Developing instructional capacity in secondary ELAR teachers: Teaching reading comprehension in middle school and high school

The problem of professional practice for the study was equipping secondary ELAR teachers with instructional strategies to teach reading comprehension skills to students reading below grade level in grades 6-10. The opportunity gap in the Title 1 district was immovable without addressing the inequities in the secondary reading program. To increase staff collective efficacy around reading comprehension instruction and to reduce deficit-thinking practices, this instructional equity issue was addressed through a design-based school improvement model for research. An increase in collective efficacy, especially in the area of teaching reading comprehension strategies, worked to narrow the opportunity gap between secondary students and reading on grade level. The secondary reading faculty began to build an equitable reading program at the secondary level that worked with the struggling student population to address their specific reading comprehension needs. By strengthening professional practice, teachers were able to address reading comprehension deficits of the student population using current student data in a way that empowered both faculty and students in a culturally responsive environment. As a result of the changes toward a more equitable reading program, secondary students reading below grade-level had a pathway for reaching grade level proficiency.