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What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs
What Really Matters for Struggling Readers offers a clear blend of research and practice that teachers can use to develop better methods for helping children with reading difficulties. In What Really Matters for Struggling Readers , nationally recognized scholar Dick Allington offers easy-to-understand interpretations of research that support three important Children need to read a great deal to become proficient readers, offering summaries of research on the subject, the text shows how to monitor the amount of reading and create interventions that expand reading activity. Children need access to appropriate books, exploring the research on the subject, the text contains suggestions for designing schools where books are available and appropriate for all children. Children need to develop fluent reading to become proficient readers, reviewing the research on reading fluency, the text provides instructional models and methods for fostering fluency. Richard L. Allington is the Fien Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He was a co-recipient of the Albert J. Harris Award from the International Reading Association for his "contributions to the better understanding of reading and learning disabilities". Dick is also a past president of the National Reading Conference and has been elected to membership in the Reading Hall of Fame.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
November 21, 2011
Have you noticed that every new educational method, material and program is "research based" or "scientific"? Everything these days is the new miracle that will transform your classroom into the model learning environment. Thank God for Richard Allington! He sorts through years and years of research to focus on the big picture of what research really says about the needs of struggling readers.
Here are but a few things that I found especially interesting:
*Developing phonics skills and phonemic awareness in K-1st is supported by research but not in higher grades.
*Use www.whatworks.ed.gov to find ratings on what really works with various educational programs
*It is estimated that 80% of the rich/poor reading gap is due to "summer setback"
*The only reading program that has been proven to work is "Reading Recovery"
*The amount of reading that students do in and out of school is positively related to their reading achievement
*Worksheets and workbook pages don't work
*Students need books that are at their level
*Struggling readers need explicit demonstrations of comprehension strategies
*"Fidelity to a flawed program is not a virtue" !!!
*Dibels is a waste of time ;)
Here are but a few things that I found especially interesting:
*Developing phonics skills and phonemic awareness in K-1st is supported by research but not in higher grades.
*Use www.whatworks.ed.gov to find ratings on what really works with various educational programs
*It is estimated that 80% of the rich/poor reading gap is due to "summer setback"
*The only reading program that has been proven to work is "Reading Recovery"
*The amount of reading that students do in and out of school is positively related to their reading achievement
*Worksheets and workbook pages don't work
*Students need books that are at their level
*Struggling readers need explicit demonstrations of comprehension strategies
*"Fidelity to a flawed program is not a virtue" !!!
*Dibels is a waste of time ;)
August 14, 2018
This is a helpful resource for working with struggling readers in all settings. I walked away with practical strategies to implement both in one-on-one tutoring sessions and in my classroom this fall.
Notable takeaways:
1. Struggling readers need more time to read books at their level! That seems like common sense, but our struggling students are often given books that are too advanced for them to read independently. In schools, they are often pulled for teacher directed support during read-to-self times, thus allowing them almost no time to read enjoyable texts on their own.
2. Our readers need more explicit comprehension instruction. As a whole, this is a weakness for many educators. Simply assessing recall or using comprehension worksheets will not lead to meaningful comprehension. Students need explicit demonstrations of the comprehension strategies that literate people use when they read, i.e: activating prior knowledge, summarizing, imagery, question generating, thinking aloud.
I spoke to a physician that teaches at a local medical school, and she reported that reading comprehension struggles are a growing challenge among medical students. These are incredibly bright students that have managed to successfully excel through years of formal education, but they are struggling to comprehend extensive medical texts. This should motivate us to take a closer look at how we teach comprehension to all readers.
Notable takeaways:
1. Struggling readers need more time to read books at their level! That seems like common sense, but our struggling students are often given books that are too advanced for them to read independently. In schools, they are often pulled for teacher directed support during read-to-self times, thus allowing them almost no time to read enjoyable texts on their own.
2. Our readers need more explicit comprehension instruction. As a whole, this is a weakness for many educators. Simply assessing recall or using comprehension worksheets will not lead to meaningful comprehension. Students need explicit demonstrations of the comprehension strategies that literate people use when they read, i.e: activating prior knowledge, summarizing, imagery, question generating, thinking aloud.
I spoke to a physician that teaches at a local medical school, and she reported that reading comprehension struggles are a growing challenge among medical students. These are incredibly bright students that have managed to successfully excel through years of formal education, but they are struggling to comprehend extensive medical texts. This should motivate us to take a closer look at how we teach comprehension to all readers.
March 31, 2015
I have mixed feelings about this book - on one hand, it's obvious that Allington knows his stuff. He's got some astounding statistics about the various levels of reading success in our current system, and the environmental effects on children's reading ability. He offers a ton of suggestions for creating both meaningful and effective reading programs in schools. Although I'm not an educator in an administrative role, I can see the value of the knowledge that he provides in this book.
