The Research Base: CORE's Theoretical Underpinnings and Comprehensive Design
The Research Base for Elementary Learners
CORE follows guidelines established in the National Research Council Report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, the Report of the National Reading Panel, Put Reading First, Striving Readers, Reading Next, and IDEA 2004. Click here for links to these sources.
From Put Reading First: "Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read and spell . . . It is most effective when children are taught to manipulate phonemes by using letters of the alphabet [and] when it focuses on only one or two types of phoneme manipulation." (pages 6–7)
- Phoneme awareness is the conscious understanding that spoken language is composed of phonemes, or speech sounds. It involves the ability to blend, segment, and manipulate phonemes in spoken words. It helps students: (1) to understand the alphabetic principle—the principle that the letters of the alphabet stand for the sounds in oral language; (2) to notice the regular ways that letters in written words stand for sounds; (3) to blend sounds in order to read words; and (4) to segment words in order to spell them.
From Put Reading First: "[Systematic phonics] is more effective than non-systematic or no phonics instruction . . . Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children's reading comprehension." (pages 13–14)
- Systematic, explicit phonics is an instructional method in which sound/spellings are introduced systematically and sequentially, directly taught in isolation, blended into whole words, and initially practiced in decodable text. There is strong correlational evidence that good phonics instruction is linked to high achievement in comprehension.
From Put Reading First: "Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension . . . Because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding the words, they can focus their attention on what the text means." (page 22)
- Fluency—the ability to read accurately, quickly, and with expression—is a hallmark of competent readers. Repeated oral reading with careful guidance from teachers and/or peers has significant impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.
From Put Reading First: "Children learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language . . . Although a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly, some vocabulary should be taught directly." (pages 35 and 36)
- Vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to reading comprehension. The task of vocabulary instruction is twofold. Students must be given intentional vocabulary instruction in specific concepts and word meanings, and they must also be taught word-learning strategies. Word-learning strategies include how to use word parts to figure out the meaning of words in text and how to locate and use external context clues to determine word meaning.
From Put Reading First:"Text comprehension can be improved by instruction that helps readers use specific comprehension strategies . . . Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension." (page 49)
- The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic: readers make decisions by selecting strategies that fit the kind of text they are reading and their purpose for reading. Most students require explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies. Certain key comprehension strategies—which students employ before, during, and after reading a selection—need to be taught directly to students in the context of their reading. In explicit comprehension strategies instruction, students learn what the strategy is, why it is important, and how, when, and where to apply it.
Other important components of good instruction:
- High-frequency word instruction
- Multisyllabic word attack skills
- Spelling instruction
- Book discussions
- Independent, wide reading
The Research Base for Adolescent Learners
From Reading Next: "Effective adolescent literacy interventions must address reading comprehension. Possible approaches include
- Comprehension strategies instruction, which is instruction that explicitly gives students strategies that aid them in comprehending a wide variety of texts;
- Comprehension monitoring and metacognition instruction, which is instruction that teaches students to become aware of how they understand while they read;
- Teacher modeling, which involves the teacher reading texts aloud, making her own use of strategies and practices apparent to her students;
- Scaffolded instruction, which involves teachers giving high support for students practicing new skills and then slowly decreasing that support to increase student ownership and self-sufficiency; and
- Apprenticeship models, which involve teachers engaging students in a content-centered learning relationship." (pp. 13–14)
From Reading Next: "Extended Time for Literacy
"The panel strongly argued the need for two to four hours of literacy-connected learning daily. This time is to be spent with texts and a focus on reading and writing effectively. Although some of this time should be spent with a language arts teacher, instruction in science, history, and other subject areas qualifies as fulfilling the requirements of this element if the instruction is text centered and informed by instructional principles designed to convey content and also to practice and improve literacy skills."
From Improving Literacy Instruction in Middle and High Schools: A Guide for Principals (Joseph Torgesen, Debra Houston, and Lila Rissman. Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University, 2007): "Three goals:
- Improve overall levels of reading proficiency. To succeed in the world after school, adolescents must leave high school with higher levels of reading proficiency than they are currently attaining.
- Ensure that all students make at least expected yearly growth in reading ability each school year. Students who enter middle school reading at grade level need to learn many new skills and acquire extensive knowledge in order to meet grade-level standards at the end of high school.
- Accelerate struggling readers' development. Instruction for struggling readers must produce substantially more than one year’s growth in reading ability for each year of instruction. Unless struggling readers receive instruction this powerful for as long as they need it, their ability to learn from grade-level text will remain impaired." (p. 3)
National Advisory Board
CORE's National Advisory Board includes NICHD researchers and best practice experts: Scott Baker, Kenneth Howell, Phyllis Hunter, Kate Kinsella, Mark Shinn, and Shane Templeton. These reading leaders are actively involved in developing accepted guidelines for research-based reading, such as those supported by Reading First.
Research-Based Design
The CORE program is also based on the best practices research on effective professional development as described in The New Structure of School Improvement: Inquiring Schools and Achieving Students(Bruce Joyce, Emily Calhoun, and David Hopkins. Comparative Education Review, Vol. 45, No. 2, May 2001, pp. 284–287). CORE integrates its research-based approach to reading instruction on the concept of a stool with three legs. All three legs must be firmly in place to support reading instruction that gets results.
- Leg 1: Ongoing professional development to build research-based knowledge and skills
- Leg 2: Support in selecting and implementing effective research-based instructional tools
- Leg 3: Establishment of local support systems to build sustainable success
For information about CORE's total district solution to improve literacy achievement, click here.