PART OF THE SOLUTION
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could look in a crystal ball to spot potential high school dropouts and intervene before they embark on journeys that often lead to nowhere? Well, such a crystal ball does exist. All we have to do is gaze at our sixth graders for the warning signs.
It is no secret that up to 40 percent of eventual high school dropouts can be identified in sixth grade. Time and again statistics prove that sixth graders lacking adequate reading skills and enthusiasm for learning through reading get caught in a downward spiral of helplessness that can ultimately lead to quitting school. The reading level of sixth graders determines, in part, how reading instruction is delivered to them.
Nearly two-thirds of American public middle schools include grades six through eight. The remaining one-third is mainly in kindergarten-six schools. The Indiana school directory lists 325 K-6; one 1-6; one 2-6; two 3-6; twelve 4-6, and twelve 5-6 for a total of 353 schools where sixth grade is the highest grade level.
Most of the K-6 schools use a reading adoption that provides a reading program from kindergarten through sixth grade. Thus, young adolescents in these schools have reading classes where teachers’ manuals and textbooks stress comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary in a systematic manner year after year.
However, reading instruction in middle schools is often in the hands of language arts teachers rather than those with specialized reading certification. To do justice to both language arts and reading, middle schools need to take a page from the structure of their science departments.
Glance into a well-equipped middle school science classroom. What do you see? Expensive materials, right? Throughout the day, those costly materials are shared by many students in classes taught by highly qualified professionals whose sole responsibility is science education. It’s really quite simple. All we need to do is borrow that same structure and schedule for reading. Reading teachers need a wide variety of materials for students reading at many different levels. Like lab equipment, those materials are expensive. Sharing them throughout the day as the science classes do makes good economic and educational sense.
Armed with statistics and solid common sense, we can make the necessary changes to stem the tide of helplessness and eventual powerlessness that dropping out of high school can bring. Yes, it’s a serious problem, but we have part of the solution in our hands. Let’s explore it.
Collections of middle grades reading skill materials can be found at Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana University Southeast, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue University North Central, University of Evansville, and the University of Indianapolis. For further information see <http://mgrn.evansville.edu/cc.htm>.