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All Students Learning: Making It Happen In Your SchoolMultisensory Teaching Approach to Reading (MTA)
Location Contact With the realization that many students in the Chugach School District seemed to be having literacy-related difficulties, the district took an aggressive approach toward the instruction of reading. (An assessment indicated that 98 percent of students in the district were not reading at grade level.) A summer 1996 inservice that was attended by all K-12 teachers focused on reading instruction strategies that promote phonemic awareness as well as two other vital components in the reading process—fluency and comprehension. In addition, the entire district adopted the Multisensory Approach to Reading (MTA), based on the Orton-Gillingham method of teaching reading ( a method based on phonetics but emphasizing auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles).
In the fall of 1996, armed with new instructional awareness and this new approach to teaching literacy, district educators began
to address the decoding skills that were deficient in a majority of the students. Using MTA as a part of each classroom has provided instruction on the structure of the English language in an organized and scientific approach. It is designed to enable students to master and retain material presented through a process of discovery, learning, introduction, review, practice, and evaluation.
All K-12 students participate in the program regardless of their reading level. At the beginning of the school year, all students are assessed in their reading skills, then a student reading profile is made for each student. This provides every student with a plan of action for reading improvement. Many secondary teachers are especially excited about the program because they have strategies to intervene when they see students struggling. At the high school level, the information is presented in a class called linguistics. The etymology of words, dictionary skills, spelling, promoting a love of the English language, and learning from those who are language experts are all part of the plan for developing proficiency in receptive as well as expressive language. Eventually, the district hopes that the program will only be needed in the elementary grades.
There is a great deal of accountability involved in this reading plan due to various state and district standards and assessments. The presentation of the material may look different in each class, but the process remains the same. Instruction begins with focus on the structure of the language and gradually moves toward reading. The program provides students with immediate assessment, a predictable sequence, and ties in writing, reading, and spelling. Students like it because teachers promise them that they will never be asked to do anything they haven’t been taught.
For further information about adapting the MTA program to your school, please contact:
Edmar Ed. Associates Edith Hogan or Margaret Smith Jamie Williams Keys to Success Outcomes
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