Computers aid area high schoolers in improving their reading skills
Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 19, 2003
Increased use of computers and technology has already helped some high schoolers improve reading skills, and the Austin School District hopes it will help even more this year.
A reading program in its second year, called Reading Plus, is in the "Write Place" language lab at Austin High School. It is used mainly to help transition students, who struggle with reading skills, advance more quickly to an appropriate level. Tuesday, teachers had a training class on using the program with their students.
Terry Becker-Ersland, a language arts teacher, said many students have trouble with comprehension. They do not know how to process things correctly and become confused.
"The words are all jumbled up in their brain," she said.
The program works in a number of ways. For comprehension, it asks questions focused on different areas of understanding such as details, sequence of events and inferences.
"All their really critical reading skills are questioned," she said.
Speed is another problem area Reading Plus deals with. The students constantly practice reading quickly, every day challenging themselves to improve their time.
"It starts at a comfortable level, so they should be OK with that," Becker-Ersland said. "As with anything, if we practice, we get better at it."
An instrument called the visagraph is a high-tech tool for learning. Glasses attached to the computer use lasers to track the eye movements of the students. It records things like whether the eyes move together or right to left in the wrong direction, as well as when the student jumps lines or rereads sections.
In serious cases, the student may be referred to an eye doctor, Becker-Ersland said. But whether or not a serious problem is found, the data is useful.
She said hard data is the biggest benefit of the system.
"The kids can look at what skills they need to work on," she said.
Becker-Ersland said the program works. The company selling it says with 40 hours of work, a student will progress one grade level, she said.
"More of my students move through at least three grade levels in a semester," she said.
The No Child Left Behind law states that high schools must post a graduation rate above 80 percent. With an 86 percent rate this year, Austin has been above that mark, but administrators are still not comfortable with numbers that close to the bottom line. Programs like Reading Plus might make a difference.
"We know a lot of times kids drop out of school because they can't read," she said. "This is one thing we try to do to insure we have a better completion rate."
Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com