make sure that it has a good number of staff that possess the adequate knowledge on computers and the software and any other technologies that are included in the lessons as per the requirements of the Read 180 program.
Since teachers are required to have prior knowledge concerning this activity, they are provided for with materials which equip them with the necessary knowledge. The teachers are also requires to attend several workshops so as to support instruction in various aspect such as vocabulary. They also need to sharpen their skills in terms of comprehension and the reading strategies as required by the Read 180 program.
Some of the values that are incorporated in the Read 180 program may not go well with the morals or attitudes of the community. Such practices as the those of using attractive coaches during the lessons so as to motivate the students in attending the lessons and making them participate more in class may not be accepted by all.
As much as it is a good idea and has actually been proven to be effective, other members of the community which includes the parents of the students may think that it is more of a distraction than a motivator.
The students might concentrate more on the physique of the attractive coaches and less on the lessons they are trying to teach. This is a matter that is subject to debate but judging by the success rate of the particular activity, the use of beautiful and handsome coaches may be here to stay.
The Curriculum in Use
The curriculum is designed in such a way that it accommodates for sixty students per classroom. For any institution that is willing to adopt the program there is a certain estimate of the costs to be incurred in the setting up of the entire program.
The estimated cost for setting a whole program for a class of at least sixty students and the entire teaching staff and materials which include computer hardware and software and the paperbacks and audiotapes is an estimated $ 400. This cost, however may have changed due to time lapse. This estimate was set during the publication in 2000. An accurate and current amount can be obtained by contacting the publisher.
There are various materials needed for the implementation of the program. These include lesson on presentations, questions and reading that are stored in CDs. Paperbacks and audio books are also used in the exercises that lead to the implementation of program’s goals and objectives. There is also the use of posters and the whole package provided for in Read 180.
The program is meant to solve the problems faced by secondary students in reading. Researchers have tried to compare the achievements the various approaches that the program has provided for the teachers and policymakers and to study the current edge in secondary programs.
Stage B of the Read180 program is meant to be used by students from grade 6 and above. The students are divided into groups of fifteen and provided with instructions in a span of ninety minutes per day. Each lesson starts with a twenty minutes session where everyone is present. Afterwards, the students get into groups of fives and go through three different activities.
The first activity is the one of doing instructional reading through the assistance of the computer. The next one is the independent reading session where everyone goes his or her separate way to read alone and the last session is the one of getting into small groups and a teacher is present to instruct them. Read 180 program provides software which mostly has topics on social studies and science in general.
Since Read 180 provides the students with the necessary skills that are needed in improved learning, it meets the standards that are set by the region and this makes it an efficient tool in learning. Research has also proved it to be very effective and this gives it an added advantage over those that have not been scientifically proven yet.
Some data on research findings done to warrant Read 180 as an effective program in the learning process have been conducted.
An evaluation that involved a large region was conducted on the program in high schools in Phoenix where a group of students that had been performed poorly were introduced to the Read 180 program and their results later (after a year) compared with their fellow academically weak students who had not participated in the program.
The results indicated that the students who had engaged in the Read 180 program scored substantially higher than those who had not.
Another research was carried out in California and it encompassed the 8th graders in Los Angeles. The research studied the performance of students in terms of reading abilities and therefore monitored the performance of those that had used the program and those that had not and the results indicated that those that had been involved in the Read 180 program actually performed better.
These results concurred with those obtained in Phoenix.
Critique
I believe that the Read 180 program is an effective tool that can be useful to the education sector. It provides the skills which include fluency in the spoken language, skills in comprehension, skills in knowing the correct spelling and those of word recognitions and correct use.
These are the essential and primary requirements for anyone that wants to be a proficient reader or writer. This program therefore builds a strong foundation for those students aspiring to be great writers in the future.
Unlike other programs or day to day lessons in the education sector, Read 180 manages to combine fun and education in a way no one anticipated.
The use of attractive coaches for the sole reason of motivating the students is one of its own kind. The aim is to improve the concentration of the students in class and get them to participate in discussions especially concerning sex education and other things that affect any adolescent student.
Through its motivational nature, the Read 180 program has managed to get some students that had completely given up with education to get back to school and actually score high marks. The program takes education to the next level and makes school a nice place to be. It brings fun into education and gets the attention of the students that had despised education.
Read 180 is a winner when it comes to making scores. It has changed the perceptions of students towards education and has brought great success to all or at least most of those who have attempted to give it a try. Above all Read 180 does not only impart academic skills to the students that engage in it but also socializing skills.
Through the use of group work, the program brings together different groups of people who interact freely. This interaction gives the students a sense of belonging that enables them to be the best they can be and this is equally reflected in their grade scores.
The Read 180 program also portrays a good image by the fact that it supports for its use by readers of diverse cultures and languages. The option given to students to choose from different languages gives this program an added advantage from the conventional programs. It enhances socialization and cultural exchange which are among the strongholds a country must have to so as to develop into a destination for different people.
The only problem that is experienced in the adoption and implementation of the Read 180 program is the fact that it is a new field and needs teachers who have prior knowledge on the running of the program which requires specialized training.
The other thing to be concerned about is the likelihood of some students being distracted by the attractive coaches that teach them. This should be checked for in individual classes so as to ensure that others don’t fail out of the distractions created.
Conclusion
Read 180 is a program that can be adopted and implemented by any institution that seeks to improve the skills of its student body. It helps in creating all-rounded students who have both skills that help them in classroom activities and outdoor activities such as socializing. I would personally recommend it to anyone willing to experience positive change in their learning process.