However, I almost feel like some of the advice he gives - such as offering extended-day programs for struggling readers - is great in theory, but not so effective in practice. They've started a similar extended-day program where I live, and I've heard mixed reviews; I know that kids that are struggling to read at grade level need more practice at reading, but I'm not sure that extending an already six-hour school day to eight+ hours isn't going to make kids more excited to read. In fact, I think it might even result in school burnout (because we already have seen in other cultures, such as Asia, in which school burnout is a very real thing) and a decrease in family time. If children aren't getting home until say, 5:30-6:00, they only have a few hours after mealtime for personal destress and family activities before bed. Doesn't sound ideal to me, especially because we're hearing more and more in American media about how overscheduling young children can actually be detrimental to them! Anyway, that was my soapbox, feel free to ignore.
In summary, I think there are a lot of good ideas in this book, but I'm still left a little concerned.
However, I almost feel like some of the advice he gives - such as offering extended-day programs for struggling readers - is great in theory, but not so effective in practice. They've started a similar extended-day program where I live, and I've heard mixed reviews; I know that kids that are struggling to read at grade level need more practice at reading, but I'm not sure that extending an already six-hour school day to eight+ hours isn't going to make kids more excited to read. In fact, I think it might even result in school burnout (because we already have seen in other cultures, such as Asia, in which school burnout is a very real thing) and a decrease in family time. If children aren't getting home until say, 5:30-6:00, they only have a few hours after mealtime for personal destress and family activities before bed. Doesn't sound ideal to me, especially because we're hearing more and more in American media about how overscheduling young children can actually be detrimental to them! Anyway, that was my soapbox, feel free to ignore.
In summary, I think there are a lot of good ideas in this book, but I'm still left a little concerned.
October 10, 2011
What a fabulous book! The text is rich with discussion points and suggested strategies. Allington states that in order for kids to grow as readers, they need at least 90 minutes of reading during their school day. That's actual reading, not filling in worksheets, listening to someone else read, or struggling though material that is far above their current reading level. A few of the many useful ideas for teaching include having students read to younger kids so that they don't feel self-conscious about reading books that are aimed at a younger crowd, Echo Reading (in which the teacher reads a paragraph and then the student reads it back to the teacher), and having kids record themselves as they read a passage to self-critique and then try again.
March 13, 2009
This is compelling book for educators interested in improving reading instruction and offers as strong critique coupled with suggestions for improvement. Really stresses the necessity of high volume, access, and choice of what kids read. It makes me want to hit the restart button on my career as an educator.
July 25, 2007
Allington includes refreshing opinions but also lots of research informed recommendations for developing reading programs. This book is a definite recommendation for anyone who is in the process of developing a reading program, reading teachers, and anyone else interested in literacy education.
January 7, 2010
This book starts from the very beginnings and reviews history and the data on reading achievement; though it wasn't new to me it was a good reminder. Richard knows the reading research and right now is discussing the importance of having kids read a lot.
August 12, 2014
A ton of great information!! It validated a lot of what I believe and challenged some of my ideas.
Kids need BOOKS THEY CAN READ. They need time to read!!! We need to see them as kids, with their own needs, challenges and strengths.
Kids need BOOKS THEY CAN READ. They need time to read!!! We need to see them as kids, with their own needs, challenges and strengths.
November 28, 2010
This is a must-read book for teachers and administrators.
March 2, 2015
It made me feel very good about what we already do, but also gave me lots to think about!
September 20, 2018
Good for the bibliography.
March 26, 2021
A comprehensive but accessible overview of the research on teaching reading (minus the section on NCLB that is now outdated and made my eyes glaze over). I didn’t learn much that I haven’t learned from other books about teaching reading, though. I read this book as part of my quest to find a book on how to model and practice reading comprehension strategies with high school students, but this book is too general for that purpose.
August 15, 2017
Very good outline of the challenges of reading instruction and some steps toward remedying these issues. If there were more practical take-aways in terms of actual classroom applications, I'd have rated it 5 stars.
April 20, 2018
Chapter 2 really blew me away. Definitely a book I want to own, highlite and refer back to.
January 15, 2019
A book every teacher must read!
March 3, 2019
No very helpful more of a book about what is wrong.
October 15, 2019
This is a good starting place when working with or being the parent of a struggling reader. However, there was no new information presented here as a professional teacher.
April 19, 2022
No new knowledge gained, no practical solutions offer for the many problems observed.
June 19, 2011
I started my K-12 reading licensure program with this book and visit its pages regularly. No other book I've encountered has so clearly proposed what isn't working and how to make it work. It's a transformative reading for anyone interested in literacy issues. Allington clearly lays out how to help students who are behind in reading, and its map isn't necessarily what the reading profession has always believed.
