Hearing from Teachers—READ 180
Tell me more about READ 180, please. Is this a computer program?
Response: Scholastic READ 180 is a combination of direct instruction in decoding and writing and group work. One of the stations uses computers—which at least looked pretty engaging. Another station does independent reading or works on writing, while a third group is working with the teacher on reading strategies, etc. The books look pretty great—especially for a prepackaged program. I think that there is more info at the Scholastic website.
My principal stopped in Friday after school to say she wants to adopt READ 180 for next year's remedial freshmen. I know we recently kicked the program around on the list, and I will be heading to the archives as soon as I can find them. Here is my question: is it fair to compare READ 180 with the old SRA "reading program in a box" system? This question is addressed only to those old enough to have used SRA (as one who remembers the sixth-grade excitement of moving from turquoise to silver)
Response: There is a lot wrong with READ 180. Quite a bit of it focuses on improving decoding skills. Generally speaking, that is not what 9th graders need to waste their time on. Out of 30 students, you might have 1 that needs explicit instruction in decoding.
The promotional materials for READ 180 talk about strategic approaches to reading, but I seriously doubt that this means the kind of thing Cris Tovani and Jeff Whilhelm talk about.
My rule of thumb is, if you have to pay for it, it's not going to work. A better use of money would be to bring Cris Tovani in to work with teachers. Or, buy her video series. Or get Kylene Beers' book When Kids Can't Read.
I don't know why administrators think they need to buy these canned programs. They complain about not having enough money, and then the spend big bucks on programs that don't work. It breaks my heart.
You don't need READ 180. Buy enough books to stock all your 9th grade classrooms with classroom libraries. Read Tovani, Wilhlem, and Beers, and really begin making a difference in the lives of students.
Response: I told her that, bluntly. But her mind is made up. We are RIFing three excellent English teachers due to the economy, and average class size next year will be 30 - 35 (except freshman English, which will be lower because they take the graduation test at the beginning of the sophomore year). But my principal still thinks she can find money to buy this program. Apparently READ 180 comes out of a different fund. (That is the standard answer to all funding questions.)
I know many of us would jump at a chance to have a class of "only" 30-35 students. But in this school, where 27 is considered large, we are all taking a deep breath.
Response: You do not want to do a READ 180 class with 30-35 students in it. Even Scholastic doesn't want classes over 21 students for READ 180. I've done it with reluctant 7th and 8th graders and as the one teacher, it would be very hard to keep track of that many kids while you're going through the rotations. If you want the whole spiel let me know. I've been doing READ 180 since November.
Response: I have just heard about READ 180. We are not a district who buys in to programs, but our content area specialist came back from the presentation saying great things about this program. Evidently it is written by Janet Allen and it is great stuff. Open you arms and say yeah, I have heard it will do great things.
May 2005
It looks as if this program is coming to my school despite my misgivings. A team went and looked at it in action at a high school and middle school and were very impressed. The principals of those schools say the growth has been very impressive.
I've looked on the archives, but I did not find many links that discussed schools who used this or how successful it is after the initial year.
I am a reading specialist, and a promoter of developing teachers' expertise as a reliable way to help student performance. I don't believe in canned programs, but what can you say to schools where students are showing substantial growth?
Can anyone share their personal experience of READ 180 at their school?
Thank you for your input.
Response: I can't stand canned programs for the same reasons you give (actually I despise and detest them) but I have to tell you that while I've never used READ 180, I've seen how it works and even I was impressed. This was a program I actually wanted and if we could have afforded it, I think I would really enjoyed using it! It seemed to have a good mix of old fashioned real reading that I know needs to occur for any growth to take place with the whiz-bang technology that kids like. What I really liked about it was that technology was used to give kids the background knowledge needed for comprehension and it didn't feel quite as "skill and drill" as most of the canned programs do. I wouldn't want READ 180 to be my total Reading program but I think for some kids, part of the time, it could be very effective.
