Dive Brief:
- In an increasingly time-strapped environment, educators must be cognizant of literacy practices for elementary school students that may not be productive, according to an article University of Michigan Professor Neil K. Duke wrote for Edutopia.
- The list of questionable practices include vocabulary instruction where students use a pre-determined set of unknown words in a sentence, as well as giving students presents for reading, independent reading not supported with instruction and taking away recess as a punishment.
- Duke notes that weekly spelling tests are also problematic and do not seem to lead to results, saying that whole-class exams with the same set of words has not shown effectiveness. Students have more effective learning when trying to understand different words matched to their level of development in lieu of testing.
Dive Insight:
Many of the tools Duke suggests educators avoid in teaching literacy are along the lines of the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to literacy education which has prevailed for generations. This is opposed to burgeoning trends in literacy education, which favor personalizing learning to fit the skill level of the student. Duke even clarifies that some of the disputed teaching techniques, like unsupervised reading time, would likely be more beneficial if more individual instruction was offered by the educator.
Just as educators must constantly reassess their performance and techniques, schools can also focus on the things beyond teaching tools that may be necessary to support student literacy gains. A survey conducted by the International Literacy Association released in January of this year found that parent engagement, professional development and access to books and other resources were all particularly important for a child’s literacy development, but were often not given the attention they needed. School leadership and administrators can better ensure the success of literacy by focusing on these needs, as educators continue to develop their approach and weed out unsuccessful practices.