Structured Literacy Beyond the Elementary Grades: Improving Reading Outcomes for Secondary Students

In this talk, I will describe my line of research, which focuses on foundational reading skills interventions for secondary students experiencing reading difficulty, and explain how this work draws from both theoretical models of reading and critical theory. I will share: (a) results of a meta-analysis of word reading interventions for Grades 4-12 students and (b) an in-progress report of my dissertation project, a validation study of a foundational reading knowledge measure tailored to secondary teachers. I will also briefly present plans for future projects that will extend this inquiry toward investigating malleable factors that impede or facilitate intervention implementation and efficacy. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of my approach to teaching literacy education courses, which is grounded in the principles of Structured Literacy. I will discuss how equitable practices for reading instruction are integrated into my teaching to promote teacher candidates’ readiness to effectively teach reading to all students