One of the most important components of reading intervention is patience. Children learn best when they move at a slower pace and are able to understand everything that they are being taught. While some children are simply not ready to learn anything at all, others need a little extra time to adjust to the process. A reading intervention program can help overcome the language barrier and boost a student’s confidence. While the process of learning is a slow and tedious one, students who take the time to understand the process will reap the benefits in the end.
Whether you’re using one of the various methods of reading intervention, the key is to keep students interested in the process. Encourage students to celebrate small successes, such as completing a task. When the assignment is too overwhelming, break it into smaller steps and give specific positive feedback. If the assignment is challenging, start by making it easier, so that the student feels confident. When a child is ready, they’ll be more likely to do it and achieve success.
The Florida Center for Reading Research defines explicit instruction as “teacher-led, interactive, unambiguous and direct”. This instruction begins with a clear explanation of the skill, and is followed by modeling. Then, ample practice opportunities occur, including guided practice with feedback, student independent practice, and supported application. Teachers must be aware of any possible learning disabilities to be able to choose the best program for a child. These programs can be used by teachers of different grade levels.
The What Works Clearinghouse website has a glossary of terms related to reading intervention. The glossary lists evidence-based programs that work in different grades. The program’s effectiveness should be based on research, and the Ministry should provide funding for them. It should also establish a process for evaluating and reviewing approved reading interventions. The evidence-based programs should be effective and demonstrate positive results in school-level data. When considering what works in reading, the resource is a great help for educators.
School boards should use standardized measures to determine the success of the intervention. Success is measured when students improve their outcome scores in word-reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Failure means further programming needs to be implemented to help the students. This is important because it shows whether the intervention is successful or not. However, school boards should also make sure that they are using standardized measures across all interventions. The outcomes of these tests should be compared and contrasted to those of other programs.
As mentioned, not all students with reading difficulties have access to these programs. Even if the programs are effective, they are still not widely available to all students who need them. For example, the Ottawa-Carleton materials note that decoding is the primary deficit for entry. Other programs, like Reading Mastery, may only be available to a select group of students. Because of this, students who can benefit from these programs may not receive the interventions they need.
RTI teams should set a realistic reading goal for each student. Although the ultimate goal is to help a student achieve grade-level reading proficiency, this may not be possible if the gap between the student’s instructional and independent reading levels is large. Therefore, interventionists should set a S.M.A.R.T. goal for each student, which stands for specific, measureable, achievable, and relevant. This goal can be achieved through classroom instruction and ongoing intervention.
Free Reading Website offers a variety of resources for teaching reading intervention. Under the Teaching Tools tab, the Free Reading Website has an easy-to-use plan for literacy interventions. Another great resource for reading intervention is the Florida Center for Reading Research. They have resources organized according to grade level and literacy components. These resources are very comprehensive and offer resources to help you plan your intervention programs. If you need more resources, consider subscribing to Free Reading Website for access to free resources.
Phonics interventions build automaticity in decoding by teaching students high-utility words and using regular phonetic patterns. Phonics awareness is another important component of this program. Students who score low on the screening test will be placed in a small-group program led by a teacher, speech-language pathologist, or other educator. The goal of this program is to develop a lifelong strategy to learn new words and phonological awareness.
Various tests are used to determine the nature of the student’s reading challenge. These tests identify the decoding problem, oral reading fluency, and comprehension problem. Decoding means the ability to decode words, oral reading fluency measures how fast a student reads, and comprehension means the student’s ability to understand what is being read. The assessment of reading tests is crucial in identifying a reading intervention plan that is suited for a particular student.