Following is an article reprinted with permission from the Orange County (CA) Reading Association Newsletter summarizing the OCRA Winter Conference keynote address by Dr. MaryEllen Vogt, professor at California State University at Long Beach. Teachers.Net is grateful to Leslie/2nd/CA for her help in arranging to bring this article to the Gazette.

Dr. MaryEllen Vogt, professor at California State University at Long Beach and coordinator of the pre-reading programs, was the keynote speaker at the "Afternoon High Tea" at Chapman College in January. Thank you MaryEllen for sharing your expertise with us!

Dr. Vogt quoted John Dewey (1916) - It is the responsibility of the school environment to..."see to it that each individual gets an opportunity to escape from the limitations of the social group in which he was born, and to come into living contact with a broader environment."

She listed research-based assumptions. Students who read most, read best. (Good readers get their work done and have more time to read independently - more practice.) Traditional ability grouping has been largely unsuccessful. (It can lead to self esteem problems for the majority of students.) All students benefit from support from more experienced individuals. (Students can benefit from working with each other and cross-age tutors.) There is no set of instructional strategies that is effective all of the time for all students. (instructional strategies need to be varied and multi-sensory.) Literacy learning requires social interaction and collaboration. (Students need to interact with peers.)

Consistent grouping by ability carries social and academic stigma for many students, Research shows that grouping by ability differentiates across socio-economic and ethnic lines and promotes differentiated expectations for students' success. It can also promote negative feelings about school for low achieving students and can provide many advantages for high achieving students.

Teacher's expectations are mediated by students' response to instructional methods. They are communicated through interactions, such as praise. Expectations often determine grouping arrangements and contribute to students' self-comparisons with others. Teacher expectations also influence curriculum and instruction.

Teachers need to "Scaffold" instruction for support by balancing grouping options (whole class, small group, individual, partners, triads, cooperative groups, jigsaw, discussions circles, guided reading, etc.); by utilizing varied reading options (shared reading with a partner or group, reading to children, and independent reading )-I by using Think-Aiouds and Teach Cross-checking, and by following lesson plans that incorporate the strategy of "Teach, Model, Practice, Apply."

When organizing groups consider how difficult the text is, how much background knowledge the students have, how much scaffolding the students will need, how much direct instruction is needed, how much group practice is needed, how much independence can be expected, who might benefit from support in advance of the lesson, and who needs support following the lesson.When forming groups consider the purpose for the groups, text difficulty for individuals, academic strengths, linguistic needs, leadership abilities, student choice, and attendance (students who miss a lot of school interrupt the progress for their groups).

Some students need to be prepared ahead of time in order to benefit from instruction. In the pre-reading phase "Jumpstart Activities" should be linked directly to the selection to be read. Difficult concepts and difficult vocabulary needs to be taught even if it is to be introduced later to the entire class. Sometimes background knowledge needs to be provided. The activities must enable struggling readers to have extended learning time.

Typical "Jumpstart Activities" might include a picture or text walk, structured preview, listing questions students have, listing words students think they might encounter, brief introduction of key vocabulary, listing things students might learn about, beginning a graphic organizer to be completed later in class, building background by "chatting" about the topic, and even partial reading of the text.

A typical day in a flexibly grouped classroom would include a story introduction to the whole class, reading the selection (possibly in needs-based groups which might range from no help to being read the story by the teacher or peer). There would be responding to the selection in heterogeneous groups such as book clubs, discussion circles, group graphic organizers, art projects, drama, etc. There would also be ample support for struggling readers as well as appropriate support for average and accelerated readers. There would be time for students to read books of their own choosing which could be done independently or in pairs.

The classroom needs to be arranged to allow for large group work areas, small group work areas, center areas, quiet reading and writing areas, and a work-with-partner space. The materials need to be accessible. Class goals need to be well established and implemented. (Students need to know what behavior is expected.)

When teaching students how to work in independent groups the first activity must be fun, meaningful, and last about 12-15 minutes. The teacher should circulate to help and redirect groups.