Almost daily, there are disturbing reports about the rising problems of illiteracy. Politicians, business leaders, community organizations and parents all struggle to cope with its adverse and growing effects on society.
According to research by Time magazine, the national high school drop out rate is an alarming 30% -- and a staggering 50% for Hispanic and African American students.
The U.S. Department of Education issued its Reading Report Card stating that 68% of our nation's fourth graders were not able to read at a proficient fourth grade level. At-risk youth, low-income children, and minorities are even more behind.
The inability to effectively read, write and learn does more than put its victims behind in school. Self-conscious, and often emotionally upset by the situation, children with low literacy skills often act in ways that are harmful to themselves and others. A study by the National Institute of Justice found that 85% of all juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math.
The American Library Association estimated that illiteracy costs the U.S. more than $225 Billion annually in crime, welfare payments, lost taxes, job incompetence and remedial education.
At the bottom of this is not "bad politics" or "bad philosophy", nor is it a bad economic system, tax code or lack of opportunity. What has been lost in the years of finger-pointing and blame is the search for -- and discovery -- of a simple answer.
If people want to be productive, they need to understand the world and the opportunities that it presents. To do this, they must be able to learn. To learn, one must be able to read.
As President John F. Kennedy said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.” A Partial Record of Research for the Bright Sky Learning Multisensory Intervention Educational Program.
Bright Sky Learning's methodology of locating and filling in the gaps in student knowledge is supported by Guskey (2007) as well as Gagne's cumulative-learning theory (1965, 1962) and the incremental mastery of skills is supported by the work of Engelmann (2007) and Hirsch (1996). An example of how this concept is used in the Bright Sky Learning program is to remediate students by using the Sounds of English or English Alphabet and Sounds instruction, phonemic awareness and alphabet instruction programs. According to the findings published in Put Reading First (2003), the factors most highly correlated with success in early reading are the ability to isolate the individual phonemes in a word and knowing the alphabet. The use of a multisensory curriculum (such as Smart Way Reading and Spelling or Phonics interactive Education) is one of the most effective ways to teach children to read (National Reading Panel, 2000).
The assessment approach used in the program is supported by the work of McAfee and Leong (2007) and Fuchs (1995), and studies have found that students who are assessed frequently have higher achievement (Wiliam et al, 2004; Blair, 2000). Additionally, active memory recall solidifies learning with longer information retention (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006) and frequent feedback received by students, as occurs in all aspects of the Bright Sky program, has been found to foster positive attitudes towards assessments (Cotton, 2001). The student to tutor ratio utilized promotes cooperative learning and socialization, and provides motivation towards increased achievement across all grades (Gillies, 2003).
The mode of delivery is via small group utilizing multisensory programs that are explicit and systematic. The delivery model is based on the concept of self-efficacy and its application in instructional practices (Bandura, 1986), and supported by Cleary (2009). The gradual, systematic approach allows students to develop their skills and increase their confidence (Cleary, 2009; Hanson and Greene, 2000; Klein and Marple, 2000). Explicit, systematic instruction is recognized as having a direct impact on student success, especially in low-achieving students (Koesbergen, VanLuit and Maas 2004; Whitehurst, 2003, Baker Gersten and Lee 2002) and supports its use in mathematics (Koesbergen, et al 2004; Baker, et al 2002) and in phonics (Curtis 2004; Kamil 2003). As well, research shows phonics instruction is useful to students of all ages (Curtis, 1999 and 2004; Blevins, 1999; Snow, et. al, 1998) and other research validates intense instruction in decoding skills as a method of boosting the reading level for struggling readers in high school (Institute for Academic Access, 2002). A Brief Overview of the Results of the Bright Sky Learning Language Arts Research Study
The research and evidence base that validates the Bright Sky Learning tutoring program is an Overview of the Results of the Bright Sky Learning, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13, School District of Lancaster Tutoring Research Project, by Lana Edwards Santoro, Ph.D., Education Associates; Angela Kirby-Wehr, M.Ed., Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN); and, Edward S. Shapiro, Ph.D., Lehigh University, 2006. Tests utilized were the Wide Range Achievement Test 3 Reading assessment; the Woodcock Johnson III Letter-Word Identification, Spelling, Passage Comprehension, and Word Attack assessments (collectively, the "Broad Reading" measure); and Dibels monitoring.
The students chosen for BSL were "low basic," chosen because they were not receiving tutoring in the traditional Education Assistance Program model since they weren't "bubble students." Bubble students defined as students who would move from "high basic" to proficiency by the time of the PSSA. Duration: 2/7/06-6/1/06. Enrolled: 130. Attendance: 77.38%. After school, 4 days a week for 1.5 hours.
Of the 111 elementary school students pre and post tested 98% made progress. Of 55 students who received 40+ hours of remedial instruction, these gained, on average, 2.75 grade levels on the WJIII Broad Reading Measure. "It appears that the largest impact on student performance occurred for students performing at or below the 25th percentile." ... "Overall, data shows how the Bright Sky tutoring program helped advance the reading performance of the lowest performing students." ... "Another important consideration when reviewing these findings is the relatively short duration of the BSL tutoring intervention."
"The research study at the secondary level compared student progress via a single subject research design, pre-testing and post-testing students utilizing standardized measures. Overall, students received an average of 26 hours of tutoring and made significant gains in the area of basic reading skills, gaining on average 1.5 grade levels on standardized measures. The attendance rate was 75%; of the 49 students pre and post tested 93% made progress."
A full copy of the Study can be downloaded here: Research Study
