Literacy gaps that emerge in the earlier grades tend to widen in the later elementary years. To address educational inequity immediately, it’s necessary to intervene at the right time. 

Early literacy interventions provide additional literacy instruction to those K-3 students who require it. 

Sprig Learning builds early learning programs that build foundational literacy skills. 

It’s better to create an education system that assesses everyone early on for learning strengths and deficits, and provides appropriate instructions. 

Such an education culture is inclusive towards all and mitigates the need for interventions.

Often the word “literacy intervention” conjures up thoughts that relate to cost-inefficiencies and doubts over its overall efficiency. 

But with hundreds of reading intervention programs being used by thousands of schools, we are past the point of debating the usability of interventions. 

Rather, the focus should be on how to best implement literacy interventions in schools. 

In this article, Sprig makes a case for early literacy interventions.

 

How Early Should Interventions Start?

The question of when to introduce intervention implies that supplemental reading instruction should only be an afterthought to initial reading performance. 

But it’s known that early learners arrive in kindergarten with a wide range of skill levels in phonological awareness, alphabet recognition, print awareness and other essential literacy skills. 

Students at this stage who lag behind often have difficulty catching up with their peers once they begin to receive instruction. 

Thus, early literacy intervention should be implemented in accordance with identified skill deficits as soon as possible. This can occur as early as preschool or kindergarten. 

Early literacy interventions in kindergarten have produced significant results in multiple language domains for students who are linguistically diverse learners.

Results from multiple studies show that a higher percentage of Grade 1 students tend to reach grade-level proficiency with the help of interventions than Grade 2 students. Thus, intervening at Grade 2 is sometimes too late.

Early literacy intervention should begin as early as possible. 

If literacy skills fade-out is a concern, then it must be noted that early literacy intervention participants have consistently shown to read at or above their grade level as far as three years beyond their intervention.

We all know that Grade 3 reading performance is one of the most reliable predictors of lifelong academic and social success. 

Thus, we can say that in order for the early learner to sharpen all their reading skills, leading to mastery by Grade 3, they should be properly assessed by kindergarten or Grade 1. 

Doing so will not only boost their literacy achievement performance in the short run, but establish a runway for them to become confident readers by Grade 3.

 

Prevention of Reading Failure

​​One of the main advocacy points of early literacy intervention is its ability to prevent reading failure.

While it’s important to maximize the learning potential of every child, it’s just as important to help those children who are at risk of falling through the cracks of the current education system.

The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development reports that 74% of children entering Grade 1 at risk for reading failure have reading challenges later as adults. This further corroborates the urgency of early interventions.

Research shows that children who have difficulty acquiring phonemic awareness and phonics skills generally fail to read, or read poorly, and that those poor reading skills are perpetuated without proper interventions. 

Thus we see that when it comes to interventions, it’s not just about intervening early, but making sure those interventions are informed by instruction that is backed by the Science of Reading.

Intervening very early on by creating a culture of assessments for all types of learners may help increase the size of the safety net. 

But the type of explicit and systematic instruction that goes into addressing some of these skill gaps speaks to the quality of the safety net. Interventions should also be a part of structured literacy. 

 

Lessons from Popular Literacy Intervention Approaches

​​Literacy interventions are best when they are:

1. applied early. 
2. part of the education system where everybody is assessed for their current skill levels.
3. backed by the Science of Reading, or structured literacy.

Now, let’s look at some examples of current literacy interventions. Lessons can be borrowed from them and applied to early literacy interventions. 

 

Structured Literacy Intervention

Structured Literacy Intervention is based on structured literacy instruction, which is a comprehensive and evidence-based system of explicit, systematic and sequential instruction. It provides sample intervention activities. 

The term was first popularized by the International Dyslexia Association, but now is widely recognized as the application of the science of reading method. It not only helps those with Dyslexia, but all students in general. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

Absolutely. It supports point #3 above, in that it is based on the science of reading. Dyslexia has been receiving a lot of attention lately, and it explains why certain students are prone to being underachievers in reading. 

 

Short-term interventions

Short-term interventions consist of one-to-one teaching for the lowest performing grade one students. Students receive 30-minute lessons each day for 12 to 20 weeks from a trained literacy specialist. 

