Read 180 turns it around

topics: Reading and Literacy, Teaching and Learning, Special Education

Ashley Crownover

Putting cutting - edge research into practice can be tricky, but Ted Hasselbring (research professor of special education) has been able to do just that. As one of the creators of Read 180, a Scholastic reading intervention program, his work has had a quantifiable influence on reading education. Based on research begun in 1985 by Hasselbring and others at Vanderbilt's Learning Technology Center, Read 180 is now one of the most respected reading intervention programs in America, implemented in all 50 states and used in thousands of classrooms.

"We never started out with the idea of creating a commercial product," says Hasselbring. "In the beginning, we were simply looking at the use of video as a way to provide background knowledge and help kids create a model of text." Scholastic, a global leader in education publishing, became interested in the program after witnessing its successful implementation in Florida.

"In 1993, Orange County schools were experiencing a huge dropout rate, a very high truancy rate, and behavioral problems," recalls Hasselbring. "We discovered that virtually all of the kids had reading problems - that's why the dropout rate and the truancy and the behavioral problems were high. After implementing our program, the students' reading improved and the behavioral problems diminished." After a "serendipitous" meeting between Hasselbring and Scholastic Education president Margery Mayer, Vanderbilt and Scholastic entered into a licensing agreement, and within two years, Read 180 was born.

Partnering with Scholastic has allowed Hasselbring to concentrate on refining the research behind Read 180 while Scholastic editors and software engineers focus on designing the computer programs and reading materials so that they appeal to middle - and high - school readers. Thanks to this unique collaboration, Read 180 has developed from a rudimentary, video - based program to a 90 - minute instructional model involving direct teacher instruction, modeled and independent reading, and the use of interactive software. High - interest video segments remain a cornerstone of the program.

Hasselbring believes the program's success lies in the combination of high - tech, interactive software; age - appropriate supporting materials; and faithful implementation by teachers. Implementation fidelity is, he says, particularly vital to the program's success.

"The model is laid out specifically for good reason. If schools don't follow the model, it's not going to work," he explains. "People think just because it's a computer - based program the teacher doesn't have to do anything. That's not true."

To help ensure success, Scholastic provides extensive professional development opportunities for teachers implementing Read 180, including an annual summer conference where teachers, administrators, and researchers can discuss the program implementation and share tips and success stories.

Hasselbring's recent return to Vanderbilt after six years at the University of Kentucky has provided him with an opportunity to continue to develop cutting - edge implementations aimed at older struggling readers. He is focused on developing complementary programs for students who lack the skills needed to participate in Read 180.

"What we're finding is that, surprisingly, there are a lot of kids who don't have the prerequisite skills," he says.

Another area of interest is providing more support to those students who are exiting the Read 180 classroom and reentering standard curriculum classes.

"We need to examine what kind of support we can provide to make that regular curriculum a little more accessible to them," Hasselbring explains. "It might be as simple as providing text on a computer instead of in books so that if the students come to a word they don't know, they can click on it and the word is read to them or they are given a definition."

He also hopes to develop a program similar to Read 180 for mathematically challenged students. Whatever new projects lie in the future, Hasselbring's collaboration with Scholastic has already had a significant impact on the lives of millions of struggling readers.