Building Reading Proficiency at the Secondary Level: A Guide to Resources

What is it? How does it work?

Background:
Read 180 ® provides a curriculum for the secondary reading classroom. Educators at Vanderbilt University in collaboration with Orange County, Florida, public schools, developed a successful prototype. The Scholastic Program was implemented in 1999.

Overview:
Read 180® is a computer-supported program focused on building the reading fluency and comprehension of struggling secondary readers. The prototype was developed by Dr. Ted Hasselbring and the Peabody Learning Lab at Vanderbilt University with Orange Country, Florida middle school readers. Scholastic Books adapted the program and made it available in 1999. There are five major components.

1. Instructional reading
Students read leveled, content area passages. First, they view a video clip on CD-ROM to build relevant background knowledge. Students may select a Spanish preview of the video. Skills lessons include word recognition, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling. During reading, students can double click on any word to access a Spanish translation.
2. Modeled reading
A peer coach on audio/CD, models fluent reading as students follow along in the text.
3. Independent reading
Students independently read from paperback books written to appropriate levels of readability. There is limited opportunity for students to engage in group discussions of the literature.
4. Teacher-directed instruction
Students and teachers interact daily through whole group and individualized instruction. Lessons include reading comprehension, word study, vocabulary, and writing.
5. Assessment
Read 180®utilizes the Lexile Reading Framework. Rather than yielding grade level or norm-referenced scores, this tool describes the difficulty of reading material in terms of "lexiles." It assesses the level of text difficulty that a student likely to comprehend. A computer management system tracks student performance on lesson quizzes.

The program also provides a template for teachers to manage the system in a 90 minute block through small group rotation through the different activities.