I totally agree with your assessment of the variables that we all deal with on a daily basis. My district also purchased SIPPS. The school that I used to work at tested all kids and placed them in ability based groups. I think the groups were reflective of many of the different factors that you described. I was always given one of the lower groups to work with. I would say that I taught the groups with fidelity but because of attention, language deprivation, new language learning and a plethora of other issues, I didn't see any startling results. I also didn't notice much transfer of this knowledge at my level (4th grade). The younger grades are still using this and many like the program but I am happy to say it is only used as an intervention. Sue
Sent from my iPad On Feb 26, 2012, at 3:29 PM, "Palmer, Jennifer" <[email protected]> wrote: > I have used SIPPS as a reading specialist in a non-title one school. I > abandoned doing it with fidelity as I felt that it did not work very well. A > few kids grew, but many did not. Our districts data did not support it either > and we probably had about 20 schools using it. Some with fidelity, some less > so. I tried modifying it...got slightly better results, but no better than > when I just did what I knew to be best for kids. > > As an administrator now in a Title One school, I totally understand the > accountability requirement. When you spend taxpayer money on a program you > have to be able to justify that it is money well-spent. I sometimes grit my > teeth at the time I spend away from instruction to deal with that, but I > fully understand that title one money must be used to help kids effectively. > > I will tell you at this point that my fabulous reading specialists in Title > One have also abandoned SIPPS. > > Now I would like to address the idea of 'fidelity'. As part of my doctoral > program, I have read a lot of research...and I have learned how to evaluate > the quality of research. In social science research, which education research > is, we have some serious ethical issues to consider when planning a study. > The first of these is that we are working with children. If we have an > intervention we think might work, it is unethical to deny some students the > opportunity for that intervention. How would you like YOUR children to be in > a control group, getting the same old thing, when your neighbor's child, > randomly assigned to an intervention group, is making progress? > > So, to account for that, researchers who are trying to do experimental, or > quasi-experimental research have some serious obstacles to overcome. First, > the quality of the teacher. Even in a scripted program, like SIPPS, when > delivered with the exact same words might get different results. Suppose I am > the most loved teacher... and my neighbor across the hall hates kids and > yells at them all day. Do you really think that there would not be a > difference in the results between the two rooms? And then ,there is the kids. > We don't usually get kids randomly assigned to teachers. How many of us are > in schools where the most assertive parents get their kids into the classroom > that they want? So, the kids in the classroom across the hall are > different...have less parental support...less time spent on homework. AND > then, SIPPS in Title One where there are kids that are not recieiving > adequate food or health care, vs those that are in a upper middle class > school... ? > > When we evaluate research...especially on these phonics programs, we have to > ask ourselves how the setting for the research is like, or unlike ours. We > have to ask how the teachers differ in levels of experience, and in those > affective qualities that are hard to measure. we have to ask how the children > are the same or different. We need to think about the size of the groups of > children and how far below level they are, and where they disabled, or ADD or > second language learners. > > I guess what I am arguing is this: We try to reduce the teacher variable by > making them use a script to see if the program works. I would argue that > there are too many other variables at play here to be able to make a > judgment. So, I use the same script as you do... I get results and you don't. > Why is that? Do I have better students? Do I have better classroom control? > Do I have more involved parents? Do I have a smaller class size? Do I have > fewer behavior problems? > > This is a situation where qualitative research techniques, which collect > different kinds of data...non-numerical data...might be more useful. So, your > class isn't doing well with SIPPS. Say we find that some of the kids aren't > doing well because they lack focus. Let's adjust the program and give it in > shorter segments so that they pay attention and see how it works. Teachers > are capable of that... if they understand how to identify the problem and > collect appropriate data. We can make more informed judgments about the > quality of the program IF we first ensure that the program is matched to kids > who will benefit from the intervention. Second, we enlist teachers and use > what they know to help us understand what is working and not working about a > program. And finally, we stop kidding ourselves that when we do a program > evaluation that we have controlled the variables by making teachers follow a > script. > > Incidently, a colleague and I were interested in the research behind SIPPS > and followed up on the studies cited in the manual that support it about a > year and half ago. First, there are not many. Second, they are all done by > the company that developed the program. Third, there were flaws in the > methodology. My district was fooled. We bought this as a research based > program... but no one actully looked at the research with a knowledgeable eye > before we spent the money. That's not to say that it is not working > elsewhere...and maybe there have been more studies done since I last looked > into it. It very well may be that there is new research supporting it, and I > would be happy to hear that there are students benefitting from it. We just > need to start asking questions with these programs when looking at the > research. How are these kids like or unlike mine? How are the teachers like > or unlike mine? How is the rest of the curriculum like and unlike mine? > (Maybe SIPPS works well with > kids in reading workshop but not kids in the Harcourt basal...for example.) > How will I fairly evaluate the program, realizing that it is truly impossible > to control the variables as we would for experimental research.... > > > Jennifer L. Palmer > > Instructional Facilitator > > National Board Certified Teacher > > > > Magnolia Elementary (home school) > > 901 Trimble Road > > Joppa, MD 21085 > > 410-612-1553 > > Fax 410-612-1576 > > "In every child a touch of greatness!!' > > Proud of our Title One School > > > > Norrisville Elementary > > 5302 Norrisville Road > > White Hall, MD 21161 > > 410-692-7810 > > Fax 410-692-7812 > > Where Bright Futures Begin!! > > ________________________________________ > From: [email protected] > [[email protected]] on behalf of > Stein, Ellen H. [[email protected]] > Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 2:10 PM > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] SIPPS > > We use SIPPS in a much more structured way. The theory is if we don't use the > script provided with the program we have no check on whether the "program" > worked. Having purchased this and other interventions with title 1 funds, we > need accountability as to whether it worked or not. If we don't use them with > fidelity we don't know the reason for the success or failure. > > Sent from my Droid Charge "Stacy.caudill" wrote: > Regarding phonics instruction- has anyone ever heard of SIPPS? I have been > using it for several years. It allows me to assess students and work with > small leveled groups. Although the lessons are laid out I don't really think > of it as a program because I just use and adapt what is appropriate for my > students. I meet with each group for only about 15 minutes, and I have found > that it is very easy for me to build on when I am conferring in reader's and > writer's workshop or doing guided reading lessons. > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
