Evidence-Based Literacy Strategies:

Glenwood Springs Middle School

Cassandra Alsop

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CI6113 - Standards-Driven Learning,

American College of Education

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Area for Improvement

Data analysis revealed educators at Glenwood Springs Middle School (GSMS) need to incorporate evidence-based strategies to support all students with increasing reading proficiency of all texts, to address the instructional needs of low literacy proficiency in the reading literacy measures of the student’s ability to demonstrate comprehension and draw evidence from readings of grade‐level, complex literary text (Colorado Department of Education, 2018).

Table 1

CMAS DATA

Effective Schools

In the field of education, school leaders must support educators and staff members in using high-impact strategies to target student needs.

• Research of high-performance schools reveal orderly school environments, clear goals, high expectations for all, a positive community and strong instructional leadership all contribute to student success (Zimmerman, 2017).
• High performing schools hold students to high academic expectations through clearly defined goals for academic achievement and a complex curriculum which focuses on depth of knowledge (Zimmerman, 2017).
• Educators and school leaders coordinate instruction across grade levels in conjunction with continuous monitoring of learner progress to determine if goals have been met (Zimmerman, 2017).

The students of GSMS would greatly benefit from incorporating high-impact strategies which have been used by high-performing schools.

Strategy One: Literacy Monitoring and Accountability

Creating a structured system to analyze, monitor, and collaborate around literacy trends at the school is a strategy implemented at high-performing schools. At one high-performing literacy school, a literacy program structure was put in place to increase accountability and collaboration around student literacy.

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• Each grade level or teaching team assigned a literacy leader who would monitor literacy data (Zimmerman, 2017).
• The literacy leader from each grade would then meet with the literacy coach at the school to discuss findings and determine an action plan.
• The literacy leader would then meet with their team monthly to discuss the literacy results and action plan.

Strategy One Continued

The literacy coach helped mentor all literacy leaders and teachers with following through on action plans and incorporating evidence-based literacy instructional practice(Zimmerman, 2017). At GSMS, this literacy monitoring structure could be put in place to better organize teachers efforts and work towards increasing student literacy.

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Strategy Two: Long Term Collaboration

A second strategy implemented by high performing schools when students are not meeting the high expectations is through the use of professional learning communities (PLCs) to allow educators to collaboratively work towards long-term literacy goals based on the needs of students.

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• Researcher O’Mara (2014) found struggling schools often implement a type of academic emergency triage when student testing data reveals a large student deficit, however, evidence reveals this often focuses teaching on basic skills which have little to no longer term impact on student growth and achievement.

Strategy Two Continued

O’Mara (2014) instead advocates for collaborative long-term school redesign instead which targets research-based practices with complex literacy skills. Professional learning communities can help educators measure targeted skills and co-develop instructional practices which will best support student needs (Zimney, 2019b). The PLC at GSMS can collaborate together to check and adjust to the needs and strengths of data as revealed through the data.

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Figure 1. GSMS Staff Collaborating through Community Service. By GSMS, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pg/glenwoodspringsmiddleschool/photos/?ref=page_internal

Strategy Three: Collaborative Classroom Observation

A third strategy which can have a high-impact on the learning of students at GSMS is collaborative classroom observation through which educators observe the teaching and instructional practices of peers through a reflective process which incorporates collaboration and high-impact literacy strategies.

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• Researcher White-Hood (1998) worked with educators in classroom observations of peers to focus on improving classroom instruction to truly reach successful school reform to support all learners.
• The collaborative classroom observations included:
• a pre-observation conference
• in-class data collection and analysis
• a post-observation conference
• the development of a collaborative action plan (White-Hood, 1998).

Strategy Three Continued

Educators were able to reflect on their own teaching practices and those of their colleagues to collaboratively improve the quality of classroom instruction. The collaborative learning process implemented aligns to successful reform research which identifies changes in classroom instruction, quality of professional development programming, and a collaborative observation process that allows for peer assistance, feedback, and planning as essential aspects (White-Hood, 1998). The collaborative classroom observation process can be implemented at GSMS to target evidence-based literacy practices in all classrooms for the benefit of all learners.

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Figure 2. Alsop at GSMS observing colleagues and student work. By GSMS, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pg/glenwoodspringsmiddleschool/photos/?ref=page_internal

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Closing

Overall, through the implementation of high-impact strategies school leaders and educators at GSMS can work together to meet the literacy needs of all students. Data reveals a need to better support students in gaining crucial reading literacy skills. Through the strategies of classroom observations, professional learning communities, and the implementation of a structured literacy monitoring system, the GSMS community can use data and researched practices to increase student growth.

Figure 3. GSMS logo by GSMS, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pg/glenwoodspringsmiddleschool/photos/?ref=page_internal

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Peer Feedback

This assignment was revised based on peer feedback from fellow educators at GSMS. The main changes made were breaking the strategy slides into two separate slide per strategy to help diffuse the text. Adding images of the staff and school was also suggested and followed to personalize the presentation more to the needs of the students at our school. The teachers appreciated the references to high-performing schools and high-impact strategies to implement at GSMS.

References

Colorado Department of Education. (2018). CMAS Grade 7 English Language Arts/Literacy Performance Level Descriptors. Retrieved from https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/grade_7_english_language_arts_plds

O’MARA, J. (2014). Closing the emergency facility: Moving schools from literacy triage to better literacy outcomes. English Teaching: Practice & Critique (University of Waikato), 13(1), 8–23. Retrieved from

White-Hood, M. (1998). Collaborative observation: Putting classroom instruction at the center of school reform Karen H. Peters Judith K. March. The Journal of Negro Education, 67(3), 322. https://doi.org/10.2307/2668201

Zimmerman, L. (2017). Learning from the best: reading literacy development practices at a high-performing primary school. Per Linguam : A Journal of Language Learning, (2), 36. https://doi.org/10.5785/33-2-740

Zimney, J. (2019b). Professional learning communities.[Video file]. Retrieved from https://a19-93612691.cluster19.canvas-user-content.com/courses/1581146/files/93612691/course%20files/course-content/module-content/07-module/m7-04-video-02.html