Abstract
Reading and writing challenges among students have become a common problem in the current education system. This proposal discusses an intervention to identify reading challenges among learners. The school district should create the positions of reading interventionists, K2 and K3-5, to cooperate with students who cannot read and write well. The two positions will facilitate early classroom contact between teachers and students to enhance their writing and reading skills. Finally, the paper discusses the methods for implementing and evaluating a new teaching structure.
Problem
The proposal focuses on the fundamental skills of reading and writing. These abilities form the basis of a child’s education, and they are considered the gateway to academic excellence. Failing to master reading and writing will pose a significant obstacle to the students’ entire studying period. Under extreme circumstances, such students are demoralized by their poor academic performance and may become depressed and leave school.
Purpose
The identification of K2 and K3-5 interventionists serves the purpose of identifying and helping children with reading and writing challenges during their elementary studies. Research proves that the first three years of school are the best for a child to learn reading and writing (Ruman, 2021). During this period, students will require higher-order thinking skills and elementary practices (Sekeris et al., 2022). If reading skills are not efficiently mastered, understanding of literature and science is limited.
Significance
It is expected from K2 and K3-5 interventionists to aid in improving the general academic performance of the children. Students with reading and writing challenges will be identified early enough. The two positions will significantly improve academically challenged students in their reading and writing abilities. They also form a basic foundation for early childhood education and foster great academic achievements (Ruman, 2021). The teaching staff will also have adequate time to teach and enhance the skills of the children.
Objectives
The core objective of the current proposal is to solve the problem that students with reading and writing challenges face. In addition, supportive objectives include describing the existing classroom activities and explaining interventions for creating reading interventionists K-2 and K3-5. These two positions will strengthen student-teacher cooperation and time management for classroom interactions. Regarding the offered tasks and approaches, the general outcome is to improve children’s overall academic performance.
Literature Review
Everyday interaction between children and teachers during their early learning period has been considered a contributor to every child’s cognitive development. The introduction of the K2 and K3-5 plays a significant role in facilitating early contact between teachers and pupils. The current system, which begins from level K6, is not very efficient in assisting children who have reading and writing challenges. At K6, the academic syllabus becomes complex, making it difficult for such pupils to catch up with their fellow peers and classmates (Ruman, 2021). At 12 years, the child should be mature, and interactions with the teachers may not be efficient in developing the child’s cognitive skills (Ruman, 2021). The K12 system is based on directing the student’s career path. It has three main tracks: academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, and the sports and arts strands (Bondoc & Malawit, 2020). It allows the students to have early exposure to the various industries and have an experience in their preferred industries of learning.
The introduction of the K2 position will be of the essence as it will cover the child’s first two years in school. During this period, teachers train the children and help them develop creativity, collaboration abilities, communication, and critical thinking capabilities (Sekeris et al., 2022). All these qualities are responsible for the child’s reading and writing skills. K2 also plays a significant role in enhancing the child’s literacy and numeracy adroitness. The primary purpose of K2 is to introduce the child to the structure and routines of the classroom as well as the kindergarten community.
The K3-5 position will further promote the child’s skills, enhancing their communication, reading, and writing abilities. During this period, the child learns the complex literature aspects essential to their cognitive development (Ruman, 2021). Teachers, as reading interventionists, use the period to assess the child’s ability to listen to and obey simple oral and written instructions (Saxena et al., 2020). The child will learn how to communicate their need and interact with others. Some class sessions are scheduled for the child to read or listen to stories and retell them. Such sessions solve reading and writing problems and ensure the child has good listening skills.
In the effort to solve reading and writing challenges, the K3-5 reading interventionist position enables the teacher to teach and assess children on understanding numbers and the use of numbers in daily living. Children develop their skills in reading sight words and high-frequency words (Saxena et al., 2020). This will enable the child to navigate through the texts and worksheets in class, express themselves, and do creative writing. The K2 and K3-5 positions will solve the writing and reading challenges, make the child academically ready, and empower the child to face emotional and social challenges.
Methodology
Research Design and Procedure
The design for the current study will be a randomized trial across the district schools. The institutions will be selected based on the number of students and the available equipment for developing reading and writing skills. Introducing the two preferred positions (reading interventionists K2 and K3-5) will be procedural to avoid disrupting the current system. The procedure involves public involvement and the collection of individuals’ standpoints on the topic. Afterward, it should be planned on how to initiate the implementation phase. During the first stage of collecting the public views, the school will inform parents and other stakeholders about a new cooperation plan and pay attention to what they have to say (Saxena et al., 2020). It is necessary to review the personal information collected and assess its acceptance within the newly offered system.
After the general population agrees with the program, the second phase is launched through planning. The initial phase will be a pilot trial where two schools are selected for testing, and the strengths and challenges of the system are identified and assessed. The two positions, K2 and K3-5, are finally introduced to schools as the major change, with open-ended and straightforward activities. As children progress to K3-5, they can manage the routines of the more complex introduced activities. In K2, the teacher will focus on the child’s basic literacy skills, such as word pronunciation and simple writing (Saxena et al., 2020). Simple tools like toys, pictures, and charts will be used to enhance the child’s cognitive development. K3-5 will be dominated by assessing the child’s level of cognitive development and writing and reading skills. Children are exposed to reading and narrating stories of different levels to encourage cooperation with their peers in the classroom. At this stage, all children would be ready to advance into the current system of K12 with few reading and writing challenges.
Analysis and Evaluation
After the first slot has successfully passed the two positions, an evaluation should be conducted, focusing on the program’s effectiveness. Taking simple tests is a preferred activity for students to check their reading and writing skills before and after the intervention. Teachers have to prepare several assessment tools regarding students’ backgrounds. Finally, most children who have writing and reading challenges are identified as participants of new interventions with newly established reading interventionists K-2 and K3-5.
References
Bondoc, C. E., & Malawit, T. G. (2020). Applicability of skyline query algorithm for career identification of k-12 graduates. Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2(3), 010-015.
Ruman, M. A. K. (2021). Challenges of teaching English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills at Qawmi Madrasas under BEFAQ in Bangladesh. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 4(7), 125-138.
Saxena, A., Lo, C. K., Hew, K. F., & Wong, G. K. W. (2020). Designing unplugged and plugged activities to cultivate computational thinking: An exploratory study in early childhood education. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 29(1), 55-66.
Sekeris, E., Verschaffel, L., & Luwel, K. (2022). Which skills predict computational estimation? A longitudinal study in 5-to 7-year-olds. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 37(1), 19-38.