Reading &#38; Other Learning Disabilities &#187; Reading Disabilities

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To Help Children: The Special Needs Talk Radio Network

The Special Needs Talk Radio network is dedicated to helping parents and teachers help children with special needs. For a description and schedule of its six shows, go to http://specialneedstalkradio.com.

Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and I host Maximizing Your Child’s Potential (Mondays, 9 PM – 9:30 PM EST, http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential).

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Monday’s Radio Show

Co-Teaching: Promises and Pitfalls

When: Monday, 1/30/2012, 9 – 9:30 PM EST

Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential
Guest: Drs. Gloria Lodato Wilson and Joan Blednick

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

PsychologyToday.com wrote that Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds was one of the three “best books about education published in 2010. Recommend [it] to your friends.” On our blog, an English teacher and author wrote that Beating the Odds “is one of the best books, if not the best book on education published this year.” A Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism called it “a great book.” A parent wrote, “Your Reading Disabilities book is by far the best resource I have found regarding the IEP and IDEA and providing understandable and concrete suggestions and implementation strategies.” Another wrote, your book is “fascinating and effective.” On Amazon, a professor of special education called it “a fantastic resource… well-written, practical… an essential guide.”

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

We thank these and many other reviewers for their kind words. And we hope that our book and blog helps lots of children, parents, teachers, IEP Team members, and schools. It’s why we keep plugging away. – HM & GB

Give Struggling Readers a Vacation from Reading?

Howard — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:09:06 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Sometimes, we need a vacation. We need relief from painful stressors. We need a breather. To recuperate our energy and optimism, we need to change locations, activities, and mindsets.

If your child struggles with reading, should you and his school give him a vacation from reading? The answer is found in answers to questions like those below.

The Questions

Does reading usually frustrate your child?
Does reading emotionally drain or anger him?
Is his distaste for reading and school surging?
Is his reading progress minimal or plateauing? Is he regressing?
Does he resist reading? Does he do whatever he can to escape it?
Is he much happier on school vacations than on school days?

If he needs a vacation, the length and nature of the vacation is found in the particulars of your child’s reading program, his typical day at home and in school, and his personality and likes and dislikes.

Recommendations

Consider working with your child’s school to give him a two or three week vacation from more than incidental reading. Replace reading with lots of activities he’ll enjoy and want to discuss, like playing volleyball, singing in a choir, and visiting a wildlife refuge.

During his vacation, work with the school to analyze his reading program. Seek reasons for your answers to the “vacation” questions. Learn why he’s frustrated, or plateauing, or resistant to reading. Are his reading materials too difficult, is he embarrassed by membership in “the low” reading group,” does he think that even titanic efforts will not reverse his “reading failure?”

Outcome

If the vacation is handled correctly—if it’s long enough to give him a breather, if it helps him enjoy himself—he might return to reading more refreshed, more energetic, more optimistic. But this won’t last unless the school adjusts his reading program to effectively and efficiently meet his social, emotional, and academic needs.

For a struggling reader, the need for a vacation from reading often signals that his program is failing his needs. It’s not working for him; it’s working against him. So, consider his vacation an opportunity to give him a breather, to modify his program so he’ll likely succeed and feel successful, and to energize his optimism (“I will succeed”). The questions in chapters 4 and 5 of Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds (www.amazon.com) can help. Chapter 6 offers guidance for helping at home.

Howard Margolis © Reading2008 & Beyond

Requesting a Learning Evaluation: Critical Requests

Howard — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:08:28 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

In our book, Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds, we emphasize the importance of getting the proper evaluations and maximizing their effectiveness by requesting specific information. Below is an example of a request for a neuropsychological evaluation. The basic concepts can be adapted to virtually any educational evaluation. For reading evaluations, chapters 4 and 5 of Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds provide dozens of requests in the form of critical questions.

The Letter

As Wilson’s school records indicate, over the past decade his social, emotional, and academic progress has been poor. For example, his WISC IQ scores show he’s a highly intelligent 7^th grader, but his performances on recent State of NY reading and writing tests were abysmal. He failed. His reading and writing competencies were those of a second grader. This lack of progress is corroborated by teacher observations, comments, report cards, and evaluations by the school’s reading and writing specialists.