There is evidence to support that such targeted interventions work to raise the performance levels of the lowest performing Grade 1 students. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

It’s nice that it begins in Grade 1, but it would be even better if it started in kindergarten. Also, it leaves out other students who may or may not have been identified as needing intervention in Grade 1. Furthermore, this approach does not follow through in the later grades to ensure that there is no fade out of skills. 

It’s one of the most popular reading intervention approaches used today. It would be further strengthened if it was more inclusive, integrated into daily reading instructional practices and followed up in the later grades. 

 

Intensive Reading

Intensive Reading teaches small groups of students various reading techniques for 40 minutes a day. Parents are also asked to commit to do their own homework, which includes reading to their child every night.

Teachers have also noticed that these students in this approach are more engaged with reading and are excited to participate in the reading lessons. They are benefited from the continuous reading reinforcements that happen both at home and at school. 

Is it fit for an early literacy intervention? 

It’s a good program with fantastic books, best used in group instruction methodology. It’s a fast-paced system designed to move students along quickly. But in the early years, individualized instruction is just as important, and certain skills may need to be worked over and over until they are perfected.

 

The Ideal Early Literacy Intervention Program

It’s time to look at new solutions to the old issue of struggling readers. The recent Right to Read report released by the The Ontario Human Rights Commission was an eye-opener for many. What can be done differently? 

It’s our hope that this article presents some new ideas to you about how to ensure that more early interventions are inclusive towards all. Current approaches can be improved to ensure that there is sufficient planning and foresight for every young learner.

We have written more on this topic. If you liked reading this piece, you may also want to check out Building Early Literacy Skills in Schools. Thoughtful Considerations.

Interested in an inclusive early intervention framework case study? Let us know. 

Sprig Learning designs high-quality and culturally enabling early literacy and numeracy programs for pre-K to Grade 3. 

High-quality early learning programs are used by school districts all over North America to produce meaningful results and deliver the best outcomes for young students.

The schools in these school districts listed here go above and beyond to meet their goals and objectives, and are thus categorized as high-performing schools. 

What sort of practices do these schools and school districts engage in?

 

Creating a School Improvement Plan That Will Be High-Performing

Those trusted with creating school improvement plans have a strong understanding of what’s at stake and the school’s current situation.

The basics are common knowledge to those involved in elementary-secondary education. 

Afterall, the key outcomes always support student achievement, education equity, attendance rates, graduation rates, etc.

The challenges are perennial in nature, and are both systemic (e.g., a lack of professional development) and operational (e.g., teacher recruitment and retention). 

It helps to look at actual case studies from early learning to appreciate the reality on the ground and inside the classroom. 

By observing these schools and districts, it’s possible to learn and take inspiration to solve similar challenges or implement a model or solution that best supports all students. 

Three case studies are examined below, each followed by a discussion.

 

1. Adding Instruction Time for All Students

Credit: Boston Public School YouTube Channel

​​Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Massachusetts, is a welcoming school in a very diverse community that includes multiple ethnicities and dual-language speakers. 

The school has a set of wonderful learning initiatives such as intervention blocks, which were added so teachers were able to implement trauma-sensitive practices that help students cope with socio-emotional difficulties. Compared to math, its literacy proficiency rate for students was relatively low.

To address this, it extended the learning time at school by 40 minutes in 2015 for those struggling with literacy, to help bolster their critical foundational skills. 

At the same time, students assessed at meeting literacy standards used the time for accelerated learning, strengthening their reading comprehension skills with access to complex texts.

The dedicated time for intervention ensured that personalized learning opportunities were maintained throughout all grades. Grade-level texts were coupled with grade-level tasks, with scaffolding for struggling learners and extension activities for those requiring additional challenges. 

The school also adopted an interest-based learning approach, where students were asked what they wanted to learn about. Lessons and units were adjusted with the students’ interest in mind. 

As a result of all these efforts, English proficiency skills nearly tripled between 2015 and 2019!

 

What Worked

Certainly, all high-quality early learning programs consider the length of instruction time into their planning. 

The more time teachers are able to spend directly with their students, the better the student outcomes usually are. 

It’s also interesting to note the inclusive approach where the extended learning time was for all students. Both texts and tasks could be modified to suit the level of every learner.  The focus was to  ensure every learner benefitted from this increment of instruction time. 

Sprig Learning has an intuitive platform that easily aligns to the various schedules of teachers, leaving room for more direct instruction time! Its holistic approach is also strength-based, akin to the model adopted by Harvard Kent school. 

