Literacy Essays

Why Literacy in Early Childhood is Important

According to Teale and Sulzby, “growth in writing and reading comes from within the child as a result of environmental stimulation the growth that has been observed occurs without the necessity for formal teaching.” Knowing this we have to start introducing foundational skills for literacy at an early age. Reading is everywhere and in everything we do, environmental print for restaurant chains and businesses, ads everywhere that allow opportunities to read words during car rides, finding ways to support literacy in the home such as reading books, reading nutrition labels, and reading warning labels. It is easy to incorporate reading into our children’s everyday lives and give them environmental stimulation without ever having direct instruction. According to Nevada standards, an end-of-the-year Kindergarten student should know 50 sight words and be able to sight-read simple text and sound out some common spelling pattern words such as CVC and CVCC. Without exposure to early literacy supports many students that start with a gap don’t ever catch up the gap just becomes wider as they get older and interferes with other subjects including math because they cannot read or comprehend word problems. We also know that in order to become a proficient speller, one must have knowledge and awareness of the three codes: phonological code, orthographic code, and morphological code (Beringer & Fayol, 2008). The purpose of this paper will be to investigate what I know about literacy, what I would like to learn about literacy, and what I learned about literacy after reviewing several sources.

What I Know About Early Childhood Literacy

I know that to be considered fluent in a language you must know how to speak it, read it, and write it however being literate in the United States of America you just need to read and write English at an 8th-grade level. I know that being literate is focused on more than developing math skills. I see this every day in Special Education. Students’ goals focus more on literacy in early childhood than supporting math in a way that is meaningful. In identifying this difference it is also important to note that if one doesn’t know how to add or do basic math functions, they can use a calculator however there is no “calculator” for not knowing how to read. It is crucial to get the literacy skills at a young age because once we reach a certain age and the academic gap is so severe students tend to drop out or give up because they don’t get it. According to a blog on Reading Horizons students who can’t read by grade level three are four times less likely to graduate by age 19. I also know that the rate of literacy has increased globally despite the huge amount of illiteracy seen in schools today (Roser & Ortiz-Ospina, 2016).

What I Want to Know About Literacy

A major push in increasing literacy has been seen due to the increase in English Language Learner (ELL) populations in schools. What I want to explore is why it seems to affect Latino and Spanish-speaking students more than any other English Language Learning student. When it comes to Latino students they have the highest ELL student dropout rate according to Gandara’s book on the Latino Education Crisis. Many other types of English Language learners such as Asian Americans and Euro American’s like those from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc. don’t have problems achieving literacy within American schools. This is also evident in the fact that many ELL strategies and approaches only address Spanish speakers and not other languages. I would like to explore how to increase literacy in ELL as well as how schools are currently addressing the gaps on a nationwide level through the curriculum. Curriculum biases can lead to issues academically if not addressed.

What I Learned About Literacy

Researchers have long recognized and documented that young children develop oral language skills using consistent patterns and sequences (von Tetzchner, Merete Brekke, Sjothun, & Grindheim, 2005). Phonological awareness skill development follows a sequence as well, with rhyming and alliteration at the beginning and segmenting and blending phonemes later on (Goswami, 2001). Emergent writing is supported by all the other components of the English language. As Calderon, Slavin, and Sanchez (2011) expressed: These students, who have been in U.S. schools since kindergarten, are still classified as limited English proficient when they reach middle or high school—suggesting strongly that preschool and elementary programs are not adequately addressing the needs of English learners. (p. 104) In 1978, in the court case of Casteñeda v. Pickard., a Mexican-American father, Roy Casteñeda, claimed that his children’s school was discriminating against them and failing to provide them with adequate bilingual education to prepare them to participate in the mainstream classroom. The result of the case was The Equal Opportunities Act of 1974, which established a three-part criterion for schools in educating ELLs. The criteria were as follows: the bilingual education program must be “based on sound educational theory,” the program must be “implemented effectively with resources for personnel, instruction materials, and space,” and after a trial period, the program must be proven effective in overcoming language barriers/ handicaps. (Casteñeda v. Pickard, 1978) However, due to the current achievement gap, many schools today still do not live up to these standards and due to the lack of ELL student’s exposure to oral proficiency prior to school, when they enter school the focus becomes oral proficiency rather than literacy.

Reflections

Throughout the research, I found that strategies are in place to facilitate closing the literacy gap between not only ELL students but the literacy gap in students who do speak English as their primary language. These strategies included but were not limited to enhanced cultural competence which details considering students’ diversity to be an asset and increasing cultural competence. Comprehensive support for students via screening children early for medical and social services as well as, identifying students who need additional instructional support. Extended learning opportunities by instituting full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten and making preschool programs teach bilingual curriculums in some states. Also by having supportive schools in which closing the gaps are a school-wide responsibility and there are high expectations and rigorous, deep curricula. The most effective strategies appear to be accessible to qualified staff and adequate resources and funding however in the era of budget cuts and the increasing teacher shortage as well as the decrease in the time span of a teacher being in the classroom before experiencing burnout render the two most effective strategies to support closing the literacy gap useless. This research has given me something to think about because I find myself experiencing teacher burnout at my current place of employment because the only thing higher than the literacy gap at my school is the Special Education teacher-student growth expectations. This research has shown me that now more than ever I cannot give up on the students and I have to continue to give them access to a quality instructor to facilitate closing the literacy gaps.

References

1. Berninger, V., & Fayol, M. (2008). Why spelling is important and how to teach it effectively. Encyclopedia of Language and Literacy Development (pp. 1-13). London, ON: Canadian
2. Language and Literacy Research Network. Retrieved from http://www.literacyencyclopedia.ca/pdfs/topic.php?topId=234
3. Castañeda vs. Pickard. 648F. 2d 989. (5th Cir. 1981).
4. Gandara, P. C. (2010). The Latino education crisis: rescuing the American dream. San Francisco, CA: WestEd.
5. Goswami, U. (2001). Early phonological development and the acquisition of literacy. In S. B.
6. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 111-125). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
7. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/post/2011/04/20/poor-reading-skills-are-responsible-for-more-dropouts-than-poverty.
8. Rohde, L. (2015). The Comprehensive Emergent Literacy Model. SAGE Open, 5(1), 215824401557766. DOI: 10.1177/2158244015577664
9. Roser, M., & Ortiz-Ospina, E. (2016, August 13). Literacy. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://ourworldindata.org/literacy.
10. Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent literacy is a perspective for looking at how children become writers and readers. In W. H. Teale & E. Sulzby (Eds.), Emergent literacy: Writing and reading (pp. vii-xxv). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
11. Teale, W. H., &Sulzby, E. (1986). Writing Research: Multidisciplinary Inquiries into the Nature of Writing Series. Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading. Chestnut St., Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
12. Von Tetzchner, S., Merete Brekke, K., Sjothun, B, & Grindheim, E. (2005). Constructing preschool communities of learners that afford alternative language development.
13. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 21(2), 82-100.