As we had discussed at our last meeting (12/5/2011), a comprehensive and highly personalized neuropsychological evaluation is very important for improving Wilson’s social, emotional, and academic success. It needs to be administered and interpreted by a neuropsychologist who understands (a) schools, curriculum, and educational methodology; (b) how to evaluate the factors that impede and boost the social, emotional, and academic success of children with Wilson’s history; (c) how schools can effectively and efficiently remediate the neuropsychological factors that impede learning.

With respect to Wilson’s social, emotional, and academic success , we request that the neuropsychologist’s report tell us (a) what Wilson can do well; (b) what he has difficulty doing; (c) what is blocking his progress; (d) what he needs to learn; (e) what research-based interventions can eliminate the blocks to progress; (f) what research-based instructional practices will likely produce the solid success Wilson needs to make far more than a year’s progress in a year’s time; (g) the amount of daily or weekly time the school needs to provide each intervention or related service, so Wilson can make far more than a year’s progress in a year’s time; (h) the training teachers and staff need to help Wilson achieve far more than a year’s progress in a year’s time.

We recognize that Wilson’s IEP Team is responsible for writing his IEP’s goals and objectives and monitoring plan. To facilitate this progress and strengthen these IEP components, we request that the neuropsychological report suggest (a) measurable goals and objectives in all areas of need the evaluation identifies; (b) a monitoring plan that each week provides us with valid data on Wilson’s progress toward each suggested goal and objective; and (c) how to streamline and coordinate the different components of his program. We also request that the report suggest the training we need to support Wilson at home without assuming a primary teaching role.

As Wilson is half way through the academic year and his progress remains poor, we request to review the neuropsychological evaluation report by 2/13/2012 and have a meeting to discuss its implications and Wilson’s IEP by 2/20/12. This will increase Wilson’s chances of realizing success in the last third of the academic year. We request to meet with the neuropsychologist before the evaluation.

If you have any disagreement with our requests, please contact me within the next two days. We fear time is running out, as each day Wilson is more discouraged about his lack of progress.

Sincerely,

Howard Margolis

A Mythical Parent

The Lesson

If you need information, ask for it.

Howard Margolis © Reading2008 & Beyond

Help Your Struggling Reader Develop a Strong Vocabulary

Howard — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:18:58 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

If struggling readers do not have strong knowledge of the vocabulary they hear in class and see when reading, they cannot become good readers. Below are three easy principles for helping struggling readers develop strong listening and reading vocabularies. Of course, you need to adapt these principles to the developmental level of your child or student. One more “of course”: Make the activities fun and interesting.

Ask Struggling Readers to Go Beyond Dictionary Definitions of Words: If the word’s important, help your child or student discuss its meaning, its parts (e.g., prefix), and its use. If possible, use lots of pictures, diagrams, and skits. If the word is grimace, start grimacing; ask your child or student to start.

“Knowing a word is much more than simply matching it with a definition. Truly knowing a word means that the word is embedded in a rich concept base and that the reader can use and understand it in multiple contexts. We learn most words by listening and by reading, but vocabulary instruction can also play an important role in expanding a student’s meaning vocabulary…. Students should learn how to determine word meaning from context, but this involves their understanding of context’s limitations. Word meaning can also be enhanced through discussion of morphemes, such as endings, prefixes, and roots. It is important that students be engaged in activities that contribute to active engagement, such as personalizing word learning … and comparing words.” [Caldwell, J. S., & Leslie, L. (2005). Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment: So what do I do now? Boston: Allyn & Bacon, p. 116].

Give Struggling Readers Repeated Exposure to Important Words: Provide your child or student with repeated exposure to important words, words you think he needs to learn, remember, and use. Make sure he sees the words in a variety of reading materials and often hears them at home or in class. When he writes, encourage him to use these words.

“Repeated exposure to vocabulary in many contexts aids word learning. Students learn new words better when they encounter them often and in various contexts. The more children see, hear, and work with specific words, the better they seem to learn them. When teachers provide extended instruction that promotes active engagement, they give students repeated exposure to new words. When the students read those same words in their texts, they increase their exposure to the new words.” [Bonnie B. Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read. Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIER), p. 36]

Help Struggling Readers Relate Their New Word to What They Already Know: Ask your child or student how his new word resembles or differs from words he knows. Ask him to associate his new word with what he thinks it relates to, such as “asteroid” reminds him of space. Ask him to use his new word to explain what he already knows.

