[AAACE-NLA] STAR Struck!

[John Comings]

I agree with Susan Miller's posting on STAR. We have no theory or evidence 
that adults acquire and improve literacy skills in ways that are 
significantly different than children, and so we can accept the child 
research until we have evidence that another approach works better.

However, the skill profile of adults can look quite different than 
children.  For example, experience might have provided an adult with an 
oral vocabulary much greater than his or her reading skill level, which 
might be held back by low fluency or poor decoding skills, while a child 
generally reads at his or her vocabulary level. This makes assessment of 
the components of reading for adults important to designing instruction 
that will build on their strengths and address their weaknesses. In 
addition, adults need help and innovative service delivery approaches that 
support their spending enough time-on-task (both instruction and practice) 
to make meaningful gains.

For now, we might accept the child research on reading instruction and 
focus our quite limited research and development resources on ways to 
support motivation to learn and persistence, intensity, and engagement in 
learning.

John Comings, Director
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Harvard Graduate School of Education
7 Appian Way
Cambridge MA 02138
(617) 496-0516, voice
(617) 495-4811, fax
(617) 335-9839, mobile
john_comings at harvard.edu
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu