Balanced Literacy in the Toronto Catholic District School Board 

We know that learning to read begins well before children enter formal schooling; children who have stimulating experiences from birth onward have an edge in vocabulary development, understanding the goals of reading, and developing an awareness of print and literacy concepts. Many children from literate homes enter school with over 1,000 hours of literacy encounters, prior to Junior Kindergarten.  Unfortunately, we also know that children who are most at risk for reading failure enter Kindergarten without these early experiences. Frequently many poor and second language children have not consistently engaged in the language play that develops an awareness of sound structure and language patterns.

In response to research, TCDSB developed Balanced Literacy, based upon the work of Patricia Cunningham, Richard Allington, Dale Willows (OISE/UT), Marilyn Jager Adams, and other reading experts.

In Junior and Senior Kindergarten, children receive four 15 minute “blocks” of language instruction each day (within a half day program). Grade One to Three students receive four 30 minute “blocks” of language instruction each day (within a full day program), to a total of two hours of directed Language and Literacy instruction each day.

A “Four Block” model encourages teaching staff to address the various ways of teaching literacy and aspects of literacy on a daily basis.

Balanced Literacy:

•                     is based upon current research and best practice

•                     reflects four main approaches to teaching reading

•                     focuses on skills and strategy acquisition

•                     address varying student needs and learning styles; and

•                     uses four blocks that are interconnected and support each other

The Board supported the Balanced Literacy initiative by focussing resources in 5 areas, by providing:

•                     substantial, detailed, and ongoing in-service training to all Junior Kindergarten to Grade Three
                      teachers

•                     a large variety of current professional resources to all Junior Kindergarten to Grade Three 
                      teachers (connected to the in-service training)

•                     ongoing support, mentoring, and consultation to all teachers implementing Balanced Literacy

•                     a very large collection of appropriately levelled classroom reading materials for each
                      classroom (each classroom was provided with over $2,000.00 worth of student reading
                      materials)

•                     detailed assessment materials and training in how to program using assessment information

Staff Development

Current research in staff development asserts “that teachers who felt supported in their own ongoing learning and classroom practice were more committed and effective than those who did not.”   Accumulated research also demonstrates that “teachers with a strong sense of their own efficacy were more likely to adopt new classroom behaviours”(Hord, 1997; Rosenholts 1985, 1989). Michael Fullan (1991) encourages a "redesign [of] the workplace so that innovation and improvement are built into the daily activities of teachers".

The staff development model for Balanced Literacy has been developed with these findings in mind. Throughout the implementation of Balanced Literacy, teachers have been provided with key professional resources and readings, along with an implementation handbook and Board produced instructional video.  Teachers meet in bi-weekly Balanced Literacy meetings, receive support from Balanced Literacy Support Teachers (BLST), receive training in small and large group settings, and network with peers in other schools.

The plan to implement Balance Literacy recognizes that support of teachers, administrators and parents are essential to the success of any change process. Teachers are given ownership of the plan through the divisional planning process and are supported through the difficult times endemic to the implementation of new classroom practice. They are part of a divisional team with a common goal and are supported by their colleagues as they identify and solve local problems together. Principals and superintendents have received introductory workshops that explain the program, emphasize their key role in curriculum delivery, and present specific strategies that can be employed to ensure Balanced Literacy’s success. Principals and superintendents have also been invited to yearly review sessions that focus on supporting successful implementation practices. Parents have been involved through introductory workshops that explain the program and suggest specific strategies that they can use at home to contribute to their child’s academic success and through the involvement in family literacy workshops.

Further Interventions

Although Balanced Literacy was intended to assure that all children be able to read by the end of Grade Three, the question arose: “what additionally could be done for the groups most at risk for literacy failure?”

To address the needs of students most at risk of literacy failure, the Board has developed two interventions.

The Fifth Block

During the first phase of implementation of Balanced Literacy within the Toronto Catholic District School Board, a need arose to connect Balanced Literacy with Special Education teachers and at the same time much discussion arose in regards to addressing the needs of at risk students in the early primary grades.

“For most students, early success in literacy depends on rich, dynamic, well-taught classroom programs in preschool, kindergarten, and first and second grade. Improving classroom teaching for all students is the first goal. But [some] students... need extra help in spite of excellent classroom programs. Making provisions to help low achieving students must therefore become our aim (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). The “Fifth Block” attempts to further address the needs of these students through development of more intensive programs within the model of delivery of the four blocks.

Balanced Literacy International Languages

Recent research makes three points clear about students who speak a language other than English at home:

·     in children and adults who speak another language besides English, faster acquisition of the literacy
      skills in both languages takes place where the literacy skills in the first/home language are strengthened
      and enhanced at the same time and in consort with the learning of English literacy skills (August and
      Hakuta, 1997; Fitzgerald, 1995; Jimenez, et al, 1996);

·     for all children, the better the home is able to support the acquisition of language literacy, the faster the
      child acquires and exhibits language literacy in school; and

·     the more involved parents are in their child’s education, the more likely the child will be successful.
      (Snow and Tabors, 1996).

In response to this, the Board initiated Balanced Literacy International Languages (BLIL) in 1997.  BLIL was developed by Board staff, in conjunction with a number of community organizations.

Balanced Literacy International Languages follows four principles:

·     BLIL mirrors the Balanced Literacy program for English (in terms of content, strategies, skills);  

·     BLIL teaches the skills and strategies necessary to be literate and conversant in the first/home language
      (phonemes, sight and constructed vocabulary, building words, spelling, writing words, reading words,
      building fluency, writing sentences/stories, comprehension monitoring);

·     BLIL builds upon the oral language proficiency in the home;

·     BLIL reinforce skills and strategies through direct instruction, practice, and assessment.

Program materials have been developed for Junior and Senior Kindergarten, and Grades One to Three. The program involves a range of resources (including teacher resource binders, student activities, illustrated sound/story books, songs, audio cassette versions of books, and a full assessment package).

Assessment

Assessment is part of good teaching.  It is a given that teachers presently assess the abilities of each student in their class. Teachers assess knowledge, skills, and strategies on an ongoing basis.  To assist teachers in assessing Language and Literacy development throughout the early years, the Board has developed a detailed continuous assessment package, that responds to current research and the Provincial curriculum. Such assessment is indispensable for effective instruction because:

• teachers are able to determine the effectiveness of their instruction through the  “teaching cycle” of assessing, teaching and reassessing to determine student learning;

• accurate assessment helps the teacher make informed decisions about where to begin and how to pace instruction (in guided reading this might be a book that is a “comfortable challenge” for the student);

• TCDSB’s student population is extremely diverse in terms of experiences, previous instruction, and languages spoken -- we simply cannot assume that all of our students come to school with the same literacy experiences and skills;

• the most effective instruction recognizes the skills and strategies that students have already developed and directs instruction to those skills and strategies that need to be taught next -- these are determined through measurement;

• measurement provides insight into the needs of “at risk” students which can easily be shared with other professionals (assessment/measurement information can be presented at School Based Support Team meetings and Joint Team Meetings);

• for “at risk” students, accurate measurement/assessment allows for appropriate program modification(s);

• ongoing teacher administered literacy assessment over a number of years documents student development over time, which is especially helpful in understanding long-term learning patterns (e.g., some students make small gains each year -- however, without looking at progress over a two or three year span, the teacher will not appreciate these gains).