The Targeted Reading Intervention: Utilizing Web-Based Observational Technology to Foster Professional

Development

Amy HedrickLynne Vernon-Feagans

Marnie GinsbergUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill

Targeting instructional match in every interaction…

The TRI Team

• Kirsten Kainz • Peg Burchinal• Tim Wood• Jeanne Gunther• Mandy Peters • Iris Padgett

• Sandra Garcia• Amanda Bock• Tom Leggett

• Steve Amendum• Kelley Mayer• Jason Rose• Kate Gallagher• Pam Winton• Gina Harrison• Jennifer Baucom• Sally Meehan• Reid Adams

Funded by IES as part of the National Research Center on Rural Education Support --NRCRES -- www.nrcres.org/TRI

Use of Technology for Professional Development and Classroom

Observations• Increase in the use of technology (e.g., on-line

discussion boards, email correspondence, webcam technology, on-line consultation) as a tool for providing access to professional development resources (Gentry, Denton, & Kurtz, 2008; Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, & Justice, 2008;Russell, Kleiman, Carey, & Douglas, 2009)

• Importance of classroom observations for myriad purposes, including teacher training and empirical studies of education and child development (Pianta & Hamre, 2009)

Overview

• The TRI Framework and Research Design

• Technology to Facilitate Consultation Delivery

• Technology to Facilitate Teacher-Student Observations

• Challenges and Benefits

General Framework of theTargeted Reading

Intervention• Collaborative consultation

for K-1 teachers’ professional learning

• Serving struggling K-1 students

• Intensive, diagnostic reading instruction

• Daily • Given by the classroom

teacher• One-on-one small

groups• Rapid reading growth

TRI Transactional Model

TRI Transactional Model

TRI Transactional Model

The Research: A Series of Randomized Control Trials in Rural

School Districts• Study 1: Piloting a one semester TRI

intervention kindergarten and first grade

• Study 2: Two semester TRI intervention in kindergarten and first grade

• Study 3: Two semester TRI intervention in Texas and New Mexico in kindergarten and first grade, using distance technology

• Study 4: Four semester TRI intervention in Nebraska and North Carolina, using distance technology

Sample and Site by Year

Year One Year Two Year Three

Year Four

Year Five

Site North Carolina

North Carolina

Texas and New Mexico

North Carolina

and Nebrask

a

North Carolina

and Nebrask

a

Teachers 20 K & 1st Grade

12 K & 1st Grade

43 K & 1st Grade

34 K & 1st Grade

18 1st Grade

Students 186 K & 1st Grade

326 K & 1st Grade

364 K & 1st Grade

216 K & 1st Grade

147 1st Grade

Sample and Site by Year

Year One Year Two Year Three

Year Four

Year Five

Site North Carolina

North Carolina

Texas and New Mexico

North Carolina

and Nebrask

a

North Carolina

and Nebrask

a

Teachers 20 K & 1st Grade

12 K & 1st Grade

43 K & 1st Grade

34 K & 1st Grade

18 1st Grade

Students 186 K & 1st Grade

326 K & 1st Grade

364 K & 1st Grade

216 K & 1st Grade

147 1st Grade

12

Research Design

• Schools were pair matched on free and reduced lunch, % minority, school size, and Reading First status

• Schools were then randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions

• Within each classroom:• 5 focal children were randomly selected from

those children identified by the teacher as struggling learners (i.e., below expectations for literacy skills)

• 5 non-focal children were randomly selected from those children identified by the teacher as progressing typically (i.e., meeting or exceeding expectations for literacy skills)

Technology to Facilitate Consultation Delivery

Professional Development for Experimental Teachers

• Training begins with multi-day summer institute at UNC-Chapel Hill

• During school year, work one-on-one every day with a struggling reader and up to 5 across the course of the year

• Collaborative consultation bi-weekly with UNC literacy consultants via webcam

• Focus on problem solving and diagnostic thinking to equip teachers with needed instructional tools in bi-weekly team meetings via webcam

Webcam for Team Meetings

Webcam for TRI Sessions

17

TRI Session

Re-Reading for Fluency(2+ minutes)

Word Work(8+ minutes)

Guided Oral Reading(5+ minutes)

TRI Extensions

TRI: Primary Word Work Strategies

– Segmenting Words

– Change One Sound

– Read, Write, & Say

– Pocket Phrases

Word Work(~8+ minutes)

TRI Session Video

Utility of Technology

• Allows for observation of teacher-student interaction in the TRI session

• Opportunities for coach-teacher dialogue post-session

• Continued discussions via email and text-chat

Technology to Facilitate Teacher-Student

Observations

Observational Data

• Whole Class Observations: focus on teacher context and teacher behaviors - methods of instruction, instructional focus, use of questions, reinforcement, relationship characteristics– Challenge with webcam technology

• One-on-One Observations: focus on specific instructional strategies and behaviors – methods of instruction, use of questions, reinforcement, relationship characteristics– Utility of webcam technology

One-on-One Observations

• All teachers, both experimental and control, participated in a guided oral reading session with three randomly selected focal children

• Total observation time was 5 minutes, divided into 10 30-second blocks

• Observations of behaviors/practices were coded on a presence/absence basis

Observation Video

Individualized Instruction Codes

• Literacy Focus: describe the specific literacy skills introduced, reinforced, or emphasized by the teacher (e.g., listening to text, vocabulary, phonological awareness, comprehension)

• Teacher Strategies: describe specific instructional methods employed by the teacher (e.g., modeling, coaching/scaffolding, redirection)

• Behaviors: describe the affect and quality of interactions between the dyad (e.g., teacher engagement, child negative affect, shared positive affect)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Coaching/Scaffolding Comprehension Focus Shared Positive Affect

Mea

n N

um

ber

of B

lock

s

Differences in Individualized Instruction Observationsby Experimental Status

Experimental Control

Practical Considerations

Challenges• School capabilities:

technology support, bandwidth, security firewalls

• Teacher facility with technology

• Ethical considerations: privacy, consent, use of video data

Benefits• Cost-effective and

more scalable• Less invasive• Teacher autonomy• Video record of

observational data

Summary

• Technology can be used to foster teacher professional development and to carry out classroom observations for research purposes

• Various considerations and improvements needed for more widespread use of such technological innovations

Thank you!