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From 5/10/24

In this conversation, Stephanie Stollar discusses the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps to provide support for students with various needs. The MTSS framework focuses on using data to identify barriers to student performance and making plans to eliminate those barriers. Stollar explains that word recognition skills are more discreet and sequential, while language comprehension skills are more unconstrained and complex. Stephanie recommends that special education resources should be blended with general education resources from the beginning, and students should receive intensive support as soon as it is needed, without having to go through a series of interventions and assessments. She also emphasizes the importance of evidence-aligned instruction and the need for team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.

Takeaways

• MTSS is a framework for school improvement that helps teachers provide support for students with various needs
• The tiers in MTSS are prevention of reading failure, with tier one being primary prevention for all students, tier two providing extra support for students at higher risk, and tier three offering intensive and individualized support for struggling readers
• Differentiate tier one instruction and provide targeted instruction based on screening and diagnostic data
• Assessments in MTSS include screening assessments to identify students at risk, diagnostic assessments to determine specific instructional needs, and progress monitoring assessments to track student progress.
• Blend special education resources with general education resources from the beginning and provide intensive support as soon as it is needed.
• Focus on evidence-aligned instruction and team-based decision-making in the MTSS model.

Resources

• Stephanie's Reading Science Academy
• Stephanie's MTSS Course
• Watch Stephanie discuss...
  • the importance of using universal screening data to reflect the effectiveness of Tier 1 instruction and design core instruction
  • the elements in a coordinated, comprehensive assessment system
  • why you should teach word recognition and language comprehension at the same time

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

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Phonics alone won’t solve the literacy crisis.

Natalie Wexler's new book: Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning advocates, which connects the science of reading to the broader science of learning.

Key Points:

• The current reading crisis is fundamentally a learning crisis.
• Cognitive science principles, such as retrieval practice, should apply to all learning.
• Advocating for a knowledge-building curriculum supports all students, particularly those who struggle.
• Writing instruction should start with explicit techniques.
• All teachers should integrate literacy within their content.

Beyond the Science of Reading advocates for an integrated approach to literacy that combines cognitive science principles with literacy instruction, emphasizing content knowledge, explicit writing instruction, and cross-disciplinary teaching to boost student success.

Resources

• Natalie's new book Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning
• Do We Need to Teach Comprehension Strategies Explicitly?
• The Writing Effect

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

We would love to hear from you! Send us a message (if you'd like a reply, email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org)

From June 22, 2021

In this episode, reading and fluency expert Tim Rasinski tells us all about effective fluency instruction! How does repeated reading build fluency instruction? Why does text difficulty level impact fluency practice? What do effective accuracy, automaticity, and expression sound like?

Check out research, articles, and helpful materials located on Tim's website and follow Tim on Twitter @TimRasinski1. We also discuss this piece by Nell Duke.

We answer your questions about teaching reading in The Literacy 50-A Q&A Handbook for Teachers: Real-World Answers to Questions About Reading That Keep You Up at Night.

Grab free resources and episode alerts! Sign up for our email list at literacypodcast.com.

Join our community on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.