Struggling Writers: How to Improve Their Writing
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Very often, writing is taught to struggling writers in very haphazard and unscientific ways. Such instruction produces very little progress and often promotes student beliefs that for them writing is too difficult and will always be a struggle.
Fortunately, however, writing can be taught in systematic and scientifically-supported ways that promote progress and student beliefs that they can succeed. One such systematic and scientifically-supported method is Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). SRSD removes the mystery of how to write. It shows students the steps they need to practice to succeed. Read more...
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From Reading and Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan & Dr. Howard Margolis
Parents of struggling writers worry about their children’s struggle. They want to know, “How can I help my child?”
If your child struggles with writing, this post might help you and your child’s school identify the type of writing instruction your child needs. It will do this by first discussing critical but often ignored areas of diagnosis, then discussing a typical but inadequate diagnostic process that can do more harm than good, and finally suggesting actions you can take. A follow-up post will outline one effective, well-researched method for helping struggling writers improve their writing: Self-Regulated Strategy Development. Read more...
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From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If your child has a reading disability, the school should monitor his progress frequently enough to prevent minor problems from becoming major ones, to prevent him from getting frustrated with work that’s too difficult, to prevent him from becoming bored with work he’s already mastered, to accelerate instruction when the data shows he can handle it comfortably.
In 2006, the federally-funded National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD; Johnson et al.) recommended that schools assess the progress of students who need “extensive and intensive interventions” twice weekly (p. 2.4). Children with reading disabilities are part of this group. Read more...
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Guest Column by Patrick McCabe, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, St. John’s University
Lucinda (not real name) is a fourth grader who does well in class. She likes to attend school, does her homework, and pays attention. But there is one thing that she does not like about school: standardized tests! Read more...
Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities, reading evaluation, reading tests, test, testing, tests
After reading our posts on monitoring the progress of children with reading disabilities, several parents and teachers requested more information. If you want more information, we suggest you read Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds, chapters 7 (Monitoring Progress) and 9 (The IEP). We also suggest that you join our mailing list. By joining, you will get a free pdf article, Monitoring Your Child’s IEP: A Focus on Reading (co-authored by Sheila Alber-Morgan, Associate Professor, Ohio State University). We hope these suggestions help.
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
The post below was originally published two months ago. I’m republishing it because its topic—monitoring children’s progress—is critically important. The topic is so important that I’ve encouraged university scholars to provide more comprehensive information on one of its recommendations, curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Thus, the Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties (RWQ) will publish a thematic issue on advances in CBM. The issue, edited by Erica Lembke of the University of Missouri, will address many CBM topics, including its use in tutoring, newly created CBM measures for students with cognitive disabilities, and the school-wide use of CBM. Read more...
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
After my last post on diagnostic teaching, several parents asked me if other experts in reading disabilities think that reading evaluations should include diagnostic teaching. The answer: Yes.
Below are quotations from well-regarded graduate school textbooks. If the reading specialist will not make diagnostic teaching part of her evaluation, you may want to share these with her:
“Trying to predict which interventions will work well for individual students has not been a fruitful endeavor. Therefore, we must test curricular modifications empirically” (Witt et al., 1997, p. 51). This is exactly what diagnostic teaching does—test curricular modifications and different methods to increase the likelihood that instructional recommendations will work for the child. Read more...
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Perhaps the most important question a reading diagnosis should answer is this: “What instructional strategies will likely prove effective with this child?”
Published tests can’t answer this. Only diagnostic teaching can.
The Importance of Diagnostic Teaching
As Michael Kibby (Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Buffalo and director of its Reading Clinic for 36 years) asserts:
Only from diagnostic teaching is it possible to provide to others who might teach this child reading a valid and full description of the milieu that seems most appropriate for the child’s instruction and the methods, materials, and instructional conditions that facilitate learning. Any attempt to describe how a child can learn important reading abilities that does not include diagnostic teaching is simply armchair thinking and of limited validity. (2009, p. 253) Read more...
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Yes. But many reading specialists have little knowledge of autism and other developmental disabilities. Thus you may want to share this column with them.
The Difference
Diagnosing the reading problems of students with autism is similar to diagnosing the reading problems of all children with reading disabilities. What’s different and often interferes with obtaining a valid, effective diagnosis is the student’s label: autistic. It often evokes stereotypes that prevent a close, fine-grained analysis of the student’s functioning in critical areas of reading, such as word identification, word analysis, oral reading fluency, receptive and expressive language, vocabulary and concept development, and comprehension. Deficits in any one of these areas will adversely influence reading achievement. Read more...
Assessment, Autism, autistic, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Reading materials alone can’t ensure high quality reading instruction. Such instruction requires teachers to consistently use sound instructional practices. To assess this, you might discuss your child’s program with his teachers, observe his classes, or have a private reading specialist do both as part of a reading evaluation.
For the moment, let’s assume you hire a reading specialist. Before the specialist discusses your child’s program with his teachers, the two of you should agree on the questions you want answered. Dozens of such questions are listed in Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds. Here are a few: Read more...
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