To really ensure that all learning strengths are being identified, Spig helps schools to monitor students in different outcome categories that are mapped to the local curriculum. 

Dynamic storybooks are a part of its educational materials, and the level of difficulty of recommended activities are a key feature of both the oral language  and math platforms. 

 

2. Using the Right Frequency of Assessments

Credit: Google Earth

Cornell Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, faced the challenge of continually assessing new students who may or may not need extra support. 

To keep eyes on all students, it monitored progress in the core curriculum for new students in the district. 

They followed a three-tiered responsiveness-to-intervention model.

Kindergarteners’ initial sound fluency was assessed in the fall, and their phoneme segmentation fluency was assessed in the winter. 

For Grade1 students, nonsense word fluency was assessed in the fall, and oral reading fluency was assessed in the spring. 

Students scoring below benchmark levels were matched with the right type and intensity of instruction. Either they remained in the core curriculum with changes to instruction or received supplemental support. 

Examples of supplemental support included: more systematic instructional sequences, more precisely targeted instruction at the right level, and more opportunities for corrective feedback. 

The United States Department of Education listed Cornell Elementary School as one of the exemplary schools to implement the responsiveness to intervention model. In particular, its progress monitoring practice was praised as commendable. 

 

What Worked

Assessing for the core elements of early literacy and numeracy at different junctions throughout the year ensured that no student was left behind.

As soon as the problem area was identified, the right action could be taken at the right time.

It was important to ensure all students are successful throughout the core curriculum, but it was also helpful to have the checkpoints along the way to ensure the unique learning needs of each and every student were being met.

While the assessments were already in sequential order, students who needed more support, received more systematic instructional sequences. It was almost like the core curriculum was too rushed for them, and so they needed to master the basics first. 

Sprig Learning has a very similar approach with its early learning programs, where there are not only enough assessment opportunities in a holistic formative assessment model, but all the fundamental learning components are connected to the students’ strengths, needs and interests.  

When it is time to do the assessment, proficiency in newly learned concepts are measured, along with a host of other information, such as a change in the learning environment, learning strengths, learning styles etc. 

 

3. Packing High-Quality Learning Early On

​​Credit: Jesse Costa/WBUR.org

Boston Public Schools (BPS) wanted to mitigate access and achievement gaps among students of various races, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. 

To achieve this, it piloted a pre-K to Grade 3 initiative that included a new curriculum, a robust focus on vocabulary, differentiated instruction and professional development. 

More developmentally appropriate instructional materials were highlighted in all the early elementary grades. 

Storytelling was added to the preschool curriculum, and more student-centered instruction was incorporated into the grade 1 curriculum. 

Different learning activities, opportunities and lessons were provided to students matching their varied needs. For example, the same classroom activity could be worked on with visual aids or manipulatives or in smaller groups. 

Following the implementation of all these practices, a noticeable increase was observed in the students’ abilities to think critically and work collaboratively. 

The students were using a higher level of vocabulary compared to cohorts in previous years. 

 

What Worked

Using student-centered educational materials and curriculum as early as pre-K made a world of difference!

Personalization of education was introduced as early as grade 1, and existing instructional practices were bolstered by time-tested, high-quality early learning activities like storytelling. 

By raising the bar of high-quality early learning and making it readily available to every student walking through its doors, irrespective of their background, BPS was able to drive equity by closing the achievement gap. 

Sprig Learning is a big advocate of personalized instruction that is developmentally appropriate.

It has hundreds of learning activities in its early literacy program that support verbal communication skills such as storytelling. Similarly, it has numerous classroom and group activities that are designed to improve vocabulary.

The earlier the important language and cognitive concepts are grasped, the better it is for the student. 

There are few learning solutions out there that focus exclusively on early learning. Sprig is one of them. 

 

 High-Performing School. It’s Possible. 

​​The practices outlined in these three schools and districts outline how it’s possible to become a high-performing school district. 

High-performing schools and districts are able to surpass performance benchmarks and make a difference in the lives of educators, students and parents.

Everyone has a stake in the improvement of preschools and elementary schools in their locality. 

When writing the next school improvement plan, see how you can increase instructional time for students, have a systematic approach to assessment, and offer high-quality personalized learning materials in the earlier grades.

Sprig Learning can help you do all three. We are passionate about early education. To discuss more, give us a shout.