Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

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

A Guest Post

By  Dr. Amy Reschly, University of Georgia, &

Dr. Sandra Christenson, University of Minnesota

High school completion with competence is more important than ever before in our nation’s history. Students today must have skills to compete in an increasingly global and technological economy.  Data continue indicate, however, that too many students – particularly those of Native American, African American, and Hispanic descent; students with high incidence disabilities; and students from lower-SES backgrounds – are at increased risk for dropping out and experiencing a host of negative consequences, from unemployment and health problems to incarceration.

For many students, a pathway to dropout is initiated in early elementary school with difficulty learning to read. Difficulty with reading appears to be linked to grade retention and special education placement, both robust predictors of later dropout. Reading is widely thought of as one of the signature accomplishments of childhood and a primary purpose of the first years of schooling.  Encountering difficulty in such an important area not only leads to falling further and further behind other students academically but is also related to a decline in student motivation and engagement at school, constructs critical to persistence and school completion.

Studies of the effectiveness of intensive interventions in early childhood and primary grades underscore the connection between early reading skills and the increased likelihood of completing high school. Given the link between poor reading skills and grade retention, special education placement, engagement, and motivation, we, along with a number of colleagues, have frequently argued for intensive early reading interventions as an integral part of school completion efforts.

To date, it appears that we know a lot more about who drops out than we do about effective prevention and intervention. Although dropout prevention efforts are widespread, only recently has significant attention been paid to evaluating and identifying those programs that are empirically supported. One program, Check & Connect, recently met the standards for inclusion in the Institute for Education Science What Works Clearinghouse. Check & Connect is currently the only intervention program reviewed in the What Works Clearinghouse that earned a rating of Positive in any of the three core areas related to school completion (Staying in School). The primary components of Check & Connect are described below, followed by an example of how reading interventions may be included as part of the Check & Connect model.

Check & Connect

Check & Connect is a structured model of intervention focused on promoting students’ engagement at school and with learning. The person primarily responsible for program implementation is a monitor or mentor who:

• Systematically monitors student engagement with school (e.g., attendance, homework completion, participation, behavior, connection to teachers and peers) (CHECK)
• Initiates timely and individualized interventions at the first signs of disengagement (CONNECT)
• Facilitates collaboration across home and school and works with families to enhance home support for learning.

Tbe table below lists the core elements:

Source: Christenson et al. (2008)

Check & Connect has been implemented with elementary, middle, and high school students; with students who have disabilities and those who do not; and in suburban and urban school settings. Check & Connect has also been used in conjunction with interventions to address aggressive behavior and improve reading performance.

One area that appears particularly promising is combining interventions to promote student engagement with those to address early literacy and reading skill acquisition.  This combination may address the earliest signs of disengagement and declining motivation from school and helps to ensure the acceleration of student reading progress through more intensive intervention. Mentors apply the elements of Check & Connect to enhance student engagement; provide additional reading skill practice; assist in the monitoring and reporting of student reading progress and goal-setting with students; and enhance home support for learning specifically to literacy development and frequently communicate with families regarding student progress.

Concluding Remarks

Being a successful reader is necessary and integral to completing high school with academic and social competence. Without this skill, students become alienated or isolated from peers and classroom learning activities. Adopting an engagement orientation, one wherein data from systematic monitoring of students’ reading performance is used to design a home-school coordinated intervention enhances the probability of student engagement, success, and connection with school. Most importantly, partnering with families to enhance out of school reading time and continuity in the messages about putting forth effort, persisting to learn to improve in reading, and recognizing progress and improvement offers much promise to meet the desired benchmark of reading by third grade as well as preventing school dropout.

References

This column was adapted from

Christenson, S.L., Thurlow, M.L., Sinclair, M.F., Lehr, C., Kaibel, C., Reschly, A.L., Mavis, A., & Pohl, A. (2008). The intervention manual and guide for Check & Connect: A comprehensive student engagement intervention. Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.

Reschly, A. (2010). Reading and school completion: Critical connections and Matthew effects. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 26, 1-23.

More information about Check & Connect may be found at: http://www.ici.umn.edu/checkandconnect/

© By  Dr. Amy Reschly and Dr. Sandra Christenson

Howard Margolis, Ed.D., Column Editor

www.reading2008.com