Colleges and universities are presently launching a broad-based attack on improving their pre-service programs in the teaching of reading. The need for such an attack was evidenced by the first Harvard Carnegie Study (1) which disclosed inadequacies in pre-service reading courses. This report also revealed the failure of colleges to provide for practical approaches to the teaching of reading by prospective teachers

Criscuolo, Nicholas P.

English

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Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy andLanguage ArtsVolume 13Issue 3 April 1973 Article 44-1-1973In-Service Reading Programs: Are They Relevant?Nicholas P. CriscuoloNew Haven, Connecticut Public SchoolsFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizonsPart of the Education CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the SpecialEducation and Literacy Studies at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy andLanguage Arts by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at WMU. For moreinformation, please contact maira.bundza@wmich.edu.Recommended CitationCriscuolo, N. P. (1973). In-Service Reading Programs: Are They Relevant?. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts,13 (3). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol13/iss3/4IN-SERVICE READING PROGRAMS: ARE THEY RELEVANT? Nicholas P. Criscuolo NEW HAYEN (CONN.) PUBLIC SCHOOLS Colleges and universities are presently launching a broad-based at-tack on improving their pre-service programs in the teaching of read-ing. The need for such an attack was evidenced by the first Harvard-Carnegie Study (1) which disclosed inadequacies in pre-service reading courses. This report also revealed the failure of colleges to provide for practical approaches to the teaching of reading by prospec-tive teachers. More and more school systems are realizing the need for design-ing effective in-service reading programs. They have launched a variety of activities: guest lectures, workshops, preschool orientation meetings, demonstrations, and faculty meetings. Unfortunately, many of these activities have been revealed to be sporadic, unplanned, and unre-lated to the specific needs of the teachers involved (2). The major objective of in-service education is to improve the quali-ty of classroom instruction. Yet very few in-service programs are evaluated to determine whether any change has been effected. Some school systems have found the cost of such an evaluation to be prohibi-tive while others have not been able to resolve the humanistic and technical problems associated with the evaluation. The financial aspect not only enters into the evaluation of the in-service program, but the implementation of the program itself. Some school systems are, due to fiscal problems, unable to offer in-service programs on a released-time or paid basis. Braun (3) and Robinson and Rauch (6) cite the desirability of these two approaches to in-service reading programs. Braun states that the key to making the reading program work is a paid in-service training program, starting one year in advance of proposed implementation while Robinson and Rauch cite the matter of released-time as a needed ingredient for a successful program. Perhaps an examination of three actual in-service reading pro-grams will serve as illustrations of some of the additional ingredients needed for a relevant in-service program. Articles by Cleland and DiCarlo (4), Herber (5), and \Vitmer (7) describe in-service reading programs which appear to have been successful ones. Cleland and DiCarlo discuss an in-service program with 12 teachers rh-129 and their classes from four districts in Pennsylvania. Participating teachers were randomized into two groups--one experimental and one control. Both groups were involved in a week's pre-school in-service program on a local college campus. There were, however, on-going activities for the teachers in the experimental group. These activities consisted of bi-weekly seminars which permitted in-depth study of specific areas requested by the teach-ers and visitations at three-week intervals for one hour or more by the program consultant. Conferences were held after each visitation. The experimental teachers, by means of completed records, indi-cated general satisfaction in this type of in-service program feeling that it had been relevant and resulted in positive change in classroom performance. Herber describes a program with thirty teachers in grades 4-12 from the Spring Valley, New York, school system. Each teacher in-voived in the program was released from classroom duties, by a sub-stitute hired to take his place, for a total of seven full days. The content of this program consisted of a series of seminars on methods for teaching reading and study skills as part of the regular science and social studies programs. The entire program was held at the district reading center. After the completion of the program, a consultant was made available to the schools for follow-up work with the teachers. Completed questionnaires indicated that the program had been successful. In his article, Herber concluded that the program's success was due to the fact that it was not held after school and that more desired change is effected by means of a program of full-day seminars and follow-up dissemination of ideas. Witmer writes of a program in Hanover, Pennsylvania, which involved the production of 40 video tapes of pertinent reading topics. The tapes ranged in length from 12 to 46 minutes. A Teacher's Handbook listing important information on each tape, a summary of each tape, and pre- and post-discussion questions was prepared for the program. Cooperating school districts receiving the tapes appoint building principals or staff members to lead the pre-telecast and post-telecast discussions using suggestions offered in the Teacher's Handbook. From the analyses offered by the authors of these articles, the programs described were relevant, effected desirable changes in teacher performance, and received enthusiastic response from the teachers involved. 