Liz Bahl talks about the Learning Alliance’s successful implementation of a fluency-based reading intervention: An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

One of the recurring themes in my blog this summer is using music to develop comprehension and fluency for readers of all ages. The underlying idea of projects based on this use of music is rooted in the research of Dr. Tim Rasinski, a world-class expert in fluency. Dr. Rasinski has created a huge base of peer-reviewed research demonstrating the efficacy of repeated reading LINK, LINK. Rasinski recently co-authored the book The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing The Reading Gap LINK. The foundation of the FDL (Fluency Development Lesson) is promoting repeated reading. Students are motivated to carry out the repeated reading by the educational practice of reading to perform.

Last week, I talked to Carlos Franzblau about his Sing Out and Read program. This week, we continue that discussion. Liz Baul joins Carlos from the Learning Alliance, a nonprofit organization. The Learning Alliance implemented the Sing Out and Read program in the Indian River County district in Florida. The Indian River County is now an “A” district and continues outperforming the state and the Treasure Coast for 3^rd-grade reading scores. Here is a brief excerpt from the Ohio State University white paper about the project.

Evidence of Efficacy 

Per the norms published by NWEA, struggling readers are expected to increase 2 points on the MAP score during the Spring semester. Children who completed the FLiP program gained  7.5  points or  nearly  4  times  the  expected  amount. (bolding mine)  When  compared  to  the expectation for these students over a 12-month period, the FLiP children gained  ¾ of a year (75%) during the Spring Semester.

Background About Liz Bahl and the Learning Alliance

About The Learning Alliance:

The Learning Alliance (TLA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring 90% of children are reading at grade level by the end of 3^rd grade. Our Early Literacy Blueprint encompasses four areas of impact to achieve this “Moonshot Goal.”  They are 1) Excellence in Teaching: TLA provides professional development and coaching to ensure that K-3 teachers understand the science of reading and how to teach it. 2) Extended Learning for Students: We provide after-school and summer programming to allow students the necessary time to catch up to their peers; the most in-need students receive in-school support through small group reading intervention that happens 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. 3) Empowered Families: Because we know literacy begins at birth, we support families with children ages birth – 5 years, so parents understand that they are their child’s first teacher and have the strategies and best practices to support their children to be ready for kindergarten. 4) Engaged Community: We know that schools can’t do it alone, so we galvanized the community around the 90% Moonshot literacy goal, so that everyone understands that early literacy is an important and essential investment.

BIO:

Liz Bahl has over 30 years of experience in a broad array of industries, including bank marketing, public relations, financial software, and retail management. She joined The Learning Alliance in 2014 and has established leadership in all aspects of the organization, including fundraising, volunteer management, program design and implementation, data and documentation, and is currently the Chief Operating Officer. She holds a BA in Communications from Loyola University, New Orleans.

Here is a link to the YouTube video:

Here is a link to the Reading Alliance website. It will allow you to explore the Alliance’s ongoing fluency work, including their successful Indian River County project LINK

Final Thoughts About This Interview

This interview is part of a series of interviews I’ve done (and will do) with members of Ann Kay’s ZAP the Gap group. Music is a way (not the only way) to motivate students to do repeated reading. Repeated reading is a powerful tool for developing fluency and comprehension. This tool’s impact can be enhanced greatly by carefully scaffolding instruction.

Reading to perform can be carried out in a variety of settings in a variety of ways. The key to the success of this type of reading intervention is that it motivates the students to do repeated readings. Whether it be in the form of singing, or reader’s theatre, students want to reread. With proper scaffolding, that kind of repeated reading can dramatically improve reading performance at every grade level.

For those interested in using Liz and Carlo’s program, they indicated that those living outside the Tampa Bay area can contact Carlos directly at the following e-mail address: carlo@singoutandread.org. By the way, I’m working with a student this summer using a language experience approach. That is where the student dictates their own stories, and the teacher uses the stories as the basis for instruction. I’m adding Carlo’s FLP (Family Literacy Project) to that instruction. As I indicated last week, you’ll hear more about that at the end of this summer. So, until next week,

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Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.