That would be nice except...our teachers of literacy have all had (or are having) the opportunity to participate in a year-long literacy class focusing on balanced instruction. Our teachers have unbelievable summer training opportunities. We have coaching support available in all buildings. Teachers are supported in opportunities to observe. These opportunities are carefully undertaken, with an opportunity to visit before and after with the teacher they will observe. The visits are facilitated by our coaching staff. Lack of training is not the issue for most of our staff.
I realize how gloom and doom these two posts sound, and I don't mean for them to be so. We have a number of teachers, a significant number, who are simply doing amazing work with students. But after seeing Regie Routman at NCTE this year, I am pondering her comments. She said, basically, for an underperforming school impacted by poverty to see systemic change, 90% of staff members need to be 'on board' with changes in literacy instruction. That remark hit so deeply home with me, as we are so far from that 90% mark in nearly all of our buildings. This year, under new leadership at the district level, the district is exploring that issue of who is responsible for implementation and for the first time, that conversation is going beyond the teacher level. All of this makes me potentially giddy and terrified--I know that under different circumstances, as in replace balanced literacy with a prescribed same-page literacy program, this could be my own idea of hell on earth as a teacher. Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: djchan <djc...@charter.net> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 7:50 AM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > Lori, > > To me, that sounds like insufficient training in literacy. A teacher may not > need to be 'on board' with the program, but they should definitely be using > appropriate and research supported teaching methods for literacy. If they > don't, then whose responsible for the training that they should have > received to make them effective literacy teachers? I have seen this in the > school system I retired from and it was a lack of training. However, that is > not to say that there aren't teachers who will deliberately sabotage a > schools program because it requires them to move from their comfort zone and > they don't want to. I think your key phrase was 'effective teachers' and my > question becomes how did they become effective teachers and the others > didn't? And what needs to happen to help the other teachers become more > effective in their literacy methods? > > > Deidra Chandler, NC > MA Early Childhood Ed > MA Reading > MultiSensory Structured Language Intervention Tutor > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ljackson" <ljack...@gwtc.net> > To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" > <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 8:23 AM > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > > > > The 80% mentioned here probably refers to the RtI pyramid, in > > which--ideally--80% of the student population have their needs met within > > the regular classroom and are performing within acceptable ranges in terms > > of grade level expectations. To me, this implies that the first step in > > beginning an RtI program is to carefully examine curricular practices but > > it does not follow that there is necessarily a prescribed or correct > > single means of doing this. Like Kelly, our district feels that balanced > > literacy and a general pacing guide for unit study will support teachers > > in attaining this goal. I do see, however, a danger in my own district in > > seeing this approach damned and dumped because we are not seeing the kinds > > of results one would hope to see. As much as I am nervous about the > > bantying of the term fidelity, I think Kelly has hit the nail on the head. > > We have ample evidence to show that children in classrooms where balanced > > literacy practices are honored under the orchestration of effective > > teachers, children are making excellent progress. The issue we have to > > grapple with is this. How do we begin to address the issue of teachers who > > aren't, for lack of a better term, on board? I can say that the majority > > of these teachers are implementing their own brand of instruction that > > looks much more like traditional basal instruction than any direct > > instruction program I have reviewed. > > > > > > > > Lori Jackson > > District Literacy Coach and Mentor > > Todd County School District > > Box 87 > > Mission SD 5755 > > > > ----- Original message ----- > > From: Kelly Andrews-Babcock <kandrews-babc...@killinglyschools.org> > > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group > > <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> > > Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 6:56 AM > > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > > > >> Oh my, how scary! I'm not sure what you mean by 80% requirement for RtI, > >> are you talking about implementing RtI up to 80%? Anyway, we were told > >> that if you do not have a "program" that whatever your core curriculum is > >> will be fine as long as it's being implemented with integrity and > >> fidelity. Our core curriculum consists of guided reading, shared reading > >> and independent reading. However it does not look the same in every > >> classroom nor the same at each grade level. > >> As a coach my job has become interesting in assisting grade levels to > >> meet expectations. We also formulated some pacing guides for reading last > >> year which has helped us stay on track. I'm not sure I'm answering your > >> question here... > >> Kelly AB > >> > >> On 12/16/08 5:05 PM, "Beverlee Paul" <beverleep...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> Help!! I've been told that the only way a district can meet the 80% > >> requirement for RTI is to adopt a direct instruction program as its core > >> curriculum. Please--those of you out there that still use balanced > >> literacy, how do you fulfill the RTI requirement? Thanks. BP > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Mosaic mailing list > >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > >> > >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Mosaic mailing list > >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > >> > >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > >> > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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