Learner Variables to Consider in Meeting Individual Needs
The factors that teachers should consider in meeting the individual needs of
students include prior knowledge, language and cultural background, rate of
learning/ amount of instructional time, and interests and attitudes. These
factors should be considered for all students, including students experiencing
difficulty, students acquiring English, gifted and talented students, and
students of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Prior Knowledge
All students come to the classroom with a prior knowledge base. Researchers have
clearly shown that this prior knowledge is important in how students develop
literacy and learn to construct meaning (Anderson & Pearson, 1984). All
instruction should build on the students' prior knowledge and not penalize them
for what they bring to the classroom (Rigg & Allen, 1989).
Language and Cultural Background
Classrooms are composed of students from an increasingly wide range of language
backgrounds (Rigg & Allen, 1989; Weber, 1991). Students who are non-English
speakers benefit from beginning to read in their first language (Barrera, 1983).
However, research also indicates that they benefit from beginning to read and
write in English before they have completely mastered the English language.
The instruction and experiences that non-English speakers receive should draw
upon the literacy skills developed in their first language. In learning to read
and write, non-native English speakers benefit from the same types of
instruction as native English speakers (Boyle & Peregoy, 1990).
Considering the cultural background of students is also important because the
way in which students are expected to learn, interact, and use language in
school may not match the way children learn at home (Allen, 1991).
Rate of Learning/Instructional Time
Children vary according to the rates at which they acquire reading and writing
ability. Therefore, the amount of time available for literacy learning is
important (Denham & Lieberman, 1980).
Schools need to organize instruction so that children needing more time to
learn are provided access to larger amounts of high-quality literacy instruction
(Allington, 1991). The small-group, pullout design used frequently in schools
rarely increases the amount of instructional time required to provide students
the support they need (Denham & Lieberman, 1980; Kiesling, 1978). Interest and
Interest and attitudes also affect success in learning to read and write.
Attitudes
Students comprehend materials that interest them much better than they do
materials that do not. They also seem able to read above their frustration level
when they find materials highly interesting (Belloni & Jongsma, 1978). Students'
own expectations and attitudes about their reading and perceptions of themselves
also influence how they learn to read and write (Butkowsky & Willows, 1980).
Instructional Variables in Meeting Individual Needs
The instructional factors that teachers should consider in meeting individual
needs are much the same for various groups of students. These factors are
discussed in the following sections.
Meaningful Reading and Writing Tasks
In recent years the criteria for effective instruction have undergone a dramatic
shift from emphasis on drill and practice to emphasis on meaningful tasks of
reading and writing. The focus of instruction should be on ways to help students
integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge to construct meaning (Roehler &
Duffy, 1991). Good readers spend the majority of their time engaged in
meaning-making activities such as silent reading and peer discussions (Allington,
1983). It is important for the tasks that students do to require thinking (Marx
& Walsh, 1988). For example, choosing the correct response to a literal detail
question requires significantly less thinking than summarizing the important
events in a story.
Expectation Level
Research indicates that children in remedial and compensatory programs spend the
majority of their time completing low-level tasks (Anderson & Pellicer, 1990;
Allington & McGill-Franzen, 1989). Not only does this pattern reflect lower
expectations, but students do not develop the higher levels of academic
functioning necessary to achieve success in later years (Clifford, 1990).
While gifted students are academically advanced, they also need special
provisions to meet their individual needs. Like all learners, their potential is
affected by the quality of instruction and the learning experiences provided (Tuttle,
1991).
Students' Strengths
Successfully meeting individual needs is dependent upon knowing what an
individual is already able to do and linking what is already known with what
remains to be learned (Chall & Curtis, 1991; Eisenhart & Cutts-Dougherty, 1991).
By helping students bridge the gap between their current abilities and the
intended goal, teachers are providing scaffolds of support for learning (Rosenshine
& Meister, 1992).
Varying Levels of Support
Scaffolded instruction may include direct explanation, modeling or showing
students how to perform a task or operation, and think-alouds of the reasoning
behind a particular procedure (Roehler & Duffy, 1991).
The organizational plan for the classroom can also provide scaffolding. For
example, students acquiring English might be introduced to a concept with the
whole class, work with peers in some form of collaborative learning, and then
work individually to apply the concept independently.
Active Involvement
Another characteristic of effective instruction and learning is the degree to
which students are active participants in the learning process. When students
use each other as learning resources by working in cooperative or team learning
arrangements, student engagement increases (Knapp, Turnbull, & Shields, 1990).
The lowest amount of student engagement usually occurs during seat-work types of
activities (Evertson & Harris, 1992).
Match Between Classroom and Support Programs
The degree to which the classroom program and special support programs (such as
Chapter 1 or Resource Room) philosophically match is referred to as congruence.
