Tech Prep is a planned sequence of study in a technical field that begins as early as 9th grade and extends through at least two years of postsecondary education or an apprenticeship program. Tech Prep programs culminate in students receiving a postsecondary credential, such as an associate’s degree or technical certificate, thus allowing them to continue their postsecondary education or to enter the workforce as a qualified technician.
It is sensible to teach text reading fluency to middle schoolers (and high schoolers) class wide, and I’ve worked with more than 100 secondary schools that did this so successfully that it helped raise their reading achievement.
“Solution Shop” is a counseling and study skills program designed to address the academic needs of struggling middle school students. In this program, the school counselor serves the critical role of developing and providing appropriate interventions, which range from individual and group counseling, study skills instruction, parent consultation, behavioral contracts, math and reading tutoring, and teacher meetings.
Adequate Yearly Progress, Small Learning Communities, Explicit Instruction — do you know what these phrases mean? Find these and other commonly used terms related to reading, literacy, and reading instruction in our glossary.
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement
Professional learning communities (PLC) establish a schoolwide culture that develops teacher leadership explicitly focused on building and sustaining school improvement efforts. Generally, PLCs are composed of teachers, although administrators and support staff routinely participate. Through participation in PLCs, teachers enhance their leadership capacity while they work as members of ongoing, high-performing, collaborative teams that focus on improving student learning.
There are a variety of grouping formats that have been proven effective for teaching reading to students with learning disabilities: whole class, small group, pairs, and one-on-one. This article summarizes the research and implications for practice for using each of these grouping formats in the general education classroom.
Schools should provide students with up to 30 minutes a day of fluency instruction. But remember, this is across all classes and content areas. Get quick tips on paired reading, repeated reading, and other ways to improve reading fluency.
How can you help high school students get ready for post-secondary education? Review these recommendations from the Department of Education and find out how to help students understand their disabilities, explain their disabilities to their professors well enough to obtain accommodations, and develop the computer and time-management skills required of college students.
Because writing is thinking, the organization of students’ writing reflects both the structure of their thinking and the depth of their understanding. Students should be writing in all their classes, explaining what they know and how they know it. It’s essential for content-area teachers to give students meaningful analytical writing assignments. See An Introduction to Analytical Text Structures for more information and graphic organizers to help with writing instruction.
