EL 119 | REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION 1
LESSON
1
REMEDIAL CLASSROOM: ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
THE REMEDIAL PROGRAM
A remedial program primarily helps students
address language skills deficits by helping them
acquire self-confidence to face their own
weakness and overcome these through the
acquisition of self-help strategies. A thorough
assessment must be conducted before organizing
a remedial program, while consistent monitoring is
imperative in managing the program.
Below are general instructional guidelines that
should be considered (Strickland, 1998 cited in
Gunning, 2003 and in Vacca, Vacca, and Gove,
1991):
1. Instruction is systematic when it is planned, deliberate in application, and proceeds in an
orderly manner. This does not mean a rigid progression of one-size-fits-all teaching.
2. Intensive instruction on any particular skill or strategy should be based on need. Thus,
intensity will vary both with individuals and groups.
3. There is no substitute for ongoing documentation and monitoring of learning to determine
the order in which skills should be addressed and the level of intensity required to help a
child or group of children succeed in a particular area.
4. To track specific goals and objectives within an integrated language-arts framework,
teachers must know the instructional objectives their curriculum requires at the grade or
year level they teach.
BACKGROUND OF REMEDIAL EDUCATION
The need for remedial education can be traced back over 150 years. Remedial studies were
offered at Yale University in 1828 for students with “defective preparation”. The first documented
remedial program began in 1849 at the University of Wisconsin with course offerings in reading,
writing, and mathematics. The remedial department was abolished in 1880, at least in part,
because of the university’s embarrassment caused by their students’ need for such remediation.
Despite perceived embarrassment, remedial courses emerged over the next 20 years at such
prestigious institutions as Cornell, Harvard, Wellesley, and the University of California at Berkeley.
By the turn of the century, 84% of all colleges and universities had some form of remedial course
work. By 1928, William Book at the University of Indiana “began to laud rather than condemn the
practice of assisting underprepared students”. He began a “How to Study” course in addition to
developmental reading courses in response to the dilemma that one half of all University of Indiana
students had not met course requirements.
ORGANIZING A REMEDIAL PROGRAM
In organizing a remedial program, one must consider the following factors: (1) curriculum, (2)
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH
College of Teacher Education
Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
EL 119 | REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION 2
instruction, and (3) assessment.
1. Curriculum. Curriculum is taught and learned. It is the
structured set of learning outcomes for a prescribed
course of study. It is a standards-based sequence of
planned experiences where students practice and
achieve proficiency in content and applied learning
skills. Curriculum is the central guide for all educators
as to what is essential for teaching and learning, so
that every student has access to rigorous academic
experiences.
Goals within a curriculum are the standards-based
benchmarks or expectations for teaching and
learning. Most often, goals are made explicit in the
form of a scope and sequence of skills to be
addressed. Goals must include the breadth and depth
to which a student is expected to learn.
(a) Base goals and standards for language learning on theory and research.
Teachers should be using research-based strategies in teaching and put all
theories in practice.
(b) Relate teacher beliefs and knowledge about instruction to research. All
beliefs of the teacher (approaches, methodologies and strategies) should always
have a theoretical explanation.
(c) Organize the curriculum framework so that it is usable. The curriculum
should be systematic. Teacher should consider the needs of the students in
crafting the syllabus. They should also consider theoretical paradigms and
frameworks to support the organization.
(d) Select materials that facilitate accomplishment of school goals. Prepare
materials that will support the syllabus. Materials and activities should be aligned
to the goals of the school. Materials and activities should be based on the
curriculum guide of a certain level or grade.
2. Instruction. It is “how we teach”. An instructional repertoire is the array of teaching and
learning strategies we use to design experiences that promote student learning of the
curriculum.
(a) The program must identify instructional strategies and activities for
learners. Use appropriate learning methods and strategies based on the needs
of the students. One should consider the following:
• learning styles
• learning modalities
• differentiated instruction
• multiple intelligences
(b) Instruction must be based upon what we know about the effective teaching
of language skills. It should be supported by the theories and principles of
teaching and learning. Assessment should be holistic. One should use the
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to double check if TLP is complete.
(c) Those involved in designing or selecting instructional activities need to
consider the variables that contribute to success in language learning,
given its interactive and constructive nature. Consider other factors of
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH
College of Teacher Education
Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
EL 119 | REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION 3
learning like learning styles, individual differences, context, environment,
cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills, etc. Prepare activities that are based
on the four macro skills and viewing skill.
(d) Time must be provided in the classroom for practice. Give them time to think,
practice and to give them time for your guidance for the things they find difficult.
