Children who struggle with reading typically struggle with writing. Even if their reading improves, their writing often doesn’t.
A common reason for their continued difficulty is the failure of their schools to adequately diagnose their writing problems. Instead, their schools limit diagnosis to grade equivalents from standardized tests — “Sawyer’s grade equivalent for writing was 2.9; he’s three years behind.” This statement fails to identify the current causes of Sawyer’s problems. It fails to tell his teachers and parents what he isn’t doing or can’t do that’s causing his writing problems. In all likelihood, instruction that’s built on an inadequate understanding of Sawyer’s problems will be inadequate. It will likely ignore or give short shrift to those parts of the writing process that should be stressed for Sawyer. Read more...
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It’s critical that your son get daily instruction in how to write. As Leif Fearn and Nancy Farnan said, struggling writers write better when they know more about how.
For struggling writers to become good writers requires instruction that the writers view as important, enjoyable, and practical. They need teachers who focus on the writers’ progress and show them exactly how they can improve their sentences, paragraphs, and the overall structure of their writing, all without overwhelming them. These teachers need to take the mystery out of writing by showing them that good writing is a structured, step-by-step process, like building a house.
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I’m often asked, how do you prepare for IEP meetings? One way is to write down the questions that need answers in order to develop an appropriate IEP — one likely to produce important progress in important areas.
When writing the questions, make sure they’re both specific and answerable. Below are sample questions for David Enigma, a mythical child with reading disabilities and other disabilities. Although incomplete, the list should give you an idea of what your questions should look like. Read more...
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Can you count on test results? No.
Although the results may accurately reflect your child’s current abilities, you can’t be absolutely sure. No test, even the kind matched to your question (see previous postings), is perfect. Every score inevitably contains error. Moreover, even a test designed to answer your question might be a poor test.
How then should you deal with this uncertainty? I suggest three things. Read more...
- Read the Mental Measurements Yearbook to assess the strengths and weaknesses of whatever standardized tests your child takes. Often, its in-depth test reviews are highly informative. Most large libraries carry the Yearbooks.
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Assessing small improvements in word recognition and fluency requires weekly assessments. One quick and valid way for teachers to assess progress in word recognition and fluency is to ask the child with reading disabilities to read aloud, once weekly, for 60-seconds, from material at or slightly below his instructional level. As he reads, his teacher (or an aide) counts the number of words correctly pronounced. This figure is charted.
If, for several weeks, the number of words read correctly on these 60-second oral reading probes continues to increase, your child is probably making progress; if, however, it remains flat or decreases, he’s probably having difficulty. This requires school personnel to investigate the problem, collect and analyze relevant data, and probably modify his program. Read more...
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All homework materials should be at the struggling reader’s independent level. Informal Reading Inventories, often referred to as IRIs, can help identify this level. Generally, the phrase “independent level” refers to materials that slightly challenge the child with reading disabilities and which, if he makes a modest effort, result in successful practice and application of what he “just about” mastered in class. To succeed with these materials, he doesn’t need anyone’s help; even in less than perfect circumstances, they’re unlikely to stress or frustrate him. Read more...
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Informal reading inventories (IRI’s) can help to answer this question by estimating your child’s instructional level. Generally, the phrase “instructional level” refers to new materials that slightly-to-modestly challenge your child and which, if he makes a modest-to-moderate effort, results in success and growth. When instructional level materials are used, the teacher needs to work with your child, teaching him how to read these materials, giving him feedback, and helping him correct any mistakes he makes in practice and application activities. Instructional level materials don’t stress or frustrate him. Read more...
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In my last posting, I discussed one of the major limitations of standardized or norm-referenced reading tests. Although they compare children to one another, it’s often on tasks that offer little information about the reading levels that children can comfortably succeed at in class or on their own. In this posting I’ll begin to discuss what type of test can be used to tell what your child can comfortably read.
How well can my child read a story or textbook?
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This common question—what reading test should the school give my child—has no answer. It’s too vague. It needs to be recast. Here’s one way of recasting it: Read more...
- Compared to the other children in his grade, how well does my child comprehend what he reads?
- Compared to the other children in his grade, how well does he recognize words?
- How well can he read a story written for his grade?
- How well can he read a textbook written for his grade?
- What level book should be used to teach him how to read?
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Recently, I reviewed the Gray Diagnostic Reading Battery-Second Edition for The Seventeenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. In the Gray’s manual was a wonderful quote that’s so important, it’s worth memorizing: “Too often examiners forget the dictum that ‘tests don’t diagnose, people do’ and base their diagnoses exclusively on test results, a hazardous enterprise at best. Test results are merely observations, not diagnoses. They specify a performance level at a given time under a particular situation, but they do not tell the examiner why a person performs as he or she did.” Read more...
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