TechQuest Project Description- Draft #1

A major problem in my educational setting is that many students do not have access to grade-level written materials, simply because they lack the reading skills necessary to decode or comprehend the materials. For many students, grade-level written materials are above their independent or even instructional reading levels. When students transition from 3rd grade to 4th grade, they are also expected to make the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” After this point, more and more assignments consist of reading to gather information, followed by either written questions to answer or an oral discussion of what was read. Clearly, if students cannot read the material, they will be unable to answer the written questions or participate fully in an oral discussion, whether it is small group or whole class. It is unfair to have the same performance expectations for students who are struggling readers without providing them ways to access the required information.

For example, I currently have 3 very bright 5th grade boys in my class, and they all excel in the area of mathematics. Given a page of computation problems, they will speed through and get a high score. But, given a page of word problems to solve, they will 1) give up immediately 2) try to struggle through the reading themselves and get most problems incorrect because they can’t read vital directions or information 3)require someone to read the problems out loud to them. When presented the information out loud, so they are using their listening comprehension rather than their reading skills, these three boys easily complete most academic tasks successfully. This is also made clear by their ability to participate skillfully in in-depth classroom discussions in science and social studies, but unable to complete a simple “read the chapter, answer the questions” worksheet.

There needs to be a solution other than “teach them to read.” One of my students has had skilled special educators using a variety of research-based strategies to try to help him learn to read for 4 solid years (as well as Hooked on Phonics and Sylvan during the summers). During that time, he progressed from a non-reader to about a 1st/2nd grade functional reading level. Even though he continues to make progress, there is no way he can be expected to “catch up” to a 5th grade reading level within the school year, and most likely he will never be “on grade level” even if he makes over a year’s worth of reading progress each school year.

There must be a way to allow these students access to the materials necessary for them to meet the Grade Level Content Expectations, even if they meet them in a different way than their peers, such as listening to the information rather than reading it themselves. This would result in learning significantly more in the content areas; improved work completion, test scores, and report card grades; and, perhaps most importantly, an increase in self-worth related to academics, leading to success in all areas.