Teachers | Education Elements | Curriculum Strategy & Adoption | Classrooms
By Guest Blogger, Jason Singer, CEO of Curriculet
It is truly remarkable that in 2014 technology has still largely left reading - especially reading as it is taught in K-12 classrooms - alone. Nearly every text read in most of our schools whether it is a science lab procedure handout, the Declaration of Independence, or Huck Finn, is read using photocopies or printed books- the most antiquated, ineffective technology we could possibly lay to bare on the single most important skill we teach.
It is about time we flipped reading in our classrooms.
There are three egregious and eminently solvable problems with reading in print which we believe technology can addresses very effectively: 1) accountability; 2) engagement, and 3) insight.
Accountability
In any human system if there is an accountability gap there is underperformance. This is the great problem of reading in print. It is a black hole. We simply never know if and when a child has really “read” a text. In fact, they can be sitting right in front of us with their eyes glued to a book and we can’t be certain they are actually engaging in the act of reading, let alone reading closely and thoughtfully.
Engagement
Roughly 75% of 5th graders read 2-3 nights a week independently; however, by the time they get to 12th grade that number will be down to 21%. Which is to say that over the course of seven short years we decimate the reading lives of the far majority of kids. Reading in print may be the biggest culprit.
From 6th grade on, the reading lives of students are largely comprised of what we assign to them as class readings. It is at the turn toward middle school that students stop reading actively with a parent, teacher, or loved one and start reading almost entirely independently. If you are a bibliophile, reading independently, without any mechanism to reinforce whether or not you are understanding the text as you go, is downright dreamy. If you are a struggling or reluctant reader - like nearly 80% of all readers - reading independently often feels more like quicksand. The more you try to move forward the harder it is to read for understanding. So hard, in fact, that most students quit. Reading in print effectively leaves you stranded without a rope to grab onto or any indication you are making progress
Insight
We ask so much of our teachers that it is impossible to ask them to be data scientists as well. Yet, in the commision of teaching reading we require that they somehow find the time and expertise to be great at this, too. Teaching the actual application of reading skills is not linear. It is not like Math where students must master one skill before they can effectively move on to the next. Reading skills are taught and reinforced again and again throughout the year. One student may master author intent during the first unit of study while another might not get there until the end of the year. For a teacher with 150 students it requires the computational prowess of a sophisticated computer to mentally comb through thousands of disparate data points to know when mastery of reading skills is achieved for any one student let alone 150.
Flipping reading on Curriculet solves each of these problems by providing an elegant, intuitive, and engaging digital reading platform that revolutionizes the way kids read, and enables teachers to deliver customized, Common Core aligned learning as well as digitally create and share their curriculum.
A curriculet is a curriculum-enriched digital text that includes relevant instruction and assessment. As students read a text, questions, quizzes and rich media annotations (i.e. material that comprises a print-based curriculum) pop out of the text, so students are instructed and assessed as they read… at just the right moment.
Curriculet offers hundreds of free, ready-to-use curriculets through our library. They are all editable, allowing teachers to add to or modify any curriculet layer to suit his/her own teaching purposes.
Built on top of a robust LMS, Curriculet delivers powerful and usable analytics that drive effective daily instruction. Data can easily be broken down item by item, standard by standard, and student by student. Students and teachers can track their progress toward mastery of Common Core standards on any given assignment and over time. Curriculet integrates with the Education Elements platform in order to provide students and teachers easy access to a better reading experience.
Together, let’s flip reading in our classrooms so our struggling and reluctant readers can finally flip out about reading.
More About Jason
Jason is no stranger to the intersection between education, technology, and entrepreneurship. Jason is the founder of both KIPP Summit Academy and KIPP King Collegiate High School, two extraordinarily high performing college preparatory charter schools within the KIPP Network. KIPP King Collegiate High School is considered a national model for developing critical thinking skills among students (for a look inside, check out this video). Notably, Jason is also a former English teacher, district-wide Teacher of the Year, and Fulbright Scholar. In 2009, Jason received a Jefferson Award for Public Service for his work serving students and their families while leading KIPP Summit Academy and KIPP King Collegiate High School.
Prior to his decade with KIPP, Singer co-founded FairAir, a market exchange for airline tickets, where he served as Vice President of Business Development, and CHALK, a nationally recognized youth employment and development nonprofit, where he served as the organization’s Executive Director. CHALK’s Virtual Visitors program, a Microsoft Connected Learning Community Award recipient, was an early pioneer in the online education technology space.
