Low Reading and Writing Ability
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I would like our discussion to also address low reading and writing ability. We tend as a nation and as educators to focus so highly on weak math scores, but the truth is that when adult learners have serious reading deficiencies, they are in far worse danger of dropping out of college because most courses are reading-based. Just think about how overwhelming an intro biology textbook is for poor readers. What do your programs do to help in this arena? I know that many schools used a computer-based program-I used one myself when I taught developmental reading several years back-but I found it pretty worthless and switched my approach to the nuts and bolts of reading comprehension, fix-up strategies, and using real-world newspaper and magazine articles to reinforce these skills.
Sephanie Moran
Hi Stephanie:
I know you will get a lot of good feedback on this issue. Here is a Research-to-Practice brief on our website written by Lauren Capatosto called "Recoding and Fluency Problems of Poor College Readers." Lauren worked with John Strucker last summer to do this literature review and focused on what does and doesn't seem to work based on the research on poor college readers...a group that will sound very, very familiar to you.
Cynthia Zafft, Senior Advisor
National College Transition Network
Stephanie,
I hear you on low-level readers! Two resources that I've found helpful: First, the NIFL website, Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles [2], which discusses the different kinds of issues that poor readers present, along with some assessment tools and strategies for teaching. Second is the NIFL publication, Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults by Susan McShane. You can download it here or order it free directly from NIFL (it's quite large for downloading, I think -- over 100 pages). It is a treasure of information and strategies for all levels.
As you go through all this stuff, though, it's useful to bear in mind the comment from John Strucker, a leading reading researcher, that decoding and vocabulary are 80% of comprehension. Sort of helps us hack a path through the thicket of need.
Wendy Quiñones
Yes, I'm familiar with John's work-I think he was the primary author on a huge manual designed for middle school teachers that I borrowed several years back from a middle school principal friend of mine. I retooled my GED and college classes accordingly. I think GED teachers often give short shrift to vocabulary, and while students can still pass the GED without much depth of vocabulary, a lack of understanding word parts and the essential quality of developing vocabulary really hurts such students when they try college courses.
Stephanie Moran
