Literacy

Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind employs a literacy framework for instruction and intervention to ensure all students progress in their literacy growth. The key elements of the framework are:

• Professional development
• Utilization of highly qualified specialists
• Parent involvement
• Presentation of the Utah Core Curriculum
• Implementation of research-based literacy instruction
• Targeted student practice and intervention
• Assessment
• Validation of successful practices

For many students attending USDB, learning to read is a difficult and challenging process. As we have learned from experience and research, literacy success does not automatically happen for students with sensory disabilities. If all students are to be successful readers, intervention with research based practices is critical.

Parents are essential partners in the literacy development of children. Parent-child literacy activities in the home, such as helping children recognize letters, reading to children, or assisting children with reading and writing assignments, have been found to improve children's language skills and heighten their interest in books. The impact of families on the literacy learning process cannot be underestimated. For example, children who are read to three or more time each week at home are nearly twice as likely as other children to show the skills associated with emerging literacy. 

To strengthen the ability of families to provide a rich literacy environment in the home, many schools and community organizations have developed family literacy programs. In family literacy programs, children develop language and literacy skills with the support of their parents or primary caregivers, who also have the opportunity to improve their own skills. While in family literacy programs, children make gains in developmental areas such as language and literacy, creativity, social relations, and initiative that are three times greater than expected as a result of normal maturation.

In order to support families in developing literacy skills, USDB sponsors a variety of family literacy activities. With financial support from the Utah School LAND Trust Fund, several family literacy activities are conducted each school year. These activities include events such as Read-A-Thons, family nights, specific instruction for parents on how to read with their children, and family book activity packets. In addition to these programs available to school-age children, the USDB Parent Infant Program provides extensive training and support to families on the literacy process, and the steps families can take to prepare their children for literacy.

The Utah Language Arts Core Curriculum, which is defined and anchored in research, is understood and used consistently as the instructional guide by all teachers at USDB. The Utah Language Arts Core defines what all students should know and be able to do at various grade levels within critical areas of the literacy process. Many students at USDB receive specialized services because their learning has not progressed at the typical rate as outlined in the Core Curriculum. These students require intensive intervention, and teachers are aware of how their instructional practices relate to the Core Curriculum.

For students with the most significant disabilities, literacy development is still emphasized. Traditionally, literacy has been considered the ability to read and write. In recent years, however, this definition has been expanded to reflect the changing nature of our society. Literacy is now defined as reading, writing, speaking, and listening in everyday experiences. Students who are deaf-blind, students who have severe disabilities, and students who have multiple disabilities must have every opportunity to develop their literacy skills within this expanded definition. Teachers are familiar with the Core Curriculum at the age appropriate grade level for their students, and make modifications for individual students as needed.

In addition to the implementation of the Utah Core Curriculum, teachers at USDB use information from the Individualized Education Plan to provide literacy instruction. IEP goals are developed based on student strengths and needs, and literacy skills are always considered. Teachers incorporate the IEP goals and the core curriculum to provide comprehensive instruction designed to meet the needs of each student.

Reviews of research in the area of literacy development conducted by the National Reading Panel have identified several target areas for instruction. At this time, there is a significant lack of research related to effective literacy instruction for students with sensory disabilities. As information becomes available in these specialized areas, USDB will make every effort to share that information with staff and parents. Meanwhile, our best efforts must be spent in implementing practices known to be effective with children in general. Teachers at USDB must be familiar with research-based practices in literacy development, and must implement those practices. Areas specifically addressed by the National Reading Panel include:

• Phonemic Awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Text Comprehension 

In conjunction with implementation of research-based practices identified by the National Reading Panel, USDB teachers use the best techniques known to be effective with students who have sensory disabilities. USDB teachers are encouraged to participate in research in order to support the development of a set of research-based practices tailored to the unique needs of students with sensory disabilities.

Each student at USDB participates in a literacy program including targeted practice and intervention. Students have goals for literacy growth, and practice their literacy skills regularly. Teachers provide intervention designed to support students in progressing continually in their literacy growth.

• Differentiated Instruction is used to support all students in their literacy growth at their current levels of knowledge and skill. Flexible grouping is used to meet the needs of individual learners. 
• Literacy instructional time is a priority for every classroom. Blocks of uninterrupted instructional time for literacy will be maintained and appropriately utilized. Each teacher is encouraged to set aside a two-hour block of time for literacy instruction. Individual students may require additional time for literacy instruction, up to four hours daily. 
• Language development is a critical foundational skill for literacy growth. When USDB teachers or related service providers strive to promote language development, this is considered an aspect of literacy instruction. 
• Supplemental instruction and intervention may be required for students who have not yet achieved age appropriate literacy skills. Many students attending USDB require intense intervention services for literacy growth. Interventions should be provided in small groups, or may be provided one-on-one.

USDB class sizes are kept small to allow for the intense interventions that are provided. Instruction in aspects of the Expanded Core Curriculum are considered literacy intervention when the skills learned impact literacy growth.

Assessment should inform instruction to improve student progress. Screening/benchmark, diagnostic, progress monitoring, outcome assessment measures, and informal classroom assessments should each be utilized to foster literacy growth for students.

• Screening/benchmark assessments are administered to all students to determine which students are at risk for reading difficulty and who will need additional intervention. Screening is only valuable when followed with additional instructional interventions to improve student proficiency.
• Diagnostic assessments help teachers plan instruction by providing in-depth information about students’ skills and instructional needs. Diagnostic assessments provide specific information needed for appropriate instructional interventions.
• Progress Monitoring assessments determine whether students are making adequate progress or need more intervention to achieve positive literacy growth. Progress monitoring may be administered as often as weekly depending on student performance and the intensity of the intervention.
• Outcome assessments provide a bottom-line evaluation of the effectiveness of the program and a final statement of student growth or gain in literacy proficiency.

These assessment types may not be appropriate for use with students who are participating in Utah’s Alternate Assessment. For these students, a portfolio of literacy activities and skills is an excellent tool to inform instruction and improve student progress.

Some assessment measures can be used for multiple purposes. As part of the strategic professional development plan, USDB teachers must be trained on the effective administration and interpretation of literacy assessments. The Utah Language Arts CRTs will be administered yearly to measure learning outcomes and growth over time.

The process of literacy growth is complex, and the addition of the unique learning needs of students with sensory disabilities to that process presents a great challenge to educators. Nationwide, teachers of students with sensory disabilities struggle to understand how literacy instruction should be applied to maximize student progress.

USDB is pleased to honor programs and teachers demonstrating effective instructional practices. When programs and teachers are effective, their strategies are shared with others across the school. Successful experiences will be reported, to contribute to the collection of research-based practices for educators across the nation working with students who have sensory disabilities.