Thanks Jennifer. This is such careful and thoughtful and informed
thinking
about the issues. I think some of what happens is that even if
teachers
keep up with current issues in literacy and trying to search out
strengths
and weaknesses and put together all that they've been learning from
our
mentor/leaders in the field, they have not necessarily been
following the
larger issues going on in education. Clearly it's a lot if not too
much to
expect that we all keep up with everything.
But some of us for whatever reasons - sometimes going back to
school for
further degrees or taking on activism etc. - get the chance to really
examine critically all those claims out there. You point out very
concretely the problem with pressures to follow programs with
"fidelity."
Or with programs which claim to be researched-based but it's their own
research.
I look at all the reading programs that have thrown in the language
of the
comprehensions strategies yet it isn't implemented in meaningful
ways in my
view, a little bit here, a little bit there. And in spite of extra
materials to supposedly differentiate, the huge weight of the
program more
or less ensures whole class, one size fits all teaching.
And no program, strategy, research etc. is without its own context and
particularities. I've had a series of what I've called "born again"
revelations (with apologies if anyone feels that this offends their
religious sensibilities). I mean these as profound transformative
understandings that kind of crank my head/thinking around totally.
And
that's beyond the slow steady process of learning over the years.
My last one was when I left higher education for a third time cuz I've
always had that need to roll up my sleeves and be back in a
classroom. And
I went to work at a newly created Native American school. It was a
school
where I had been helping a Lakota colleague (and other Native American
educators) develop culturally relevant and social constructivist type
curriculum with the help of many of the families. And they wanted
me to
come teach. I should add that half or more of teachers and staff were
themselves Native American so this wasn't just a school planned and
run by
"white do-gooders."
Well the curriculum and the whole structure of the school was
everything I
believed in. Everything I dreamed of. Multi age, authentic
assessment,
curriculum growing outward from a Native American center gradually
joining
other meaningful cultural circles in outward ripples.
Bottom line is I would've said that this school was built on
everything I
believe (of course not "mine" given that any perspective alone can be
narrow), built on strong research. Bottom line, in spite of all
that, it
was tremendously hard, tremendously complicated, not necessarily
"right" for
that particular context.
I came away knowing that teaching and learning HAS to grow out of the
community that exists where it is. The children, the families, the
community, the teachers all of whom are there. And it has to have
time to
grow. People have to have time to develop relationships and
trust. THERE
ARE NO SHORTCUTS that can be imposed however "right" we (or anyone)
might
think they are. I don't have the "right answers" for anyone else.
All of this I say to support the points you Jennifer are making. The
battles in education, the battles about research, the battles among
those
who believe we can prove things once and for all objectively and
those who
believe that there is no such thing as pure objectivity.....yikes
it's all
overwhelming I know.
And to top it, though I've never been a "conspiracy theorist,"
I've come to
see that some people, groups, with more power and clout are
pounding us with
their ideas and goals and it's hard for the everyday teacher, the
teachers
who is there doing the ongoing challenging day to day work of a
meaningful
classroom to find time and energy to fight back.
Yikes....too carried away once again. At lest I am watching the
snow fall
finally. Not enough snow here in California so very happy to see
it this
late February afternoon.
Thanks again Jennifer, Renee and other folks for these excellent
discussions.
Sally
On 2/26/12 12:29 PM, "Palmer, Jennifer" <jennifer.pal...@hcps.org>
wrote:
I have used SIPPS as a reading specialist in a non-title one
school. I
abandoned doing it with fidelity as I felt that it did not work
very well. A
few kids grew, but many did not. Our districts data did not
support it either
and we probably had about 20 schools using it. Some with fidelity,
some less
so. I tried modifying it...got slightly better results, but no
better than
when I just did what I knew to be best for kids.
As an administrator now in a Title One school, I totally
understand the
accountability requirement. When you spend taxpayer money on a
program you
have to be able to justify that it is money well-spent. I
sometimes grit my
teeth at the time I spend away from instruction to deal with that,
but I fully
understand that title one money must be used to help kids
effectively.
I will tell you at this point that my fabulous reading
specialists in Title
One have also abandoned SIPPS.
Now I would like to address the idea of 'fidelity'. As part of my
doctoral
program, I have read a lot of research...and I have learned how to
evaluate
the quality of research. In social science research, which
education research
is, we have some serious ethical issues to consider when planning
a study. The
first of these is that we are working with children. If we have an
intervention we think might work, it is unethical to deny some
students the
opportunity for that intervention. How would you like YOUR
children to be in a
control group, getting the same old thing, when your neighbor's
child,
randomly assigned to an intervention group, is making progress?
