SCHOLASTIC LITERACY
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awareness of the sounds in the English language.
Most commonly, teachers used a combination of working with small groups and with the whole class for their reading instruction. Central to this instruction were pre-reading (88.6%, n = 39), during-reading (84.1%, n = 37), and after-reading (79.6%, n = 35) strategies that were outlined in Scholastic Literacy. Nearly half of teachers indicated that the program has influenced the way they teach reading (47.7%, n = 21). Teacher participants in the focus groups were asked about the challenges they faced while implementing Scholastic Literacy. A common response to this question was that the program becomes easier with more use. According to one teacher, “It takes a lot of time to learn. It’s not one you can just pick up and go. You have to set routines. It takes a while.” Importantly, the theme of “time” came up often in teacher responses and can be summed up with one teacher’s comment: “Time. It’s always time. We don’t have it.” Especially for teachers implementing Scholastic Literacy in their first year, time management is difficult because of the amount of content to be covered. A focus group participant described this as being “stressful,” and another teacher compared the initial implementation to “fitting 20lbs into a 10lb bag” because of the time constraints that all teachers across all grades experience. As a result, teachers admitted that it is often the writing piece that is left out at the end of the lesson, due to a lack of time. In some cases, teachers found themselves having to “adapt the writing assessment” to be able to fit it into the fifth day of the lesson. Teachers benefited the most when they were provided with instructional materials earlier in the summer (as opposed to last-minute, or even after the start of the school year), allowing them more time to prepare. As noted by several respondents, implementation becomes easier over time as teachers find ways to “make it their own.” Perceived Impacts Teachers gave the overwhelming sense that Scholastic Literacy positively impacts their students in two ways, specifically: achievement and engagement. Regarding achievement, respondents credited Scholastic Literacy with quantitative gains on formal assessments (“I had 250% growth on MAP.”) Regarding specific skills (see Figure 3), teachers agreed that the program has helped improve students’ understanding of print concepts (59.2%, n = 26), and reading comprehension (66%, n = 29). However, there was less support for other impacts of Scholastic Literacy. Teachers disagreed that the program improved student writing (43.2%, n = 19) or their phonological awareness (36.3%, n = 16).
© Johns Hopkins University, 2023
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