Key Components for the Kentucky Reading Project

How do students learn to read and write, and how do they get better at reading and writing?
How do teachers identify and meet the needs of struggling readers?
Why is literacy important and how can it be used to make a positive change in the individual and the community?

How can teachers get to know their students and families in deep and personal ways that will enable them to best teach them?
How might teachers? own language and behavior be different from their students? What language and behavior differences are to be respected and accepted, and which are those teachers should try to change?
What views do teachers hold about students of poverty? How might those values affect interactions with their students? How can teachers ensure that they do not hold a ?deficit perspective? toward students of poverty?
How is teachers? literacy instruction culturally responsive to the students they teach?
- Is the literature appropriate?
- Are activities connected to students? backgrounds?
- Are interactions appropriate?
- Are expectations high?
- Is curriculum rigorous?
How can teachers ensure that the quality of their teaching is as good for students of poverty and for cultural minorities as for students with backgrounds similar to their own?
How do teachers teach students just learning English when they cannot speak the students? native language/s?

How can teachers arrange their schedule to provide extra time for struggling readers?
How can teachers ensure that students who struggle with reading get extra intensive daily help?
How can teachers be sure that the extra help is delivered by the most skilled teacher (i.e., not an instructional aide), but someone with advanced skills in literacy instruction?
How can teachers diagnose the exact needs of their students who struggle with reading? How do teachers know if their students? needs are more for decoding, fluency or comprehension?
How can teachers be sure that students who struggle with reading have the same opportunities to read lively, interesting material as the other students in their classroom?
How can teachers include the families of their students who struggle with reading in assisting their child's reading progress?

How do teachers provide instruction to meet a wide range of developmental levels (i.e. emergent, early, and fluent) in phonemic awareness, phonics and word recognition?
What research supports instructional practices for phonemic awareness, phonics and word recognition?
What theoretical constructs around phonics, phonemic awareness and word recognition are taught in KRP?

How should teachers design and implement comprehension and instruction that embodies research-based best practice that aligns with national, state and local standards?
Given the diverse learning needs of students, what are the practices, procedures and strategies which may promote higher-level thinking and comprehension of a variety of texts for individual students?
What are the strategies for understanding and constructing meaning of various forms of reading and language arts representation/expression (i.e. multimedia, graphic, oral/aural, written, narrative text, expository text, and visual arts) for individual learners?
How do teachers help students purposefully monitor their own comprehension before, during, and after reading?
Once the needs of individual students are identified, how can the teacher make the transitions from present teaching practices to more effective practices?

How does writing help teach children to read?
What are the connections between reading and writing?
How can the relationships between reading and writing be reinforced through classroom interactions and practices?
What are the components of a balanced writing program that support reading and writing development?
How can teachers implement a personally and culturally relevant writing program?

Given the diverse learning needs of students, what are practices, processes and strategies related to the use of expository texts in reading and writing which are aligned with national, state and local standards?
What are strategies to help individual learners understand and construct meaning from various forms of expository reading (i.e. multimedia, graphic, oral, aural, visual arts).

How can teachers examine assumptions about their students and their families, specifically with regard to literacy?
How can teachers learn about the ways literacy is used in the culture of the home and community?
What barriers prohibit the development of productive relationships between parents and teachers at home and at school? What are some solutions to overcoming these barriers?
How can teachers involve parents who historically have not been involved (in realistic ways)?
How can teachers help families understand assessment, curriculum and pedagogy?

How can teachers understand the value of state tests and plan instruction strategically based on these understandings?
How do teachers use ongoing assessments (formal and informal) to inform and change daily instruction, specifically to meet individual needs?
How can teachers help students set goals and self evaluate?

How do teachers set up a classroom environment that empowers their students to be meaningfully engaged in their learning?
How do teachers implement and organize student-centered relevant curriculum?
- appropriate content
- equitable access to curriculum
- instruction based on students? needs (flexible grouping)
- efficient use of time
How can teachers develop, implement and monitor long- and short-term goals based on students? needs?
How do teachers provide extra time for struggling readers in their classroom?