130-Th It is evident that there are ingredients which make up a successful in-service recipe. Robinson and Rauch (6) list ten elements needed in conducting an important aspect of in-service education-the workshop: 1. Give credit to individuals contributing to the workshop. 2. Secure released-time for teachers to attend the workshop. 3. Begin and end sessions promptly. 4. Deal with a specific problem or area. 5. Let attendance be voluntary. 6. Use attractive room and serve refreshments. 7. Relate techniques to everyday teaching by using regular school materials. 8. Follow up workshop sessions by distributing a brief summary of the proceedings. 9. Incorporate audio-visual techniques at every opportunity. 10. Provide for teacher evaluation of the sessions and incorporate their suggestions into the planning of future workshops. These ten elements, of course, can be applied to the more general issue of in-service programs in reading. From the author's experience, one element or ingredient particularly crucial is the involvement and participation of teachers in the planning and implementation of the in-service reading program. In the New Haven public school system, individual schools have formed In-Service Planning Teams, consisting of teachers, administra-tors, and parents, to design the specific content of future programs desired by the staff. A particular school, for instance, may be interested in learning more about ways to motivate the problem reader. This is communicated to the author who meets with the team to discuss the specific approach for the program. As part of the city's K-3 Focus program, four experienced teach-ers have been released full-time from their assignments, to design and to conduct in-service programs for the instructional staff. Many of the requests made by the schools have been for discussions on effec-tive reading materials and the sharing of specific reading devices and games which can be used to reinforce reading skills. Under this plan, each school is treated individually. During the course of the year, however, there are programs which are offered on a city-wide basis. Two popular programs have been the Reading Share-In and the Reading Exposition. The Reading Share-In is a program whereby classroom teachers who have been using innovative reading materials and programs assemble to discuss the outcomes and their rh-131 observations. The Reading Exposition is an event at which 35 sales representatives set up exhibits of their latest supplementary materials for teachers to examine first-hand. It is held in April, just before teachers order their materials for the following school year. In a capsule statement, it seems safe to say that the consumer will buy the in-service package if it zeroes in on a specific need he has, if he has had some input into its construction, if he has an oppor-tunity to evaluate it, and if he is part of the follow-up procedures after he has bought it. CONCLUDING REMARKS Effective in-service programs can do a great deal to improve the quality of the reading program. Some in-service reading programs have met with enthusiastic response from teachers while others have been dismal failures. It is obvious that caution and care must go into the design and implementation of in-service programs. This article has cited specific examples of successful in-service read-ing programs in order to pinpoint some of the common ingredients which were used to design them. If school systems follow some of the procedures outlined in this article, the chances for meeting the needs of teachers for viable in-service education will be increased to a substantial degree. REFERENCES 1. Austin, Mary C., and Coleman Morrison, et aI., The Torch Lighters : Tomorrow's Teachers of Reading. Cambridge: Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1961. 2. Austin, Mary C., and Coleman Morrison, The First R. New York: Macmillan, 1963. 3. Braun, Frederick G., "Get More Reading Instruction From Teachers," American School Board Journal, March, 1970, 157: 43. 4. Cleland, Donald, and Mary Rossini De Carlo, "A Reading In-Service Education Program for Teachers," Reading Teacher, No-vember, 1968, 22: 163-169. 5. Herber, Harold L., "In-Service: On Whose Time?" Journal of Reading, November, 1968, 12: 109-114. 6. Robinson, H. Alan, and Sidney R. Rauch, Guiding the Reading Program. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1965. 7. Witmer, Elizabeth S., "Inservice Reading Programs Using Re-trieval Educational Television," Reading Teacher, May 1969, 22: 705-709. 

In-Service Reading Programs: Are They Relevant?

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and 
Language Arts 
Volume 13 
Issue 3 April 1973 Article 4 
4-1-1973 
In-Service Reading Programs: Are They Relevant? 
