Nothing breaks my heart more than meeting high school students who are embarrassed because they can’t read. What’s even sadder…many of these clearly bright students were placed in special education programs, because schools didn’t have the tools to provide the intensive reading intervention required to remediate these students’ reading skills. These students end up suffering both academically and emotionally.
One of the main problems is that the fundamental mechanics of reading are usually taught in the primary grades, which range from kindergarten through third grade. After third grade, everyone assumes that students already know how to read. Translated, if you have a student in an elementary grade who consistently receives “C’s” in reading, he or she is likely to be deficient in one or more of the essential components of reading, and will likely struggle to keep up in all subjects. Study after study shows that these students have a much higher dropout rate.
Since most teachers have never been trained to diagnose reading difficulties, many students receive the exact same instruction. I have even heard that some teachers (and parents) blame students for their reading difficulties. Imagine how these students feel when they are doing their best, and their best is never good enough.
The good news is that reading research now validates that differentiated instruction and intensive reading instruction can help improve students’ reading ability. Even students with dyslexia and other severe reading difficulties can strengthen their reading skills when sustained, systematic, and explicit reading intervention is provided by a highly qualified interventionist.
If you are concerned about your child’s reading ability, here are some tips to help you get help from the school:
1. Be persistent in your search for help for your struggling reader.
2. Learn to interpret standardized test results, they may not be as robust as you think.
3. Stay fully informed about the reading milestones that the school district has set for each grade level.
4. Seek help sooner rather than later, because reading skills are cumulative. This means that a weak skill can have a negative impact on future reading proficiency.
5. If you do not receive satisfactory results from the teacher, ask to speak with the reading specialist or the main campus.
6. Trust your instincts when you feel like your child needs more help with reading.
Once you persuade the school to start providing reading intervention, be sure to ask how long your child will receive the intervention, how long it will be provided, and exactly who will be providing the services. It is also important that the interventionist do regular progress monitoring to measure your child’s reading progress. Don’t forget to ask for copies of progress tracking, as they are valuable data in case your child is later diagnosed with a more serious reading problem.