So, to account for that, researchers who are trying to do
experimental, or
quasi-experimental research have some serious obstacles to
overcome. First,
the quality of the teacher. Even in a scripted program, like
SIPPS, when
delivered with the exact same words might get different results.
Suppose I am
the most loved teacher... and my neighbor across the hall hates
kids and yells
at them all day. Do you really think that there would not be a
difference in
the results between the two rooms? And then ,there is the kids. We
don't
usually get kids randomly assigned to teachers. How many of us are
in schools
where the most assertive parents get their kids into the classroom
that they
want? So, the kids in the classroom across the hall are
different...have less
parental support...less time spent on homework. AND then, SIPPS
in Title One
where there are kids that are not recieiving adequate food or
health care, vs
those that are in a upper middle class school... ?
When we evaluate research...especially on these phonics programs,
we have to
ask ourselves how the setting for the research is like, or unlike
ours. We
have to ask how the teachers differ in levels of experience, and
in those
affective qualities that are hard to measure. we have to ask how
the children
are the same or different. We need to think about the size of the
groups of
children and how far below level they are, and where they
disabled, or ADD or
second language learners.
I guess what I am arguing is this: We try to reduce the teacher
variable by
making them use a script to see if the program works. I would
argue that there
are too many other variables at play here to be able to make a
judgment. So, I
use the same script as you do... I get results and you don't. Why
is that? Do
I have better students? Do I have better classroom control? Do I
have more
involved parents? Do I have a smaller class size? Do I have fewer
behavior
problems?
This is a situation where qualitative research techniques, which
collect
different kinds of data...non-numerical data...might be more
useful. So, your
class isn't doing well with SIPPS. Say we find that some of the
kids aren't
doing well because they lack focus. Let's adjust the program and
give it in
shorter segments so that they pay attention and see how it works.
Teachers are
capable of that... if they understand how to identify the problem
and collect
appropriate data. We can make more informed judgments about the
quality of the
program IF we first ensure that the program is matched to kids who
will
benefit from the intervention. Second, we enlist teachers and use
what they
know to help us understand what is working and not working about a
program.
And finally, we stop kidding ourselves that when we do a program
evaluation
that we have controlled the variables by making teachers follow a
script.
Incidently, a colleague and I were interested in the research
behind SIPPS and
followed up on the studies cited in the manual that support it
about a year
and half ago. First, there are not many. Second, they are all done
by the
company that developed the program. Third, there were flaws in the
methodology. My district was fooled. We bought this as a research
based
program... but no one actully looked at the research with a
knowledgeable eye
before we spent the money. That's not to say that it is not working
elsewhere...and maybe there have been more studies done since I
last looked
into it. It very well may be that there is new research supporting
it, and I
would be happy to hear that there are students benefitting from
it. We just
need to start asking questions with these programs when looking at
the
research. How are these kids like or unlike mine? How are the
teachers like or
unlike mine? How is the rest of the curriculum like and unlike
mine? (Maybe
SIPPS works well with kids in
reading workshop but not kids in the Harcourt basal...for
example.) How will
I fairly evaluate the program, realizing that it is truly
impossible to
control the variables as we would for experimental research....
Jennifer L. Palmer
Instructional Facilitator
National Board Certified Teacher
Magnolia Elementary (home school)
901 Trimble Road
Joppa, MD 21085
410-612-1553
Fax 410-612-1576
"In every child a touch of greatness!!'
Proud of our Title One School
Norrisville Elementary
5302 Norrisville Road
White Hall, MD 21161
410-692-7810
Fax 410-692-7812
Where Bright Futures Begin!!
________________________________________
From: mosaic-bounces+jennifer.palmer=hcps....@literacyworkshop.org
[mosaic-bounces+jennifer.palmer=hcps....@literacyworkshop.org] on
behalf of
Stein, Ellen H. [est...@bcps.org]
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 2:10 PM
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] SIPPS
We use SIPPS in a much more structured way. The theory is if we
don't use the
script provided with the program we have no check on whether the
"program"
worked. Having purchased this and other interventions with title 1
funds, we
need accountability as to whether it worked or not. If we don't
use them with
fidelity we don't know the reason for the success or failure.
Sent from my Droid Charge "Stacy.caudill" wrote:
Regarding phonics instruction- has anyone ever heard of SIPPS? I
have been
using it for several years. It allows me to assess students and
work with
small leveled groups. Although the lessons are laid out I don't
really think
of it as a program because I just use and adapt what is
appropriate for my
students. I meet with each group for only about 15 minutes, and I
have found
that it is very easy for me to build on when I am conferring in
reader's and
writer's workshop or doing guided reading lessons.
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