KU Center for Research on Learning
Striving Readers
Institute for Research on Adolescent Literacy
Researchers at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning are hoping a new project launching in classrooms this fall will prove to be a door of opportunity for struggling adolescent readers. The Striving Readers project in Michigan will test the effectiveness of Fusion Reading™, a comprehensive program designed by the Center’s researchers to significantly improve the reading performance of adolescents who have fallen far behind their peers. Fusion Reading bundles strategies for identifying and understanding individual words as well as for understanding entire written passages into one comprehensive package.
“We wanted to go as deep as we could with fewer strategies over an extended period of time,” says Mike Hock, co-principal investigator and associate director of the Center. “So, it’s not a six-month program or a year program. It’s a two-year program and, possibly for some populations, may be even a three-year program.”
Results of smaller studies of Fusion Reading give reason to believe the current project will fare well. In one study, Hock’s observations of 22 teachers working with challenged students in Fusion Reading classrooms found highly engaged students, indicating both students and teachers were comfortable with the program. In addition, researchers have completed an evaluation of the effect of Fusion Reading after just one year. Results showed 85 middle school students who struggled with reading scored much higher than comparison students on two standardized tests.
“The next measure is to answer the ‘So what?’ question,” Hock says. “If they’re engaged in doing these strategies, and early studies show promise, can we demonstrate the effectiveness of Fusion Reading in a rigorous experiment? That’s what we’re hoping to show with the Michigan Striving Readers project.”
Fusion Reading has its roots in the very beginning of the Center’s work, growing out of the successes of the Strategic Instruction Model®, a comprehensive collection of instructional tools and learning strategies that aim to improve adolescent literacy and academic achievement.
Gallery
Research Design This project will employ a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design with middle and high school students assigned to either Fusion Reading or a control condition. Two cohorts of students will be taught over the course of the project. SRI will be the independent evaluator.
ADDED VALUE
Striving Readers project staff hope the study will result in several additional benefits for students, teachers, and professional developers.
Students
Fusion Reading may be the ticket to help students extend their education to technical school, community college, or four-year colleges and beyond that to satisfying careers. “I really hope students will learn that they can be better readers, that they can improve upon the skills that they have, and that when they have this basic literacy skill in their belt, that it’s going to open the door of opportunity,” Hock says.
Teachers
Hock and his colleagues have packaged the Fusion Reading program with teachers in mind. They hope teachers will like the program, will find it feasible to teach, and will appreciate that it brings structure to their classrooms while allowing them to be creative in their teaching. These outcomes are critical to the long-term and far-reaching success of the program.
Professional developers
The Fusion Reading program represents a new way of thinking about professional development for SIM reading strategies. In the past, much of the work in this area meant presenting workshops focused on individual strategies. Fusion Reading combines strategies into a powerful and comprehensive reading program that requires a new professional development model. Project staff are developing the tools, materials, and activities to support professional developers in this new model.
KU-CRL Staff:
Don Deshler, principal investigator
Mike Hock, co-principal investigator
Irma Brasseur-Hock, co-principal investigator
Aaron Sumner, director of technology for research and development
Amber Nutt, program assistant-online coordinator
Jackie Schafer, research assistant
Sue Woodruff, SIM® professional developer and coach
Pam Leitzell, SIM® professional developer and coach
Ruth Isaia, Michigan Department of Education, project lead
Ellen Shiller, SRI International
Sara Kalb, SRI International
Xin Wei, SRI International
Jose Blackorby, SRI International
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