After I read this book Waiting for Superman came out. It is an important film. However, Allington takes great care to talk about what our reading data really means. I wouldn't have realized the filmmakers were cherry picking their reading data to add an element of "drama" if it wasn't for this book. Yes, we have an atrocious achievement gap, but let's not forget that our top students are competitive with other top students around the world. We are doing something right, but now we need to turn to our struggling readers and give them a clear path to success.
After I read this book Waiting for Superman came out. It is an important film. However, Allington takes great care to talk about what our reading data really means. I wouldn't have realized the filmmakers were cherry picking their reading data to add an element of "drama" if it wasn't for this book. Yes, we have an atrocious achievement gap, but let's not forget that our top students are competitive with other top students around the world. We are doing something right, but now we need to turn to our struggling readers and give them a clear path to success.
July 15, 2016
I really love this book, but I'm frustrated by the lack of secondary coverage. It seems so focused on elementary readers and doesn't seem to give enough advice about working with adolescents.
Also, while I appreciate how Allington provides what's BEST to do with struggling readers, he sometimes glosses over the aspects that are beyond our control. For example, some of these idealizations combat realistic time frames and/or the "I'm only one person" human constraints that we all face as teachers. Yes, I realize that we can share the rest of the research with our our administrators and board members, but that also doesn't necessarily mean all of those research-based methods can be done either.
Also, while I appreciate how Allington provides what's BEST to do with struggling readers, he sometimes glosses over the aspects that are beyond our control. For example, some of these idealizations combat realistic time frames and/or the "I'm only one person" human constraints that we all face as teachers. Yes, I realize that we can share the rest of the research with our our administrators and board members, but that also doesn't necessarily mean all of those research-based methods can be done either.
June 14, 2016
Two nuggets:
Keep teaching summarization and other reading strategies.
Get better books in their hands for 90 minutes a day.
Two issues:
Two to three in an intervention group with a highly qualified specialist is ideal but not possible.
How to get students to pick books that they will actually read for 90 minutes every day.
The author gives a nod to the type of students I have, and also to teacher struggles. I'm left with a couple of ideas that I knew already and no strategy that is better than what I use already. It's a good read for a beginning teacher for certain.
Keep teaching summarization and other reading strategies.
Get better books in their hands for 90 minutes a day.
Two issues:
Two to three in an intervention group with a highly qualified specialist is ideal but not possible.
How to get students to pick books that they will actually read for 90 minutes every day.
The author gives a nod to the type of students I have, and also to teacher struggles. I'm left with a couple of ideas that I knew already and no strategy that is better than what I use already. It's a good read for a beginning teacher for certain.
June 26, 2015
Lots of great information and reminders, especially the chapter on fluency. I also loved his reminder that expert teachers, not expert programs, make the difference for struggling readers. However, Allington's pessimism makes this a depressing read. His biting criticism of schools, curricular programs, assessment tools, professional development, and pretty much anything else related to education is quite heavy-handed.
March 13, 2016
This book changed the entire way I think about how to help our struggling readers. It gave me research that I could use in the defense of decisions I have made in my classroom as a result of this text. Allington does all the hard work for you and takes the research, relates it to educators and students, and gives us suggestions to help our readers in most need. This is one of the central books in my life as an educator, and I highly recommend adding it to your library!
February 17, 2011
Richard Allington clarifies what research-based really means while delineating what kind of reading instruction really helps struggling students. Repeatedly he says that for struggling students to improve in their reading, they must read engaging text at an appropriate level throughout the schools day. That means text that isn't too hard for them.
March 8, 2015
As the title suggests, this is a book about research. It is an interesting read if you are looking for methods, strategies, or programs for remedial or general literacy instruction. It reads as a sort of "do's and don'ts" of reading instruction based on the research that is out there. However, I would suggest finding the most updated version as this one was from 2001.
June 2, 2007
An excellent educational book. I had it on my shelf for awhile and finally read it cover to cover. I picked up some good pointers on ways to effectivley help struggling readers. It's a book any elementary reading teacher should own.
November 16, 2012
This book really caused me to re-evaluate the way the school that I student teach at does things and how they discover what method they would like to use to teach reading and writing. It also led me to start considering the value and purpose of both test prep and homework.
April 23, 2007
It's amazing to see into the minds of struggling readers and truely understand what they are feeling.
Read
April 8, 2009A must read for all elementary teachers! It's what matters for all readers, not just strugglers. This book transformed my reading instruction while enhancing the Reading Workshop model.
April 13, 2010
Great book with some great points made by Allington on mistakes that are currently being made in the education system that effect our students.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews