[CALIBK12] [CSLA Research Update] Reading studies

[Lesley Farmer]

Stephen Krashen contribution (email sent to CALIBK12):Direct
Instruction and Heavy Phonics: No "LastingBenefits" for Struggling
ReadersSent to the Providence (RI) journal, November 15, 2007Seven
schools in Providence are doing “directinstruction,� a
phonics-heavy program, because ofthe results of a study done in 1977,
showing thatdirect instruction produced “lasting benefits.�(“Some
schools turn to direct instruction to masterbasics,� November 14.)I
suggest that Providence administrators take anotherlook at those
“lasting benefits.� Directinstruction children did better on
“word reading�in grades 5 and 6, but did very poorly (15th and
16thpercentile) on tests of reading comprehension. Inother words, they
were able to read words aloud thatwere presented on a list, but had
serious problems ontests in which they had to understand what they
read.This is identical to the pattern California StateUniversity
researcher Elaine Garan found for morerecent studies.Some basic phonics
instruction is helpful forbeginning readers, but the groups that lag
behind inreading, the “struggling readers,� are those thatare read
to least and have the least access to books,not those who get the least
phonics instruction.Stephen KrashenBecker, W. and Gersten, R. 1982.
Follow-up ofFollow-Through: The later effects of the directinstruction
model on children in fifth and sixthgrades. American Educational
Research Journal 19 (1):75-92.Garan, E. 2001. Beyond the smoke and
mirrors: Acritique of the National Reading Panel Report onphonics. Phi
Delta Kappan, 82: 500-506.Krashen, S. 2004. The Power of Reading.
Portsmouth:Heinemann and Westport: Libraries Unlimited.Some schools
turn to direct instruction to masterbasicsNovember 14,
2007http://www.projo.com/education/content/mc_read_11-14-07_Q27KBA6_v15.282df36.html

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Posted By Lesley Farmer to CSLA Research Update at 11/15/2007 09:20:00
AM
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