Reading Problems: Assessment and Teaching Strategies, 7th edition

• Readers can choose from hundreds of instructional strategies, presented for immediate use, and see examples of many of the strategies in actual classroom use through illustrative “Strategy Snapshots” and “Case Studies,” culled from the authors’ own experiences.
• Another invaluable, ready-to-use tool teachers can use is the field-tested Informal Reading Inventory, ready to be copied and used. (Ch. 5)
• Working effectively with students with learning disabilities and those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is covered, including factors relating to reading difficulties, legal issues, and new instructional strategies.
• Teaching effectively in multicultural, multilingual, and multiage instructional settings is clearly presented through guidelines, strategies, and materials in Chapter 14.
• Practical help for conducting successful reading intervention programs, including group and classroom instructional models, is presented in Chapter 6.
• Keeping pace with the Common Core State Standards is ensured through the sections on word recognition in Chapter 7, which also addresses Response to Intervention; on fluency in Chapter 8, which has a case study of a third grader; on academic vocabulary in chapter 10, and on comprehension of informational text as related to the Common Core State Standards and Response to Intervention in Chapter 12, which includes a helpful case study.
• Reading specialists and literacy coaches learn the current trends in their roles and the collaborative nature of assessment and instruction in today’s schools in Chapter 16.

The Seventh Edition of Reading Problems combines new approaches with time-tested ones to provide teachers a wide variety of approaches from which to choose. Recent research has clarified the reading process and substantiated effective instructional strategies. New insights provide a rich source of innovative diagnostic and teaching methods.

• Teachers get a wide variety of information to choose from in both new and time-tested approaches presented throughout.
• The reading process is clarified, and effective instructional strategies are substantiated through the presentation of new and recent research.
• Teachers get a rich source of innovative diagnostic and teaching methods through an abundance of new insights presented.
• Teachers, literacy coaches, and reading specialists get valuable help for aligning their early literacy instruction with the Common Core State Standards (Ch. 7). Further help for applying CCSS in the integration of reading and writing instruction is included in Chapter 13.
• Monitoring student progress and selecting and using appropriate assessment is approached in the book’s updated information about formal assessments, including a section on assessment of vocabulary development; information about tests that have been revised for computer-based or online administration; and more information about criterion-referenced tests for monitoring student progress as related to RTI (Ch. 4).
• Valuable help for developing and supporting vocabulary instruction for English Language Learners is provided in Chapter 10.
• Teachers see how students can apply multiple strategies to a single piece of text to enhance comprehension through the text’s more in-depth discussion of mega-strategies to support comprehension (Ch. 11). Included are suggestions for using the Internet and digital media to support and expand literacy learning.
• Teachers get help for supporting instruction and professional growth through a look at the impact of recent legislation on the responsibilities and roles of reading specialists and literacy coaches (Ch. 16).

Briefly, the key changes to the Seventh Edition include:

• Discussion of the transition from No Child Left Behind to Race to the Top
• Case studies for chapters
• Procedures for monitoring students’ progress to meet Response to Intervention requirements.
• Impact of the Common Core State Standards on literacy instruction and assessment.
• Changes in procedures for identifying students who are qualified for additional support services.
• Strategies to meet the needs of English Language Learners, especially in the areas vocabulary development and academic vocabulary development.
• The integration of technology into literacy instruction and assessment.
• Collaboration between reading specialists/literacy coaches and general education teachers.
• Changing roles of reading specialists/literacy coaches.
• A continuing discussion of specific reading skills, including word recognition skills, fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension of narrative and informational text, and the integration of reading and writing.