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- Students make even greater gains when teams of teachers or whole schools work together to improve and align their programs.
- The problem-solution cycle can effectively bring about change in reading programs by identifying areas of student need, collecting data, and then developing and implementing programs.
- Criteria to consider when choosing a student needs program are length, focus of material, provision for practice and review, and scripting.
- Any chosen program needs to be research based, explicit, concise, and have carefully sequenced instruction.
- Starting with pilot programs allows teachers to learn how to implement interventions effectively before having to coordinate large numbers of teachers and students.
- Informative student assessments can provide teachers with important data to use as a baseline from which to monitor individual student progress and measure the effectiveness of an intervention.
- When selecting an intervention, look for one that has been the focus of multiple, high-quality research studies that consistently show an increase in the reading levels of students with reading disabilities.
- Consideration needs to be given to providing funds for proper, on-going training for a core group of teachers, who would then coach others in how to implement a program.
- Administration and broad-level faculty support and commitment are essential if programs are to succeed.
- By carefully documenting all aspects of a pilot program, teachers are more likely to present the kind of information that will help garner support to expand the program.
- It is not enough to be a great, caring teacher; the teacher must also have the tools and support to be able to provide the type of instruction that has been shown to be most effective with individuals with learning disabilities.
- To help ensure the fidelity of interventions, teachers should collaborate and conduct self-assessments to rate their own performance.
- In addition to training staff members, provision should also be made for training and supporting students in a peer-tutoring program.
- When training and modeling for student tutors, it is important to show the explicit roles and responsibilities of the tutor and tutee and give them time to master the procedures.
- A successful program needs to be effective with the students for whom it was implemented and provide a system for monitoring student progress.
- Intervention programs need to be relatively easy to implement and provide easy to follow lesson plans.
- Screening all students during the second semester of kindergarten and during first grade will enable identification of those students who are risk for learning disabilities in reading.
- Implementing a systematic and explicit reading program that focuses on phonemic and phonological awareness, as well as phonics, will help strengthen the reading skills of all students.
- Instruction and activities to strengthen listening and reading comprehension skills are essential, even for students in early grades.
- It is important for teachers to continue their professional development and strengthen their own instructional skills by taking additional linguistic workshops and classes, adding to their personal libraries, seeking out mentors, and discussing successes and challenges in their own teaching with fellow teachers.
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