“Vocabulary development in any subject can proceed by asking students to reveal any vocabulary framework that they already have. Those known words may help them associate meaning with new vocabulary. In that way, definitions and the particular meaning within a given sentence have a context and a set of relations to build on…. [Have] students … list synonyms and/or definitional phrases that they already associate with the topic….. Suppose, for example, an article on protecting the environment includes the word ‘menace.’ The teacher lists words that students associate with threats to the environment. Associated terms and synonyms are then listed in [a] T-bar chart.” [Smith, Carl B (Undated). ERIC]

Howard Margolis © Reading2008 & Beyond

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Monday’s Radio Show

How Response-To-Intervention Can Help Maximize Your Child’s Potential

When: Monday, 12/12/2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST
Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential
Guest: Dr. Annmarie Urso, State University of New York at Geneseo

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

Helping Children with Learning Disabilities

Howard — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:42:18 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Monday’s Radio Show: Using Social-Emotional Learning to Maximize Your Child’s Potential

When: Monday, 12/5/2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST
Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential
Guest: Dr. David Lee Carlson, Arizona State University

Learn More

To learn more about how parents can help their children with reading disabilities, read a profile of Dr. Gary G. Brannigan, co-author of Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds, on pages 6 and 7 of the SUNY Plattsburgh magazine. Here’s the link: http://www.plattsburgh.edu/files/282/files/plattsburgh-magazine-spring-2011.pdf

Motivation

After years of studying the motivation research and helping children overcome motivation problems, I’ve concluded that:

Understanding what makes children tick in good ways, and then giving them lots of opportunities to tick, is critical to education.
To lead, it’s often important for parents and teachers to listen and follow. Children often tell you what they need.

These simple-sounding conclusions are not the whole story of motivation, but often they’re the keys to success.

Why We Wrote Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

Consequences of Reading Difficulties

“The need to teach students with RD [reading difficulties] to read is urgent, as the consequences of low reading proficiency are serious. Students who do not learn to read adequately are more likely to have pervasive academic difficulties and are at high risk for school dropout. Poor reading has also been related to a higher incidence of delinquency and suicide. Adding to the urgency of this situation is the fact that, with typical instruction, the vast majority of students who do not learn to read adequately in the early elementary grades remain impaired in reading as long as they are in school. In addition, early difficulties with basic reading skills typically result in limited time engaged in text reading; because of this lack of exposure to text, a decoding problem may eventually become a generalized reading deficit characterized by low fluency, poor vocabulary, and limited world knowledge, all contributing to impaired reading comprehension.” [Denton, C A., & A Otaiba, S. (2011 March). Teaching word identification to students with reading difficulties and disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 43(7), 1-16, p. 1, references omitted.]

Low Rate of Reading Progress in Special Education

“Unfortunately, traditional approaches to special education services often fail to close the gap between students with RD [reading difficulties] and average readers. At best, special education programs tend to stabilize the reading development of students with disabilities so that they do not fall farther behind. For example, in a study of special education reading instruction for students in Grades 3-6, [researchers] found that students’ standard scores in reading rose by an average of only 0.04 standard deviations per year. If a student performing at the 5th percentile progressed at this rate, he or she would perform at only the 9th percentile 8 years later.” [Denton, C A., & A Otaiba, S. (2011 March). Teaching word identification to students with reading difficulties and disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 43(7), 1-16, p 2, references omitted.]

Howard Margolis © Reading2008 & Beyond

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

We thank these and many other reviewers for their kind words. And we hope that our book and blog helps lots of children, parents

He Needs More Tutoring Than I Can Afford: Solutions

Howard — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:11:09 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Last week I visited a great school for children with reading disabilities: the Benchmark School in Media Pennsylvania. Benchmark’s founder, Dr. Irene Gaskins, and the Head of School, Dr. Robb Gaskins, asked me a question that I’ve been asked by dozens of parents of children with reading disabilities, one that I’ve given much thought to, especially in these stressful economic times when school budgets and family incomes are under continual attack. The question is simple, but the answer not:

If my child has severe reading problems and we can afford tutoring only once a week, will once help him?

