The CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading (CAR) Nancy Brynelson and Hallie Yopp Slowik Co-Directors

The CSU Center for the

Advancement of Reading (CAR)

Nancy Brynelson and Hallie Yopp Slowik

Co-Directors

www.calstate.edu/car

National Context

• Calls for international competitiveness

• Common Core State Standards

• Education reform initiatives related to • Early childhood education• High school graduation• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

• College readiness• College completion• Teacher preparation

CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF READING

State Context

• Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) Accreditation Standards

• Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA)

• California’s Common Core Content Standards

• Reading reforms of the last two decades

• State initiatives parallel to national priorities


Mission

The CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading, dedicated to excellence in literacy instruction, promotes the preparation of effective teachers and reading specialists in the California State University by:

•Facilitating faculty communication and research;

•Disseminating research and policy information;

•Fostering connections among the CSU literacy faculty, P-12 partners, and public education stakeholders; and

•Serving as a forum for the interchange of public and academic interests.


Mission (continued)

The Center is committed to ensuring that California's children and adolescents will be capable readers and writers; as such, they will have the greatest chance of becoming successful and productive citizens in today's changing world.


Council of Faculty Representatives

• 23 members

• One faculty member from each campus that has a teacher preparation program plus CalStateTEACH


Advisory Board

• Association of California School Administrators

• Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee of California County Superintendents Education Services Association

• California Department of Education

• California Reading Association

• California School Boards Association

• California State Parent Teacher Association

• CSU Faculty


Work of the Center

• Reading Conferences and Intersegmental

Faculty Forums

• CAR Quarterly

• Publications

• CAR Website


Work of the Center (continued)

• Special Projects

• Single Subject Reading Task Force

• Early Assessment Program

• ERWC

• RIAP

• Preservice Integration

• Service on System and State Task Forces and Policy Committees


Reading Conferences and Intersegmental Faculty Forums


CSU Reading Conferences, 2002-2009

• Literacy for All Learners

• Literacy Leadership and the Science of Reading

• Differentiating Instruction to Meet Diverse Needs

• Perspectives on Policy, Research, and Practice

• Closing the Literacy Achievement Gap: P-12

• Preparing Teachers to Teach Reading Comprehension

• Preparing Teachers to Teach Older Readers and Writers

• Preparing Teachers to Teach Reading Effectively


Collaborative Conference, 2010

CAR Partners:

• ACSA

• WestEd

• CDE

• CTA


Intersegmental Faculty Forums, 2004-2008• Reading and Writing in California Schools: Public

Policy and Practice

• Teaching Teachers to Teach Reading and Writing

• Teacher Preparation and Development in Literacy: Research and Best Practice for ALL Students, Including a Focus on English Learners

• Adolescent Literacy: Implications for Teacher Education, Including a Focus on English Learners

• Language Minority Children and Youth: Preliminary Findings from the National Literacy Panel


Quarterly Newsletter


Publications


Process

1. CAR Council and Advisory Board recognize a need.

2. CAR Council and Advisory Board discuss a vision.

3. Lead authors are identified and a document is drafted.

4. Council members review and provide feedback.

5. The draft is revised accordingly.


Publications

Process (continued)

6. The draft is submitted to all literacy faculty in the CSU, board members, and other knowledgeable parties.

7. The draft is revised accordingly.

8. The draft is reviewed again by Council and Board members.

9. The document is published and disseminated.


Publications

CAR’s Website



Single Subject Reading Task Force

• Response to evaluation results• Lack of candidate

preparedness in reading• CSU faculty experts

from 12 campuses convened in 2003


Identified six Core Principles to increase coherence across the system

• Reading Processes

• Comprehension and Content Learning

• Adolescent Literacy

• Assessment

• Differentiation

• Planning and Integration



Faculty resource created to enhance teaching of Single Subject reading courses

• Core Principles• Key Questions

• Discussion

• Activities, Assignments, and Assessments

• Candidate Outcomes

• Enduring Understandings

• References and Resources

• Sample syllabi

• Additional Examples and Resources



Dissemination and Future Plans

• Workshops provided to faculty 2004 & 2005

• Resources created for Single Subject methods courses 2007• English

• Mathematics

• History-social science

• Science

• Major revision planned for 2011



Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)


Early Assessment Program

Structure of the ERWC

• Developed by CSU English faculty and high school teachers

• Aligned with ELA content standards for 11th and 12th grades

• Structured around assignment template addressing reading and writing

• Approved to fulfill the “b” English requirement of the UC and CSU “a-g” college entrance requirements in grades 11 and/or 12

• Intended for broad usage (not as an honors or remedial course and not necessarily tied to EAP results)

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Emphases of the ERWC

• Engages students in a study of rhetoric and composition

• Enables students to read and write academic prose effectively and strategically

• Increases students’ mastery of academic language

• Emphasizes in-depth study of expository, analytical, and argumentative writing

• Deepens students’ critical reading, writing, and thinking skills

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Key Principles of the ERWC1. The integration of interactive reading and writing processes;

2. A rhetorical approach to texts that fosters critical thinking;

3. Materials and themes that engage student interest and provide a foundation for principled debate and argument;

4. Classroom activities designed to model and foster successful practices of fluent readers and writers;

5. Research-based methodologies with a consistent relationship between theory and practice;

6. Built-in flexibility to allow teachers to respond to varied students' needs and instructional contexts; and

7. Alignment with English-Language Arts Content Standards.26



Professional Development for ERWC

• Designed to provide teachers with skills necessary to teach ERWC and insight about expectations for college reading and writing

• Offered by County Offices of Education and CSU to high school English teachers and other educators

• Facilitated by teams of CSU faculty and high school teachers/county office of education specialist

• Scheduled for 3½ days (20 hrs) over 3-6 months

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Reading Institutes for Academic Preparation (RIAP)

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Structure and Emphases of RIAP

• Improves teachers’ capacity to teach academic

literacy across the curriculum

• Includes ERWC and disciplinary literacy

• Offered through selected CSU campuses for

teachers in grades 9-12 in all subject areas

• Scheduled for 80 hours over 9-12 months



Regional Meetings for Single Subject Preservice Faculty in English and Content Literacy

Designed to encourage faculty to integrate college readiness and ERWC into preservice coursework



CSU Contributions to Policy

• RICA Panel

• Reading Standards for Accreditation • Multiple Subject Teaching Credential

• Single Subject Teaching Credential

• Reading and Literacy Added Authorization

• Reading and Literacy Leadership Specialist Credential

• Preschool Stakeholder Meetings

• California Literacy Team (Striving Readers)


Promising Aspects of the Center’s Work

• Faculty conversations and collaboration

• Access to relevant information

• Partnerships with P-12

• Partnerships with other stakeholders

• Participation in the development of teacher education policy and regulations



Documents

The CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading (CAR) Nancy Brynelson and Hallie Yopp Slowik Co-Directors