When students receive philosophically compatible literacy instruction and all
teachers emphasize the same strategies and skills, learning increases (Winfield,
1987). Typically, however, the opposite happens. A consistent lack of
coordination between the core curriculum and the curriculum of special teachers
has been documented (Allington & Shake, 1986; Johnston, Allington, & Afflerbach,
1985; LeTendre, 1991). The amount of congruence between instructional programs
seems to be greatly influenced by the amount of communication that takes place
between the classroom teacher and the special teacher (Allington & Shake, 1986).
Cultural Appropriateness
Cultural appropriateness of instruction includes consideration of the materials
and types of activities used. All students, but especially students of different
cultures - African-American, Asian-American, Latino, and Native-American - need
multicultural literature. Its inclusion in the reading curriculum can affirm and
empower students about their cultures. It confirms that members of many groups
have contributed, and continue to contribute, to human life (Harris, 1990).
Organizational Patterns in Meeting Individual Needs
Research reveals no one best organizational scheme for meeting individual needs
(Hiebert, 1991; Slavin, 1986).
Whole Class/Flexible Groups
For many years, teachers utilized some form of ability grouping to meet
individual needs for reading instruction. At the elementary levels, teachers
typically had three groups. Research has shown that ability grouping has not
been successful in meeting individual needs during literacy instruction (Gamoran,
1992; Slavin, 1986). Instead of organizing students into ability groups that
produce social and cultural differentiation in schoolwork, teachers should be
encouraged to use whole-class and flexible-group patterns for instruction. For
example, whole-class and flexible-group activities can be used to accommodate
such things as different ways to read selections, story and author discussion
circles, different ways to respond, different interests, or various strategy and
skill needs.
Cooperative Learning
Another way to organize to effectively meet individual needs is to use
cooperative learning (Slavin, 1987). Researchers have found that this is a very
flexible technique that can be used to accommodate students of diverse needs and
cultural backgrounds (Kagan, 1986) - students experiencing difficulty, students
acquiring English, gifted and talented students, and students of diverse
cultural backgrounds.
Value of Literature-Based Instruction for All Students
There is growing evidence favoring literature-based programs for students
experiencing difficulty. Literature offers a rich background from which to learn
vocabulary, to accumulate knowledge about written language, and to develop
literacy skills (Morrow, O'Connor, & Smith, 1990). Literature-based programs
provide a meaningful basis from which to learn skills and strategies (Tunnell &
Jacobs, 1989). Literature-based programs can lead to increased use of literature
for independent reading and improved attitudes toward reading for students
experiencing difficulty in learning (Morrow, 1992). Literature-based programs
can also result in higher test scores for those students (Roser, Hoffman, &
Farest, 1990).
Gifted and Talented Students
Gifted students benefit from an environment that encourages risk taking,
learning by trial and error, and finding solutions to real problems.
Teachers can meet the needs of gifted students by equipping them with
strategies for locating resources, by observing and facilitating students'
independent work, and by finding ways for them to contribute to the larger
community of the classroom and school (Cohen, 1987). Within the context of
literature-based programs, there are many such opportunities.
Students Acquiring English
Students acquiring English need a strong and supportive context for learning,
one in which they can experiment with language without fear of failure, one in
which the acquisition of literacy in a second language is seen as an exciting
and meaningful endeavor (Rueda, 1991).
Teachers can encourage students to enhance their oral and written
communication with activities such as dramatization and art. In conversations,
they can focus on the message students are conveying rather than elements of
form, grammar, and pronunciation (Allen, 1991).
Literature and literature-based instruction provide a rich source of language,
vocabulary, and syntax in a way that oral language alone cannot. A thematic
organization of literature offers ways to extend linguistic support and to offer
a variety of reasons to read, write, and talk (Allen, 1991).
Students of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds
Students learn best and are more highly motivated when the school curriculum
reflects their cultures, experiences, and perspectives (Banks, 1989). Studies
demonstrate that the school performance of students of diverse cultures can be
increased when steps are taken to create for them culturally familiar and
comfortable classroom situations (Heath, 1983). Perhaps the best documented
example of this is the Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP), with
native Hawaiian students (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988). One of the features of
traditional Hawaiian culture is that storytelling is a group rather than an
individual activity. When classroom practices were restructured to include this
type of cultural interaction pattern, dramatic gains in student literacy were
seen.
In addition to the academic gains that can be achieved by motivated students
with healthy self-concepts, addressing diverse cultural backgrounds in
literature also helps students to develop social sensitivity to the needs of
others and to understand the similarities as well as differences among people (Norton,
1990). This, in turn, helps students better understand themselves.