Without knowing the emotional make-up of the specific child, his history, and the severity and nature of his difficulties, for him I cannot answer the question. However, in a general sense I can. The more quality tutoring a child gets each week, the more likely he is to progress. The two critical words are more and quality.

More. Most activities have a diminishing point of return. Some children will enjoy five hours of football practice a week, will tolerate eight, and resist twelve. Similarly, some will like and benefit from three hours of quality tutoring a week, tolerate four, and actively resist eight. For some, these hours are unrealistic. It depends upon the specific child—his passion to improve his reading, his ability to concentrate for sustained periods, any regrets he may feel about the good things he’s missing, such as playing basketball with friends.

Quality. If tutoring is tedious worksheet after tedious worksheet after tedious worksheet, robotic drill after robotic drill after robotic drill, one hour a week may backfire. But if the child thinks that tutoring is fun, that he’s being taught important things, that he’s making important progress, that his tutor is a good person whom he likes and respects, four hours of tutoring a week may not be tolerable—instead, it may be fun, it may be a something he looks forward to, it may be something he values greatly, it may be satisfying, and thus four hours may prove highly effective, especially if it motivates him to read a lot more by himself.

Money. So what should parents do when they identify a high-quality tutor they can afford for only an hour or so a week, but believe their child needs much more tutoring?

Suggestions. Our first suggestion is to ask the tutor to reduce her rates. Sometimes, quality tutors will do this. However, they too need to earn a living and may not be able to discount their rates dramatically. Thus, our second suggestion.

Ask a counselor at a local college to recommend several competent, trustworthy college students who are interested in tutoring your child for a reasonable hourly rate, one that’s a fraction of the tutor’s rate. With the tutor, interview the college students to identify a promising one. Then have the tutor instruct the student in what and how to teach your child and how to monitor progress. A central part of the tutor’s instruction should be demonstrating a few simple methods to use with the child. Ask the tutor not to overwhelm the student with too many methods. Teaching the student a little bit more every few weeks is better than too much at once.

Once the tutor has trained the student in how to work with your child, the student’s job becomes developing a positive relationship with him, following the tutor’s instructional plan, and monitoring progress. Every three to four weeks, the tutor should observe the instruction, analyze the monitoring information, and meet with you and the student to develop instructional plans for the next few weeks. If schedules prevent real-time observation or if real-time observation would upset tutoring, consider videoing occasional sessions for the tutor’s review.

If you choose the right tutor and the right college student, a student who can follow and positively add to the tutor’s directives, and whom your child likes and respects, your child may benefit considerably. Is this a guarantee? No. But if your child needs several hours of quality tutoring a week and doesn’t get it, his reading may deteriorate further, causing severe academic and emotional difficulties. This problem—costs versus your child’s needs—is frightening and emotionally-draining. Using a tutor as to train and supervise a trustworthy, intelligent college student may not be as good as having a quality tutor directly provide lots of tutoring, but it may solve the problem.

Of course, quality tutoring must be focused, must build your child’s confidence, and must strengthen his motivation to do lots of reading on his own. Chapters 4, 5, and 9 of Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds can help with all three. Chapter 5, Using Reading Evaluations, may be especially helpful as quality tutoring begins with a high quality reading evaluation.

Other Suggestions. If you have other suggestions for tutoring, especially suggestions that have worked for you, please share them with our readers. Let’s help lots of children by giving parents lots of worthwhile ideas.

Howard Margolis © Reading2008 & Beyond

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To Help Children: The Special Needs Talk Radio Network

The Special Needs Talk Radio network (http://specialneedstalkradio.com/) is on the air. Each of its six shows is dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth with special needs and their families.

Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and I host Maximizing Your Child’s Potential (Mondays, 9 PM – 9:30 PM EST, http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential).

Monday’s Show (11/21/2011): Make Reading Evaluations Work

When: Monday, November 21, 2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST
Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential
Guest: Howard Margolis, Ed.D., Editor, Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

Free Podcast: Writing Can Help Children Achieve Potential

Howard — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:57:25 +0000

How Writing Instruction Can Help Children Achieve Their Potential

As many parents, teachers, and children know, learning to write is hard work, work that’s easier said than done. But it can also be fun, liberating, and enormously satisfying. It can unlock potential. This past Monday, a motivating writing teacher, Jaclyn Pryzbylkowski (Voorhees NJ Middle School), discussed How Writing Instruction Can Help Children Achieve Their Potential.