Response: I have just completed a five day (1 hour a day each week) on READ 180. This program has existed for three years. I have not used it in my class, but I plan to use it next school year. This is particularly for low achieving readers (special education teachers were present. I was the only general educator present). The program seems to work like centers. There are various centers the students move around to. For example; there is the computer station, the reading station, writing station and so on, and there are tapes to the books. Best of
Luck!
Response: I've looked over some other postings about READ 180 and I think they and you summed it up well. It shouldn't be the only reading instruction, but it can
be a decent supplement. Anyway, we are getting the funds to use this.
But, I do wonder if the novelty of its use wears off. I wonder if subsequent years of its use show the same gains. Thanks for your comments.
April 2005
My principal is looking at a reading program called READ 180. It is for readers who are 2 or more years behind grade level. It costs $30,000 so it is a financial commitment and a teacher commitment. Have any of you heard about it?
Response: There was a discussion (I saved eight messages) from March 10 to March 13 last year (2002) on the NCTE Middle listserv about the READ 180 program. I have no direct knowledge of the program myself. I did correspond with one person who was using it in his classroom. He liked it. The inquiry involved where would my reading program fit in. My comment was that my self-instructional reading program has worked well for me in my classes for thirty-five years or more to supplement whatever else was being used, helping 80% of my students to do even better than using just one program alone, in my informal yet semi-controlled master's degree thesis project.
Response: We have it in our district, and it's been a flop. It hasn't worked properly, the training was poor, and students don't like it. But, maybe others have had a different experience???
Response: I believe READ 180 is a program by Scholastic. It comes with a couple of text books and novels and teacher materials. The stories are real interest grabbers. There are lots of real life activities to go along with the stories. Every story has at least one writing opportunity and lots of skills worksheets. If you do everything, it takes a about a week to cover the story and all the materials that go along with it. In the textbook, the stories get increasingly longer and more complex. The problem is they get harder faster than the kids can learn to read. The teacher at my school is new and that is all he has taught all day every day for 2 years. He likes it enough and the kids like it enough. I just think the difficulty increases too fast. I don't think there have been any studies to see if it has made a difference in the kids' reading scores or abilities.
February 2003
Dear friends,
I cannot believe I am opening up this can of worms, because I know the strong feelings out there about scripted programs and I agree with a lot of the criticism. However, it looks to me like our school is going to be forced to adopt one of these programs for our struggling readers. So, until I gain a lot of political power or move to a private school, I'm trying to figure out which program is better... HELP!
It looks to me like the READ 180 program allows for more individualized instruction (and much more interesting reading material). Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs that they can share? My principal seems to be sold on Language! because they have the 6 traits of writing in their program. I honestly don't think she knows anything about READ 180—or what the 6 traits are. Also, Language! looks cheaper up front. Thanks.
Response: My school district has gone all out for READ 180 for our struggling readers. I've never met a READ 180 teacher who wasn't thrilled with the program. I went to an initial presentation by Scholastic, and was skeptical. They kept citing all sorts of statistics about soaring reading scores, etc. but my feelings were that these were not necessarily a result of the program. READ 180 classes are limited to 18 students who take this as an extended class. Teachers receive extensive training and support. I'm not that impressed with the computer program component of READ 180, but we have purchased the rest of the materials for use in some of our reading classes (READ Xcell is the name of it). The anthology is not bad, but the novels are great. Good novels from good young adult writers. This is a reading adoption year for our district and the Scholastic READ Xcell series is one of the finalists.
Response: Language! is a horrible program! I can't say it strongly enough. It is scripted. It does not use authentic texts. It is boring. It represents the worst of reading programs. I just looked at the READ 180 program and I'm skeptical. But I'm skeptical of any commercial program. There does seem to be quite a bit of flexibility in the READ 180 program that does not exist in the Language! program, so if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose READ 180.
Response: I've been working very hard to keep Language! out of my district. READ 180 is really expensive due to the computer requirements.. Thus we don't have it and have an even worse program.. I do know some folks in other schools and districts who have used it and they say the kids love it. If I had to have a reading program and could choose my own, this is the one I'd take! Simplicitas paxque.
March 2002
Related Information:
One-Size-Fits-All Curriculum (Elementary)
One-Size-Fits-All Curriculum (Middle)
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