Morton Botel's idea was simple, yet logical. It wasn't enough to teach a student to read, write or speak properly. The three skills had to be combined. Botel concluded that if students read about something, then wrote about it, then talked about it, they would retain and apply what they learned better.

Botel, a professor at Penn's Graduate School of Education (GSE) , was sure of his holistic theory, but he needed a suitable approach for implementing it. He knew of many attempts to improve student learning that had failed after promising starts, and he didn't want his approach to suffer the same fate.

"What can we do to make it live?" Botel asked rhetorically. "Lots of people construct frameworks [for curricula], then they die in college classrooms. I was determined to be more active, making it happen."

Botel achieved his objective in 1982 when he founded the Penn Literacy Network (PLN) . Originally its director, Botel is now senior advisor. His daughter, Bonnie Botel-Sheppard, replaced him as director.

Botel's proud that the core of the PLN--energizing teachers and improving schools--applies to strategic goals four and five in President Judith Rodin's "Agenda for Excellence." Those goals encourage Penn to "support strategic investment in programs of continuing education in the arts and sciences and in the professions when they are consistent with Penn's academic mission and capacities and needs of society" and to "strengthen the links between [Penn's] academic programs and the public service performed by its faculty, students, administrators and staff."

Thanks to PLN, more than 7,000 teachers have been trained in Botel's holistic approach. Moreover, these teachers have been given the opportunity to shape the program.

"The teachers are not just following my prescriptions," Botel said. "They're reading, writing and discussing what it should look like in their school."

PLN representatives travel to schools and identify areas for improvement--how reading, writing and talking across the curriculum can be applied. It's then up to the teachers to decide which approach to take.

"The method provides a great deal of creativity for teachers--how they want to have students read or write or talk about a topic," Botel explained. "They typically combine subjects, such as literature, social studies and science, as well as phonics and spelling. They have a lot of latitude for inventing and reinventing it."

Teachers meet regularly to share ideas. They also keep journal entries about their readings, lessons, student responses and personal reflections.

"No other staff development program we have witnessed has the teachers work through their thinking on a regular basis by writing in journals, constantly revising and refining their thought processes, coming to understandings that would not have been possible without the rigor of forcing thought onto paper," said George P. Faunce, director of special projects for the West Deptford Township Schools in West Deptford, N. J., which has been involved with PLN since 1985.

Botel and colleagues at GSE train instructors through conferences, newsletters and summer workshops. These instructors are typically outstanding teachers and supervisors in the schools that initiated the local PLN seminars.

After teachers from individual schools are trained in the holistic approach, they share their experience with fellow teachers. The results have been impressive.

"Within three years, the entire staff converted, voluntarily, from a basic approach to teaching reading to a holistic approach," said Gaeton Zorzi, principal of the William Cramp Elementary School in Philadelphia. "I believe our involvement in PLN was the single most-important programmatic factor in turning our school around. I participated personally in three years of the seminars and found them very rewarding. PLN is a powerful vehicle for transformational change in schools."

Prior to adopting the PLN program, William Cramp ranked 170 out of 175 schools in standardized tests on reading and math. The school rose to 70th place within three years, then 34th place within five years. The percentage of students in grades two through four who are reading on or above their grade levels rose from 24 percent in 1988 to 48 percent in 1993.

The Delcroft School and Harris School in the Southeast Delco School District in Delaware County are hoping for similar successes. The schools began using the approach three years ago. Later this spring, PLN will measure students' achievements based on a new holistic assessment system developed by Botel.

"The superintendent of schools invited me to come in and do an assessment approach and demonstrate the potential of our program," Botel said. "I agreed to do if I could do it on a bigger scale, totally connect it to teaching, learning and assessment. Many of the district's teachers took the training. The actual data [on student achievement] is very promising."

Return to Compass Features for April 30, 1996