Data-driven Instruction - Now Accessible to Every School & Teacher

Hot off the press (which calls for two posts in one day)!　

　

"’Data-driven instruction is a new watchword for education, but no one says which data to collect. In busy classrooms, we just don’t have time anymore to collect data that isn’t absolutely essential to helping readers improve."

Now, data-driven instruction is available to you…yes, you!

What is Accessible Assessment?

It’s Heinemann’s newest book, a framework for effective reading assessment that streamlines assessment with just 9 tools—assessments the research says are absolutely crucial.

What are three reasons a school would purchase Accessible Assessment?

1. A cost-effective, research-driven alternative to much more costly assessment programs.
2. To support data-driven instruction and increase consistency and common language about assessment.
3. To save money! The

How does Accessible Assessment make life easier for classroom teachers?

• Effective—a navigable, explicit framework for effective reading assessment
• Efficient—it only measures what the research says is essential to measure
• Manageable—shares assessments plus calendarized planning tools and recording forms

See below for more information on this product.  Then contact me immediately if you have questions, or order your copies today.  These will fly right off the shelves!

— Michael Opitz, Michael Ford, and James EreksonAccessible Assessment Book Study Bundle saves schools $49.50 on 15 copies.

What Are You Doing This Summer?

What are you doing this summer?  Why not travel and add to your wealth of instructional knowledge?

Heinemann Multi-Day Institutes offers the opportunity to deepen the Heinemann one-day workshop experience by expanding your professional learning over two or more days. Study matters of critical classroom importance, asking and answering your toughest instructional questions with some of the top educational thinkers in the country - our authors.

When the day's sessions are over, enjoy a night on the town in some of the best places to visit in the country, with colleagues who have joined you or new friends you've made during the day.

Here are some upcoming events which may interest you:

San Antonio, TX...June 19 - 22, 2011
Book by Book: Lessons for Unlocking Literature
English/language arts teachers and content teachers in grades 4–12, as well as supervisors and administrators, will find useful information.
This year we'll be guided by these questions:

What strategies help struggling readers develop the skills and competences they need to read and write the range of texts they will encounter now and in the immediate future?

What tech tools do we need to reach the "digital natives" of today's classrooms?

Each day begins with an optional (but you won't want to miss) writing class where our writer-in-residence helps us improve our own writing so we can do the same with students.
*Register by May 30th and save 15%

Boothbay Harbor, ME...June 26 - 29, 2011
4th Annual Boothbay Literacy Retreat
This year we'll look closely at how technology is changing (or not) the way we think as we look carefully at what it means to be literate in a Google-based world. We'll continue to explore how globalization and automation are changing the world and think carefully about what it means to prepare students for this environment. These topics will be considered against the backdrop of high stakes tests, restricted school budgets, overcrowded classrooms, and underfunded mandates. And, as always, we'll pay particular attention to how these topics affect our students who struggle the most.
*Register by May 30th and save 15%

Newport, RI...July 27 - 28, 2011
Literacy Learning and the Development of Thought: Teaching Literacy Well in an Era of Growing Demands
In this two-day institute, participants will explore their own reading and writing and will extrapolate their insights to elementary and middle school classrooms. Ellin Oliver Keene, Debbie Miller, and Bruce Morgan will each address the whole group on issues related to helping children read fluently, think deeply about books, and write effectively throughout the curriculum. Following each keynote, participants will have an opportunity to work in small groups with each of the presenters to focus on their own reading and writing and to draw conclusions about effective practices in their own classrooms.

Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Linked to HS Graduation

The hot topic in education these days is Common Core Standards.  These "evidence-based [standards are] aligned with college and work expectations, [including] rigorous content and skills, and are informed by other top performing countries. They were developed in consultation with teachers and parents from across the country so they are also realistic and practical for the classroom." (source)

That being said, perhaps educators should double- and triple-ensure that our 3rd Graders are receiving the best instruction via the most effective practices possible.  Why?

A new report, Double Jeopardy: How Poverty & Third-Grade Reading Skills Influence High School Graduation, released on April 8, 2011 finds that students who don’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave without a diploma than proficient readers. The report, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a longitudinal study of nearly 4,000 students and their parents. It is notable in breaking down for the first time the likelihood of graduation by different reading skill levels and poverty experiences.  You can read the entire report as a .pdf by going here.

What does this mean for Alabama educators? 

Heinemann has long been a source of excellent intervention products.  Fountas and Pinnell's Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) and Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) are your proven effective choices, especially for your Tier II and Tier III needs. 

Also, reading workshops are popular in today's classrooms.  Units of study for Teaching Reading: A Curriculum for the Reading Workshop, Grades 3–5 by Lucy Calkins and her colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project have helped hundreds of thousands of teachers launch and implement rigorous and responsive reading and writing workshops. Now they have written an unprecedented curriculum for the reading workshop based on their work—Units of Study for Teaching Reading.  This is an extremely rigorous and responsive course of study for students Powerful and empowering professional development for teachers.

Lastly, do not forget about the popular series Catching Schools and Catching Readers by Barbara M. Taylor.  In Barbara M. Taylor's own words, "When we're true to children's developmental needs and know which books to put in their hands, good things fall into place. The key is to focus on the children and the practices we know help them to read at each grade level."  This series is available for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th/5th grade levels.  But remember, starting early is the best practice to building a solid educational foundation.