Using STARI with English Learners

STARI focuses on improving reading comprehension, a key academic skill for English learners’ success in high school and beyond. While STARI is not designed for newcomers, there is efficacy data (ESSA Tier 1) to support STARI’s use with intermediate and advanced English learners, including long-term English learners and American-born English learners. In a randomized study of STARI in 2013-14, English learners’ gains were equal to those of native speakers, meaning that English learners who received STARI outperformed students in the control group by one to one and a half years of growth. English learners composed 13% of the sample. [1]

CORE PROGRAM COMPONENTS

The core components of STARI support the literacy growth of English learners, as well as native English speakers.

Below is information about how various components benefit English learners as well as suggestions for ways teachers may adapt the practice to make it more supportive.

  • Student Talk

    STARI is a discussion-based intervention. STARI builds students’ oral language skills by creating multiple opportunities to engage in academic talk about text - in guided reading, partner reading, and debates.


    Discussion builds students’ reasoning and interpretive skills, as they listen to their peers’ perspectives on text, and reconsider their own ideas.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Consider posting questions in writing as well as orally.
    • Give students lots of wait time after posing a question. Consider allowing time to stop and jot or talk with a partner before speaking.
    • Consider providing sentence stems to help students formulate and express their ideas in academic English.

  • Partner Reading

    In STARI, students work in pairs to discuss the novels and nonfiction texts.


    Partner discussion provides lots of opportunities for students to engage in talk about text.


    The small group dynamic may encourage less confident students to speak, with less pressure than when they are asked to speak in front of the whole class.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Consider assigning partners with the same native language, and support them in discussing the text and questions in their home language as well as in English. Consider pairing students at higher/lower levels of English proficiency.

  • Interactive Vocabulary Preview

    Before reading each section of text, the teacher previews key vocabulary in an interactive way. The vocabulary preview aids with students’ comprehension of text by providing the meanings of key terms ahead of time.


    The preview includes oral pronunciation and written presentation of each new word. The preview is interactive - students discuss each word and use it in meaningful contexts, to help them build ownership of new words.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Make sure students see it, hear it, and say it. Write the word on the board or projector. Say the word aloud and have students repeat it.
    • Consider showing pictures to provide additional meaning support.
    • Consider incorporating use of realia.
    • Change or add to the focal vocabulary words if necessary for your students.

  • Background Knowledge

    Fluency passages and nonfiction texts actively build background knowledge that students need to comprehend the unit novels.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Activate and build on students’ background knowledge by using inclusive practice to bring in students’ home culture and language. A greater range of background knowledge will lead to a richer discussion.

  • Reading Stamina

    STARI builds students’ stamina for silent reading by “chunking” texts. Students read only a page or two before they stop to talk about what they have read.


    STARI students read complete books, developing confidence for sustaining attention and processing larger texts, important skills for high school.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Make the chunks even smaller if necessary!
    • Read aloud the first chunk, or the beginning of a chunk, to get students interested, before shifting to silent reading.
    • Establish literal understanding of a chunk of text before moving on to higher-level, inferential questions.

  • Fluency Routine

    Fluency incorporates four modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) that are essential to learning a new language. Students engage in repeated readings of leveled texts, the research-based way to improve reading fluency.


    Fluency passages are written at four levels, so every student can read a just-right text. Phonetic pronunciations of tricky words are provided. Students practice reading in phrases with appropriate intonation. Students practice different tasks throughout the fluency routine, to help them stay engaged.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Encourage students to record themselves during the routine.
    • Give individuals feedback on use of appropriate intonation and phrasing.
    • During the tricky words activity, be aware of which sounds may be challenging for your students to pronounce, based on their home language.
    • Teach, practice, and enforce norms for effective listening and speaking in partnerships.
    • Before whole-class discussion, ensure students have had sufficient time to write their answers before speaking.

  • Decoding

    STARI provides decoding instruction, focused on the complex multi-syllable words middle schoolers will encounter in grade-level texts.


    TIPS FOR FURTHER SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

    • Remember that English learners are keenly aware of the mechanics of language since they are used to navigating multiple languages.
    • Actively promote awareness of cross- linguistic relationships, for example base words and word endings (-ción/-tion) shared between home languages and English.
    • Some decoding lessons may need to be expanded when they address challenging sounds for English learners (e.g., long vs. short vowel sounds).
STARI Student and Teacher

Why is STARI a good program for English learners?

STARI is engaging.

Research has shown that students learn best when they are engaged. STARI builds foundational reading skills in the context of interesting, complex questions about engaging, relevant, age appropriate texts.

STARI is accessible.

STARI texts’ average difficulty is between 500-800 Lexile levels, approximately a third-grade level. Additional supports (such as text introductions) are provided as scaffolds to help students comprehend the texts.

STARI is culturally responsive.

STARI emphasizes instructional engagement and critical thinking. STARI honors students’ ideas and experiences, by explicitly asking them to take a stance toward texts they read, and defend their ideas with evidence from the text. STARI has high expectations for students, even those who have struggled with reading in the past. Many STARI units have a social justice orientation, as they are organized around current, meaningful topics.

STARI builds strong classroom culture.

The small class size allows for an intimate experience where students build strong relationships with teachers and peers. It creates a safe environment where students can share their ideas and voice their challenges.

Development of STARI was led by Lowry Hemphill (Wheelock College) through a SERP collaboration with Harvard University and four Massachusetts school districts. The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305F100026 to the Strategic Education Research Partnership as part of the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

The STARI Team