Nicholas P. Criscuolo 
New Haven, Connecticut Public Schools 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons 
 Part of the Education Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Criscuolo, N. P. (1973). In-Service Reading Programs: Are They Relevant?. Reading Horizons: A Journal of 
Literacy and Language Arts, 13 (3). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/
vol13/iss3/4 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by 
the Special Education and Literacy Studies at 
ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion 
in Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language 
Arts by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at WMU. 
For more information, please contact wmu-
scholarworks@wmich.edu. 
IN-SERVICE READING PROGRAMS: 
ARE THEY RELEVANT? 
Nicholas P. Criscuolo 
NEW HAYEN (CONN.) PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
Colleges and universities are presently launching a broad-based at-
tack on improving their pre-service programs in the teaching of read-
ing. The need for such an attack was evidenced by the first Harvard-
Carnegie Study (1) which disclosed inadequacies in pre-service 
reading courses. This report also revealed the failure of colleges to 
provide for practical approaches to the teaching of reading by prospec-
tive teachers. 
More and more school systems are realizing the need for design-
ing effective in-service reading programs. They have launched a variety 
of activities: guest lectures, workshops, preschool orientation meetings, 
demonstrations, and faculty meetings. Unfortunately, many of these 
activities have been revealed to be sporadic, unplanned, and unre-
lated to the specific needs of the teachers involved (2). 
The major objective of in-service education is to improve the quali-
ty of classroom instruction. Yet very few in-service programs are 
evaluated to determine whether any change has been effected. Some 
school systems have found the cost of such an evaluation to be prohibi-
tive while others have not been able to resolve the humanistic and 
technical problems associated with the evaluation. 
The financial aspect not only enters into the evaluation of the 
in-service program, but the implementation of the program itself. 
Some school systems are, due to fiscal problems, unable to offer in-
service programs on a released-time or paid basis. Braun (3) and 
Robinson and Rauch (6) cite the desirability of these two approaches 
to in-service reading programs. Braun states that the key to making the 
reading program work is a paid in-service training program, starting 
one year in advance of proposed implementation while Robinson and 
Rauch cite the matter of released-time as a needed ingredient for a 
successful program. 
Perhaps an examination of three actual in-service reading pro-
grams will serve as illustrations of some of the additional ingredients 
needed for a relevant in-service program. Articles by Cleland and 
DiCarlo (4), Herber (5), and \Vitmer (7) describe in-service reading 
programs which appear to have been successful ones. 
Cleland and DiCarlo discuss an in-service program with 12 teachers 
rh-129 
and their classes from four districts in Pennsylvania. Participating 
teachers were randomized into two groups--one experimental and one 
control. Both groups were involved in a week's pre-school in-service 
program on a local college campus. 
There were, however, on-going activities for the teachers in the 
experimental group. These activities consisted of bi-weekly seminars 
which permitted in-depth study of specific areas requested by the teach-
ers and visitations at three-week intervals for one hour or more by the 
program consultant. Conferences were held after each visitation. 
The experimental teachers, by means of completed records, indi-
cated general satisfaction in this type of in-service program feeling that 
it had been relevant and resulted in positive change in classroom 
performance. 
Herber describes a program with thirty teachers in grades 4-12 
from the Spring Valley, New York, school system. Each teacher in-
voived in the program was released from classroom duties, by a sub-
stitute hired to take his place, for a total of seven full days. 
The content of this program consisted of a series of seminars on 
methods for teaching reading and study skills as part of the regular 
science and social studies programs. The entire program was held at 
the district reading center. After the completion of the program, a 
consultant was made available to the schools for follow-up work with 
the teachers. 
Completed questionnaires indicated that the program had been 
successful. In his article, Herber concluded that the program's success 
was due to the fact that it was not held after school and that more 
desired change is effected by means of a program of full-day seminars 
and follow-up dissemination of ideas. 
Witmer writes of a program in Hanover, Pennsylvania, which 
involved the production of 40 video tapes of pertinent reading topics. 
The tapes ranged in length from 12 to 46 minutes. 
A Teacher's Handbook listing important information on each 
tape, a summary of each tape, and pre- and post-discussion questions 
was prepared for the program. Cooperating school districts receiving 
the tapes appoint building principals or staff members to lead the pre-
telecast and post-telecast discussions using suggestions offered in the 
Teacher's Handbook. 