Download from: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential

As one listener said, “I heard the show, that teacher should be teaching the special ed class for God’s sake; she was a joy to hear.”

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

Charter School Miracles? An Update

Howard — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:17:49 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Perhaps my last post was wrong. Perhaps I should trust charter schools. Perhaps they do perform miracles. Clearly, charters run by one of the nation’s largest charter companies performed miracles in St Louis, MO. Here are descriptions of their miracles from the October 30^th St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“When students first entered Imagine Academy [charter school] … four years ago, their school was already entangled in a complex series of real estate deals — ones that would divert dollars from their education.”
“By … [the students] first summer break, their … building … had been sold three times, the final price nearly 10 times higher than the first. In the process, the company running the school — along with a small group of other players — cashed in.”
“The performance on state standardized exams [of Imagine’s six St Louis schools] is worse than any school district in Missouri.”
“Some [charter] classrooms … lacked … appropriate books, pencils, paper and other supplies…. [including] toilet paper, soap, paper towels.”
“Nevertheless, [with public money] those schools are generating millions of dollars for Imagine and a Kansas City-based real estate investment company.”

The newspaper story suggests that the Imagine Schools performed only two miracles: Quickly depriving kids of a chance for a decent education and using public money to make many people rich. But who can logically argue with the sanctity of the profit motive and the invisible hand of the market? — Rhetorical question 1.

Are all charters like this? No. But clearly, many are. Newspapers in other states have published similar stories. So perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps charters can perform miracles. But miracles for whom?

Oh—after the reported damage to children went public, Missouri’s Education Commissioner called for the closing of the Imagine schools. When was this? Last week (11/8/2011), years after the real estate deals started. Where was the state’s oversight? — Rhetorical question 2.

With the money of Imagine‘s parent corporation, its lobbying power, and the public relations power of the charter movement, what’s the likelihood that if necessary Imagine’s parent company will re-open with a new name, a new corporate identity, and lots of kids seeking a better education. What’s the likelihood that kids in general and kids with reading disabilities and other learning disabilities will be hurt, hurt for life? — Rhetorical questions 3 and 4.

References

Retrieved 11/13/2011, from http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_dbf9b959-0c73-586c-97e7-6fca3a729b39.html.

Retrieved 11/13/2011, from http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/top-education-official-urges-closure-of-imagine-schools/article_16124459-91dc-5800-8fc4-e7fbfdd424e3.html#ixzz1dAJQT0Ub

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The Special Needs Talk Radio Network: It’s On the Air

Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and I host Maximizing Your Child’s Potential (Mondays, 9 PM – 9:30 PM EST, http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential).

Monday’s Show (11/14/2011): Writing

As many parents, teachers, and children know, learning to write is hard work, work that’s easier said than done. But it can also be fun, liberating, and enormously satisfying. It can unlock potential. This coming Monday, a motivating writing teacher, Jaclyn Pryzbylkowski (Voorhees NJ Middle School), will discuss How Writing Instruction Can Help Children Achieve Their Potential.

When: Monday, November 14, 2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST
Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

Charter School Miracles?

Howard — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:13:03 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Many parents of children with reading disabilities and other learning disabilities get discouraged, disgusted, and angry at public schools that fail to provide their children with critical reading and related services. Their feelings are understandable. They see their children falling further and further behind their peers. They see their children’s frustration, anger, and tears. They see their children struggle and suffer endlessly, as the public schools’ indifference seems impenetrable. And so, many seek the salvation of publicly-funded charter schools. After all, they perform miracles.

Unfortunately, they don’t.

Like many public schools, some charter schools, such as the highly touted Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), probably do great things. I doubt, however, that they perform miracles. Why? Compelling data doesn’t exist that schools can quickly turn most struggling readers into competent ones, most children with reading disabilities into children without disabilities. Like quality public schools, quality charters can probably help many struggling readers become highly proficient, highly motivated readers; but many doesn’t mean all or most. And after 40+ years in general and special education and observations of innumerable private and public schools in two countries, I don’t believe in miracles; instead, to help struggling learners succeed, I believe in clear, highly motivating goals; knowledgeable, skilled, well-supported teachers; strong leadership; hard work; parent-school collaboration; and steady progress. Despite the likelihood that the HCZ is doing some great things, it may be one of dozens of charter school miracles that are far more hype than miracle.

