Theoretical Underpinnings
Marie Clay (1985) describes reading as a complex process. She states that as early as the first year of reading instruction, students’ unbalanced ways of operating on print can become habituated and cause students to become resistant to change. According to Clay, reading involves messages expressed in language, concepts about print, visual patterns, and flow of oral language. By the fourth year of school, students’ reading levels span between differences of five or six years. Unfortunately, students are typically considered for special help only if achievement falls more than two years below the average for that grade level/age range. Children read differently, but as long as all children in typical range increase their skills, then the school is considered effective. Clay (1985) believed that “it is very important to ensure that the difficulty level of the reading material is appropriate” (p. 9). According to Clay, children in a below-grade level reading group, who are not reading fluently, are stuttering over sounds, and are not reading for meaning, should be provided with material that they are able to read accurately with only one error in 5 to10 words. Sometimes when students are expected to read at their frustration level, they will lose their initial reading skills. Marie Clay recognizes several ingredients of a good reading program. She claims one of the most significant factors is an experienced, trained teacher, sensitive to individual differences, that instills self-improving behaviors in the individual students with whom he or she works. Children of low achievement are dependent on a program that will allow the support of individual needs in a sequenced and explicit way from this expert teacher. Early identification of needs would provide the support for below-grade level readers future reading success. Clay believed:
by then the child’s reading level is two years behind that of his peers. The difficulties of the young child might be more easily overcome if he had practiced error behavior less often, had less unlearn and relearn, and still had reasonable confidence in his own ability (Clay, 1985, p.10).
In a clinical program for two years, Clay and others (1985) focused on discovering, describing, and testing which approaches work with failing readers. The procedures they discovered were then applied in five different schools. These researchers made unwavering efforts to reduce reading failure in 122 six-year-olds. They followed the students for three years, checking in at year one and three. The first step in the prevention of reading difficulties is a systematic observation and recording of what children are doing as they perform reading tasks. Clay believed that early evaluation of reading progress could be based upon observation of children’s behavior. The systematic observation must be conducted without any teacher guidance and recorded objectively. Soon after children enter the instruction, Clay believed it is important to seek diagnosis of the weak aspects of the reading process for the child. Knowledge of words, letters, and sounds are often the focus of reading instruction. In Clay’s Diagnostic Survey, an emphasis is placed on the operations or strategies that are used in reading. “A child may have the necessary abilities but may not have learned how to use those abilities in reading” (Clay, 1985, p. 14). Through observation, rather than diagnostic tools, instruction can be guided to help the child learn to apply helpful strategies that have been explicitly taught through active ways.
by then the child’s reading level is two years behind that of his peers. The difficulties of the young child might be more easily overcome if he had practiced error behavior less often, had less unlearn and relearn, and still had reasonable confidence in his own ability (Clay, 1985, p.10).
In a clinical program for two years, Clay and others (1985) focused on discovering, describing, and testing which approaches work with failing readers. The procedures they discovered were then applied in five different schools. These researchers made unwavering efforts to reduce reading failure in 122 six-year-olds. They followed the students for three years, checking in at year one and three. The first step in the prevention of reading difficulties is a systematic observation and recording of what children are doing as they perform reading tasks. Clay believed that early evaluation of reading progress could be based upon observation of children’s behavior. The systematic observation must be conducted without any teacher guidance and recorded objectively. Soon after children enter the instruction, Clay believed it is important to seek diagnosis of the weak aspects of the reading process for the child. Knowledge of words, letters, and sounds are often the focus of reading instruction. In Clay’s Diagnostic Survey, an emphasis is placed on the operations or strategies that are used in reading. “A child may have the necessary abilities but may not have learned how to use those abilities in reading” (Clay, 1985, p. 14). Through observation, rather than diagnostic tools, instruction can be guided to help the child learn to apply helpful strategies that have been explicitly taught through active ways.