Page 46 - iRead EL in Research Paper

RECOMMENDATION
Implement speci c classroom management practices, routines, and transitions that help develop positive teacher-student and peer relationships and support early reading success.
iRead’s Approach
Student behavior in the iRead context is framed as a set of skills that, like any other, needs to be taught, practiced, reinforced, and monitored. iRead provides an array of features to support teachers in their roles as e ective classroom managers and as supportive and caring guides on the reading journey. The on-computer lessons provide ample practice following rules and directions in the context of a supportive learning environment.
The iRead Professional Guide provides a wealth of advice and resources to help teachers create a highly e ective and engaging learning environment conducive to early literacy success. Classroom management topics encompass individual, small-group, and whole-class instruction, and include organizing the classroom and materials, establishing routines and procedures, managing transitions, and scheduling reading time/software sessions. Also featured are a variety of practical techniques for creating an engaging and high-functioning classroom, in which all children have opportunities to respond, such as Thumbs Up or Down (for monitoring student understanding), Think-Pair-Share (to promote collaboration and understanding), and Write and Reveal to promote independent thinking and response.
With more than 200 online lesson plans, a high-level data-view home page, detailed analytics and a grouping tool that supports small-group instruction, iRead ’s SAM Central gives teachers the tools they need to understand the needs of each young reader—and to structure the classroom to best meet those needs. In addition, Learning Center ideas enable teachers to extend the positive learning climate to o -computer activities. An Expectations matrix in the Professional Guide, developed by student behavior expert Allison Bruhn, outlines clear behavioral expectations (“Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Do Your Best”) and gives examples of what each looks like in di erent school settings.
Use of PBIS
Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) is a multitier system of intervention that, like RTI, establishes “universal supports found successful in the past (e.g., setting expectations) plus. . . secondary/targeted interventions . . . [and] tertiary/ intensive interventions for . . . students for whom primary [i.e., universal] . . . supports are not working” (Roskos & Neuman, 2010, p.309).
Research Evidence and Expert Opinion
As noted above, positive student behavior is a set of skills that must be practiced and reinforced. Students, especially those new to the school environment, cannot be expected to have full mastery of these skills without clear and consistent guidance from their teacher. But what sort of support is most e ective? PBIS is a promising new model.
PBIS is founded on the concept of di erential susceptibility, which posits that some children are more sensitive to both positive and negative environments, and thus require di erent levels and/or types of behavioral reinforcement. Roskos and Neuman (2010) noted that PBIS is showing evidence of success in early literacy research. Experts recommend that PBIS be implemented school-wide to support positive behaviors throughout the school building and school day (Carter, Lane, Crnobori, Bruhn, & Oakes, 2011; Roskos & Neuman, 2010).
RECOMMENDATION
If the district or school supports it, manage the classroom in the context of a PBIS model.
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