Here’s what Diane Rativtch, Research Professor of Education at New York University and former Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, recently wrote about Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ):

The HCZ “is an antipoverty program in Harlem that provides a broad array of medical and social services to children and families, such as health programs, preschool, after-school tutoring, and parenting classes. Its three charter schools are far better funded than nearby regular public schools. Its small high school has classes of fewer than fifteen students with two licensed teachers in each classroom. Because it has a very wealthy board of trustees, HCZ has an endowment of $200 million. Even with the ample resources available to HCZ, its charters had many students in 2010 who did not meet state standards for proficiency in reading: 62 percent in one school, and 38 percent in the other. In the seventh grade, where students were in their third year, only 15 percent met state standards. When Geoffrey Canada first recruited students to his charter middle school, they entered with low scores; after three years, when their scores remained low, he kicked out the entire class. The neighborhood public schools can’t do this.” (Diane Rativtch, updated version of The Death and Life of the Great American School System, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/reports-on-charter-schools-expose-new-problems/2011/10/31/gIQAcMye3M_blog.html).

This is not a condemnation of the HCZ. I admire HCZ’s comprehensive whole-child model (e.g., health care, counseling) and the expressed values of Geoffrey Canada. It’s a condemnation of the well-financed public relations campaign to make parents believe that public schools are automatically bad, that charter schools perform miracles. Charters don’t. (But many give the impression they do. Here’s one trick some use to cut expenses, improve test scores, and look miraculous: “counsel” struggling students and students with disabilities to drop out and return to public schools.)

In part, those public schools that are poorly run and unresponsive to children’s needs share the blame for the rise in charters and for the justifiable desperation of parents to help their children escape these public schools. Clearly, public schools have a moral and often legal obligation to provide children with the expertise and services they need to succeed. When children need critical services, such as extra reading help from reading specialists, public schools have an ethical and moral obligation not to deny, deny, deny, not to aggravate the suffering of children and their families. Shame on public schools that deny; greater shame on the politicians who fail to adequately fund public schools, who mandate policies that cripple children, teachers, and schools. To a far greater degree than public schools, such politicians are to blame.

If you’re the parent of a child with reading disabilities or other learning disabilities, if his school is denying him critical services, and if a far better school placement is unavailable, you must do at least six things:

(1) Develop good relationships with school personnel. (Good relationships do not mean agreement or acquiescence.)

(2) Learn the relevant education laws, in detail.

(3) Make sure your child gets high quality evaluations that result in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with meaningful and measurable goals (and in some states, short-term objectives). If your child is ineligible for special education, get him the high quality evaluations needed to develop in-school remedial programs or after school tutoring programs. Make sure tutoring helps him succeed with the strategies taught in school.

(4) Carefully and frequently monitor his progress.

(5) If progress is poor, meet with the school to revise his program, which may include his IEP and methods of instruction.

(6) Become politically knowledgeable and active.

Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds will give you a great deal of information on points 1 through 5. Our blog will often help on point 6.

Yes, our suggestions can be complicated, time consuming, and exhausting. But they’re what children need if schools are denying them critical services. The research is clear: In general, charters are not the answer. In large part, the answer is knowledgeable, supportive, informed, persistent, politically active parents who, as part of a group, work to turn poor schools and dysfunctional neighborhoods into good ones.

Where: http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential

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The Special Needs Talk Radio Network: It’s On The Air

Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and I host Maximizing Your Child’s Potential (Mondays, 9 PM – 9:30 PM EST, http://specialneedstalkradio.com/maximizing-your-childs-potential).

Next Monday’s Show: Writing

As many parents, teachers, and children know, learning to write is hard work, work that’s easier said than done. But it can also be fun, liberating, and enormously satisfying. It can unlock potential. This coming Monday, a motivating writing teacher, Jaclyn Pryzbylkowski (Voorhees NJ Middle School), will discuss How Writing Instruction Can Help Children Achieve Their Potential.

