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: Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, tutor, tutoring
Many parents of kindergartners and first graders at-risk for reading disabilities make this mistake: They hastily challenge their school’s decision to use Reading Recovery to teach their child to read. Their reasoning is simple: Reading Recovery doesn’t work; the research shows it doesn’t work; lawyers and other experts say so. And if they challenge Reading Recovery in court, they’ll win because the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) requires schools to use “peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable” (§300.320). Read more...
Allington, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, intervention, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading intervention, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, Reading Recovery, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, Richard Allington, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, tutor, tutoring, Wrightslaw
Children with reading disabilities and other learning disabilities need intensive instruction. Usually, this statement generates little or no controversy. The definition of intensive, however, does. Recently, Robert E. Slavin and his colleagues (2009) critically evaluated the relevant research on the effectiveness of programs for struggling readers. Their key findings should help to define the word intensive: Read more...
- One-to-one tutoring works. Teachers are more effective as tutors than paraprofessionals or volunteers, and an emphasis on phonics greatly improves tutoring outcomes.
- Although one-to-one phonetic tutoring for first graders is highly effective, effects last into the upper elementary grades only if classroom interventions continue past first grade.
computer-assisted instruction, cooperative learning, decoding, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, phonic, phonic program, phonics, phonics instruction, phonics program, phonics programs, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading intervention, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, reading research, remedial reading, remediation, research, struggling learner, struggling learners, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, tutor, tutoring