(e) Composing should be an integral part of the program. Among the five macro-
skills, writing is the last line of display of the skills. Every activity should have a
writing task before moving on to the next level. The macro-skills are integral:
before writing, all skills should have been utilized.
(f) Students should be given opportunities to become independent and to self-
monitor their progress. Learning procedure should allow students to have
guided and independent practice for formative and summative assessment.
Teach them of metacognitive skills to assess and monitor themselves. Self-
motivation and self-assessment is essential to be developed.
(g) The climate in a school must be conducive to the development of students.
The school must be helpful for students. It must be warm and accommodating.
The environment should also act as a scaffold. Comfort and security must be felt.
Motivating and peaceful environment is helpful for the students.
(h) The school must develop an organizational structure that meets individual
needs of students. There should be assigned personnel that will help the
students when they are in need or confused. The teacher and all the stakeholders
in the program should be accommodating and warm when addressing the
students’ need.
(i) The program must provide for coordination among all language programs
offered in the school. Maximize the use of school organizations that will make
the program rich with connections so that students will not feel isolated. Establish
the sense of positive remediation by making them feel belongingness in the
school. Providing avenues for learning outside the classroom is more authentic.
Authentic learning is a good remedial approach.
3. Assessment. Assessment is “how we and the students know what students have
learned”. In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of methods or tools
that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness,
learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of students.
(1) Use assessment (formative and summative assessments) to guide
instruction.
▪ Formative assessment is generally carried out throughout a course or
project. Formative assessment, also referred to as “educative
assessment,” is used to aid learning. In an educational setting, formative
assessment might be a teacher (or peer) or the learner, providing
feedback on a student’s work, and would not necessarily be used for
grading purposes.
▪ Summative assessment is generally carried out at the end of a course
or project. In an educational setting, summative assessments are typically
used to assign students a course grade.
▪ Educational researcher Robert Stake explains the difference between
formative and summative assessment with the following analogy: When
the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative. When the guests taste the
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH
College of Teacher Education
Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
EL 119 | REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION 4
soup, that’s summative.
(2) Develop scoring guides and rubrics.
• Assess holistically (if you’re after the overall impact of the output) or
analytically (if you want to focus on a certain criteria)
• Validity and fairness of assessment.
(3) Seek alignment among various layers of assessment.
• Assessment for learning (diagnostic)
• Assessment as learning (formative)
• Assessment of learning (summative)
MANAGING A REMEDIAL PROGRAM
School-based remedial sessions tend to involve 3 to 10 learners, and typically last between 30 to
50 minutes, depending on whether they are in the elementary or secondary level. A plan to
maximize the utilization of that time should be a high priority. To ensure that the program is
effective, one must consider the six components of an ideal remedial program (Manzo & Manzo,
1993). These principles may also be applicable in remediation for other skills aside from reading.
1. The orientation component. These are
preparatory activities, preparation for a job
or an activity. The orientation component
provides continuity and focus to the
remedial session. It may be an engaging
question or statement related to local or
national news, or even school life. It must
focus on structured routines, materials,
equipment, venue, people involved, and the
objective of the program.
2. Direct Instruction Component. Direct
instruction refers to teacher-directed
teaching method. The teachers give
explicit, guided instructions to the students:
(1) instructional approaches that are
structured, sequenced, and led by teachers,
and/or (2) the present
-ation of academic content to students by teachers, such as in a lecture or demonstration. In
other words, teachers are “directing” the instructional process or instruction is being “directed”
at students. This is the instructional heart of the remedial session. It should never be traded
away, even for one period, without some compelling reason.
3. Reinforcement and Extension Component. Reinforcement is used to increase appropriate
behaviors. It is the process of encouraging or establishing a belief or pattern of behavior,
especially by encouragement or reward. This period of time ideally should build on the direct
instructional period and be spent in empowered reading, writing, and discussion of what was
read. Writing activities may vary from simply listing key words to summarizing and reacting.
4. Schema-Enhancement Component. Schema is the basic building block of intelligent
behavior, a way of organizing knowledge. We want the children’s schemata to be enhanced
through remedial instruction. This unit of time should be spent in building a knowledge-based
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH
College of Teacher Education
Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
EL 119 | REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION 5
for further reading and independent thinking. It is an ideal time to teach study skills such as
outlining, note taking, and memory training. Ideally, it should flow or precede Component 3.
5. Personal-Emotional Growth Development. There is little learning or consequence that can
occur without the learner involvement and anticipation of personal progress.
6. Cognitive Development Component. This component should contain an attempt to enhance
basic thinking operation such as: inference, abstract verbal reasoning, analogical reasoning,
constructive-critical/ creative reading, convergent and divergent analysis, problem-solving,
and metacognition.
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH
College of Teacher Education
Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology
