PKY research to create new options for struggling readers
Intensive reading intervention classes are supposed to help struggling readers master the fundamentals before moving to higher level work. But many Florida educators worry that the state system is dooming these students by exposing them to the same instructional approach again and again – even when it isn’t working. P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School is looking for a way to break the cycle with Project CHOiCE, which researches new approaches to teaching struggling readers.
Funded with $270,000 from the Florida Department of Education’s Just Read Florida program, Project CHOiCE is a partnership between P.K. Yonge, the UF College of Education and Levy County Schools, led by P.K. Yonge Research & Outreach Director Lynda Hayes, University School Professor Nancy Dean, Assistant Scholar Nancy Corbett, and UF Associate Professor Nancy Waldron.
The study will evaluate the effectiveness of two alternative intervention methods, and will compare them to results from Florida’s most popular intervention program, Read 180 (Scholastic).
One of those alternate options is a program called Leadership through Reading, which Dean created in her classroom at P.K. Yonge. Dean teaches struggling high-school readers basic instruction in how to teach reading to younger children, then asks them to tutor elementary students in their reading – giving them additional incentive to master reading skills.
The study will also evaluate a program called Speech and Debate, which was created by Assistant Scholar Nancy Corbett, P.K. Yonge secondary reading coach Christy Garison and Buchholz High School debate coach Kirsten Flamand. Focused on developing students’ reasoning skills, the program presents students with contemporary, challenging topics and asks them to develop, present and defend their positions on these topics.
Courtesy Associate Professor Karen Kilgore will conduct interviews to assess student experiences in both alternative interventions, as well as their experience in Read 180.
The researchers will discuss the project and provide opportunities for classroom observations during a Research in Action event at P.K. Yonge from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1. To register for participation in the event, contact Lynda Hayes at lhayes@pky.ufl.edu .