When: Monday, November 7, 2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST

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Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds

The KansasCityExaminer.com cited our blog as one of the ten best special needs blogs of 2010. The Coffee Klatch awarded it a Coffee Klatch emblem, signifying excellence.

3 Ways to Strengthen Your Child’s Vocabulary

Howard — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:12:17 +0000

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

For your children to succeed in and out of school, they need strong listening and speaking vocabularies. If they have difficulty understanding the meaning of words, they’ll have difficulty understanding what they hear. When reading, they’ll have difficulty recognizing and understanding words they see. Schools alone cannot adequately strengthen children’s vocabularies. As a parent, you need to help. The good news is that you can often do a great deal to help your children develop strong vocabularies. Three keys are to make vocabulary learning fun, relevant, and ongoing.

Make vocabulary learning fun. Last night, I was teaching my 2 ½ year old grandchild the words full and empty. We had a big bag of 50 small bags of pretzels and two empty, hollow plastic pumpkins. First Emily and I examined the pumpkins and the bag full of small bags of pretzels. She was having a good time with them all. As we examined everything, I kept using the words full and empty: “Boy Emily, look at all the small pretzel bags in that big bag. That big bag is full of small pretzel bags…. And look, the pumpkins have nothing in them. There are no pretzel bags in them. The pumpkins are empty.”

After Emily and I made numerous comments about the big bag being full and the pumpkins being empty, I asked her if she’d like to make the pumpkins full and the big bag empty. With joy, she quickly started emptying the big bag and filling the two pumpkins with small bags of pretzels. Then she emptied one pumpkin and filled the other to the brim. Clearly, she was having lots of fun. Later, she walked around the house, telling me which things were full or empty. When she came across a few cereal boxes that I had previously emptied, she smiled, picked them up, and told her grandmother that they were empty. She learned two important concepts—full and empty—and had lots of fun doing so. Of the two of us, I probably had more fun.

Empty and Filled

Make vocabulary learning relevant. Three questions: If I had focused on the words fulcrum and eccentric, do you think that Emily, age 2 ½, would have mastered these words? Do you think that for a 2 ½ year-old, fulcrum and eccentric are as important or as relevant as full and empty? Which words do you think Emily is more likely to hear and use before her third birthday? Clearly, at age 2 ½ full and empty are more important, more relevant, and will have greater utility. If Emily were an average-achieving student in high school, the relevant words would be fulcrum and eccentric. When you select words to focus on, ask, “For my child, at his stage of development, are these important, relevant words, ones that he should use, ones that he’s likely to hear, ones that he needs to understand immediately?”

Make vocabulary learning ongoing. When Emily and I were having fun with full and empty, we were dealing only with two words. And because these words were concrete, not abstract, Emily could see and touch and handle what was full and what was empty; the words had immediate meaning to her.

But two words are not enough; to be successful in life, Emily has to learn many more thousands of words. But two easy-to-learn words on Monday, and two on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday, and three on Friday, and one on Saturday, and two on Sunday—and hearing them used all week, and encouraging her to use them in conversations, adds up to 12 words. That’s a lot, but not enough. So what to do?

Provide Emily with a moderately stimulating environment, one that interests her and makes her want to communicate and makes her want to learn lots of words. Make sure she feels safe and comfortable in using words and communicating with you, even if she sometimes misuses words. If she misuses a word, just use it correctly in a sentence: “Emily, did you mean it’s longer, longer than my arm?”

Between ages two and 12, most children are linguistic vacuum cleaners; perhaps linguistic geniuses is more accurate. Wherever they go, they pick up innumerable words, words we didn’t realize they learned until their comments surprise us. So, create a safe, interesting, moderately stimulating environment, full of things that interest them, that they want to talk about, that you want to listen to. This, more than just the number of words you directly teach them, is probably the most important thing you can do: Encourage language development. As you might guess from the picture below, Emily had a lot of fun and developed quite a few new words as she played with water and led her grandmother in a conversation about water, soap, and the fun of washing a dinosaur.

Washing a Dinosaur

In an upcoming post, we’ll discuss several well-accepted, easy-to-use principles of instruction. In the meantime, I’ll have fun playing with Emily, teaching her some new words, and filling my house with things and activities that interest her, that she wants to talk about.

Howard Margolis (c) Reading2008 & Beyond