From the analyses offered by the authors of these articles, the 
programs described were relevant, effected desirable changes in teacher 
performance, and received enthusiastic response from the teachers 
involved. 
130-Th 
It is evident that there are ingredients which make up a successful 
in-service recipe. Robinson and Rauch (6) list ten elements needed 
in conducting an important aspect of in-service education-the 
workshop: 
1. Give credit to individuals contributing to the workshop. 
2. Secure released-time for teachers to attend the workshop. 
3. Begin and end sessions promptly. 
4. Deal with a specific problem or area. 
5. Let attendance be voluntary. 
6. Use attractive room and serve refreshments. 
7. Relate techniques to everyday teaching by using regular school 
materials. 
8. Follow up workshop sessions by distributing a brief summary of 
the proceedings. 
9. Incorporate audio-visual techniques at every opportunity. 
10. Provide for teacher evaluation of the sessions and incorporate their 
suggestions into the planning of future workshops. 
These ten elements, of course, can be applied to the more general 
issue of in-service programs in reading. From the author's experience, 
one element or ingredient particularly crucial is the involvement 
and participation of teachers in the planning and implementation of 
the in-service reading program. 
In the New Haven public school system, individual schools have 
formed In-Service Planning Teams, consisting of teachers, administra-
tors, and parents, to design the specific content of future programs 
desired by the staff. A particular school, for instance, may be interested 
in learning more about ways to motivate the problem reader. This is 
communicated to the author who meets with the team to discuss the 
specific approach for the program. 
As part of the city's K-3 Focus program, four experienced teach-
ers have been released full-time from their assignments, to design and 
to conduct in-service programs for the instructional staff. Many of 
the requests made by the schools have been for discussions on effec-
tive reading materials and the sharing of specific reading devices and 
games which can be used to reinforce reading skills. 
Under this plan, each school is treated individually. During the 
course of the year, however, there are programs which are offered on 
a city-wide basis. Two popular programs have been the Reading Share-
In and the Reading Exposition. The Reading Share-In is a program 
whereby classroom teachers who have been using innovative reading 
materials and programs assemble to discuss the outcomes and their 
rh-131 
observations. The Reading Exposition is an event at which 35 sales 
representatives set up exhibits of their latest supplementary materials 
for teachers to examine first-hand. It is held in April, just before 
teachers order their materials for the following school year. 
In a capsule statement, it seems safe to say that the consumer will 
buy the in-service package if it zeroes in on a specific need he has, 
if he has had some input into its construction, if he has an oppor-
tunity to evaluate it, and if he is part of the follow-up procedures after 
he has bought it. 
CONCLUDING REMARKS 
Effective in-service programs can do a great deal to improve the 
quality of the reading program. Some in-service reading programs 
have met with enthusiastic response from teachers while others have 
been dismal failures. It is obvious that caution and care must go into 
the design and implementation of in-service programs. 
This article has cited specific examples of successful in-service read-
ing programs in order to pinpoint some of the common ingredients 
which were used to design them. If school systems follow some of the 
procedures outlined in this article, the chances for meeting the needs 
of teachers for viable in-service education will be increased to a 
substantial degree. 
REFERENCES 
1. Austin, Mary C., and Coleman Morrison, et aI., The Torch 
Lighters : Tomorrow's Teachers of Reading. Cambridge: Harvard 
Graduate School of Education, 1961. 
2. Austin, Mary C., and Coleman Morrison, The First R. New York: 
Macmillan, 1963. 
3. Braun, Frederick G., "Get More Reading Instruction From 
Teachers," American School Board Journal, March, 1970, 157: 43. 
4. Cleland, Donald, and Mary Rossini De Carlo, "A Reading In-
Service Education Program for Teachers," Reading Teacher, No-
vember, 1968, 22: 163-169. 
5. Herber, Harold L., "In-Service: On Whose Time?" Journal of 
Reading, November, 1968, 12: 109-114. 
6. Robinson, H. Alan, and Sidney R. Rauch, Guiding the Reading 
Program. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1965. 
7. Witmer, Elizabeth S., "Inservice Reading Programs Using Re-
trieval Educational Television," Reading Teacher, May 1969, 
22: 705-709. 


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