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Wordchains at College: High incidence of reading problems exposed

Anne Corrie

Manchester College of Arts and Technology, UK Anne_Corrie@mancat.ac.uk

Abstract

As the dyslexia co-ordinator of a large inner city college I became increasingly aware of the number of students with weak reading skills that were enrolling on full time courses. In December of 1999 I administered on a pilot basis a word decoding reading test to just over 300 students (NFER-Nelson Wordchains, by Louise Miller Guron adapted for English from the Swedish test by Professor Ingvar Lundberg). On the basis of the extremely low reading scores obtained in this pilot, it was decided to administer this test as a part of our cross college initial assessment programme to all full time 16-18 year old students in this large inner city college (approximate 1000 students in 2001-2002 and 1500 students in 2002-2003). The results of these assessments have shocked teaching staff, college management and the Learning and Skills Development Agency. For example in this year's cohort 8% (stanine 1) of this group of students can not read while 56% (stanines 1, 2, and 3). are, according to the author of the test, "sufficiently below the average to warrant particular concern" In fact she recommends that all such students should be referred on for further diagnostic testing (at MANCAT that would mean 765 students!) I propose to present this data and consider its wider implications for diagnostic assessment of dyslexia and for teaching and learning across the college.

Background to Project

Manchester College of Arts and Technology is a large inner City College of Further Education that has historically catered for day release and block release employment based students. There has historically been a number of full time access students and a smaller number of full time 16 to 18 year old students on GCSE, A level and BTEC courses. This latter group has been expanding at an exponential rate over the last four academic years, possibly related to the introduction of the Education Maintenance Allowance which was introduced in Manchester in 2000. This expansion of full time vocational education for 16 - 18 year olds has been replicated across England with many fewer young people entering work-based training. (West and Steadman 2003)

As the college dyslexia co-ordinator I became increasingly aware of the number of students with particularly weak reading skills that were enrolling on full time courses. In December of 1999 I administered as a pilot, word decoding reading tests to just over 300 students. On the basis of the very low reading scores obtained in this pilot we introduced a programme of additional learning support for a number of groups of students. The success of this pilot led to the administration of this reading test, NFER-Nelson Wordchains, word decoding test to all new students entering full time courses within the 16-18year old sector of this large inner city college of further education. This reading assessment is now part of college initial assessment policy for all students within this sector.

The results of this testing programme has been used to address teaching and learning across the college both for groups of students and to identify individuals with profound difficulties that need to be referred for full diagnostic assessment.

Results from the testing of 3500 students over three years

These results suggest that reading achievement within this sector has slightly deteriorated over the past three years (note stanines 1 to 3 above).

What it means for this year's first year intake of 1300 students:

• 83% of our 16 to 19 year old students (1053 students) are below average at word reading skills.
• 64% of our 16 to 19 year old students (807 students) will have some difficulty reading academic material intended for use on Level 3 courses.
• 27% of our 16 to 19 year old students (342 students) have grave weakness in reading and will have difficulty reading learning materials intended for use by students on level 2 courses. (This mirrors exactly the IALS figures for adults in the City of Manchester who are not functionally literate)
• 8% of our 16 to 19 year old students (106 students) are not able to read for most purposes.

Having opened this pandora's box, how do we respond?

• What does this mean in relationship to further assessment for dyslexia?
• What does it mean in relationship to the menu of learning opportunities that we offer our full time 16 - 18 year old students?
• What does it mean in relationship to teaching methods and resources we use to teach our students?

Implications for the diagnostic assessment for dyslexia

The author of the Wordchains Test recommends that all students falling below stanine 4 are sufficiently below the average to be followed up with more precise phonological testing leading to a diagnostic assessment for dyslexia. This would require us to deliver over 800 one to one assessments within the college, a task that falls well outside the resources available for assessment. We have, however, tried to respond by staged programme of further assessment.

Stage 1

Every personal tutor receives a tutor group profile of their group based on reading skills along with the results of Keyskillbuilder initial assessment. This will gives them an introduction to their students needs. It will also make suggestions about further referrals to either the ESOL support team or to the specialist dyslexia support team. It will also make recommendations about teaching and learning and about the use of learning materials. (See examples)

Stage 2

All students in stanines one and two will have an in-depth interview, followed by Wide Range Achievement Test to ascertain, reading, spelling and arithmetic skills, followed by the computer based Lucid Adult Dyslexia Screening Test. The results of these assessments may or may not lead to a full diagnostic assessment for dyslexia. This stage will also include any other student who a teacher thinks would benefit from such an assessment including those in stanine 3. We will also assess all self-referrng students at this stage.

Stage 3

A full diagnostic assessment for dyslexia carried out by a specialist teacher (Dip.SpLD) or educational psychologist.

Implications for how we teach

The reading skills of a teaching group should be considered when writing lesson materials and preparing the teaching programme (including homework or private study expectations). There may for instance be a need to adapt the learning materials to meet the needs of at least some of the students. Where reading skills are limited, it is highly likely that vocabulary development will be equally weak. Therefore much attention should be given to vocabulary work particularly being certain that students understand the specialist vocabulary of their subject in both its generic and specialist context. (For instance in a biology or life science class the word 'circulation' will have both a generic definition and a contextual one. It is important that the generic understanding is made clear before we try to teach a technical definition.) When introducing new vocabulary, the new words should be analysed for syllables, prefixes, suffixes and spelling. Vocabulary development will then become an intrinsic part of course delivery.

Ability to read quickly and fluently does not directly relate to the ability to learn. It provides an easy tool but students with such weaknesses can find other avenues for learning. Alternative teaching and learning methods can be found using concrete model, multi-media material, information and learning technology and video. When teaching students with weak reading and often weak note-taking skills, it is necessary to begin the lesson with a summary that introduces new ideas and vocabulary and gives an overview of the topic so that students know what to expect during the course of the lesson. It will also be necessary to break down processes into small steps with opportunity for feedback to check understanding, particularly with reference to language.

Implications for what we teach

There are two major issues that need to be addressed when reviewing the curriculum available to students in further education. The first is what level of courses should we be offering and the second is what students should be on what courses. The latter will also include such questions as how we use previous qualifications and the results of assessment and as well as student choice.(Rudd and Steedman, 1997) Students with weak literacy skills are not likely to want to spend many more years improving these skills in what they will see as equivalent to an 'English' class. This was the subject they may have done least well in at school over many years and when moving on to college they are likely to want to learn to 'do' something, hopefully something they are or could become good at. It is therefore not necessarily inappropriate for a student with less than level 1 literacy skills to be enrolled on a level 2 course in carpentry, engineering, plastering, music, drama or even IT. On the other hand students need to see key skill development as part of their personal progression route.

It is therefore, essential that we as educators are cognizant of our students' literacy skills without making literacy another barrier to education and training.

Bibliography:

DfEE (2000) Skills for All: Proposals for a National Skills Agenda. National Skills Task Force.

DfEE (2001) Assembling the Fragments: A Review of Research on Adult Basic Skills, National Foundation for Education Research.

DfES (2003) Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16 -18 Year Olds in England 2001-2002.

Guron, Louise Miller,(1999) Wordchains, A Word Reading Test for all Ages, NFER-Nelson, Berkshire.

International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) (1997)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), (2001) Student Achievement in England, PISA Report 2000, Chapter Three, Student Achievement in Reading Literacy.

Rudd, P. and H. Steedman, (1997) "GCSE Grades and GNVQ Outcomes: Results of a Pilot Study," Journal of the Centre for Economic Performance.

West, John and Hilary Steedman, (2003) "Finding Our Way, Vocational Education in England," Journal of the Centre for Economic Performance

Disclaimer: all the abstracts presented here have satisfied the academic committee as appropriate for presentation at an international conference. However, the material reflects the views of the authors, not necessarily those of the academic committee or the BDA. No endorsement of any approach, product or service is intended or implied.

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