Can students with
the label of ID become proficient readers? In three words… Yes, Yes, Yes!
Consider the following study from Southern Methodist University by researchers Jill
H. Allor, Patricia G. Mathes, J. Kyle Roberts, Jennifer P. Cheatham, Stephanie
Al Otaiba:
Is Scientifically Based Reading Instruction
Effective for Students With Below-Average IQs?
Abstract: This longitudinal randomized-control trial
investigated the effectiveness of scientifically based reading instruction for
students with IQs ranging from 40 to 80, including students with intellectual
disability (ID). Students were randomly assigned into treatment (n = 76) and
contrast (n = 65) groups. Students in the treatment group received intervention
instruction daily in small groups of 1 to 4 for approximately 40 to 50 min for
1 to 4 academic years. On average, students in the treatment group made significantly
greater progress than students in the contrast condition on nearly all language
and literacy measures. Results demonstrate the ability of students with low
IQs, including students with mild to moderate ID, to learn basic reading skills
when provided appropriate, comprehensive reading instruction for an extended
period of time.
Jill Allor, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, P.O. Box 750381, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0381 (e-mail: jallor@smu.edu).
Here are
some of my favorite tips to advocate for effective reading programs:
What Can Parents Do?
Students who
get the best educational programs tend to be those who have the most empowered
parents. How can parents help their child develop reading skills?
• Show your child through your actions that
you value reading.
• Have a variety of reading materials in your
home.
• Read to your child regularly.
• Set the bar high.
• Go to seminars, go online, and take classes
on reading.
• Understand the laws that protect your
child.
• Your participation on the IEP team is
critical. But it must be meaningful. Get copies of reading evaluations and
proposed reading goals prior to the IEP meeting.
• Make sure that the reading goals are
measurable. Instead of “Zak will improve his reading, demonstrating one year’s
growth,” consider “By May 15, Zak will be able to read a passage of text orally
at the 8.2 grade equivalent level as measured by the GORT-5 (Gray Oral Reading
Test).”
• Ask the following four questions about your
child’s reading program:
1. Does my
child’s reading program contain the five components of instruction recommended
by the National Reading Panel?
2. Is the
bar set high enough?
3. Is the
person implementing the reading intervention qualified? What training has s/he
received?
4. Is the
child getting systematic, explicit instruction in reading?
• If your child has the label of ID or ASD,
do not accept a sight word program like Edmark or Reading Milestones. Such
interventions do not teach critical phonetic concepts, necessary to “sound out”
– and spell – unmemorized words. Most
likely your child will require a program that uses the Orton-Gillingham
methodology.
• Work with local parent groups to arrange
for seminars and conferences on reading in your area.
• Request a reading evaluation for your
child. The reading subtests of the Woodcock Johnson IV or the WIAT do not, in
themselves, constitute a reading evaluation – and frequently the information
they provide are of little value for a student with an intellectual disability.
Use the template below to ask for a reading evaluation (thanks in large part to
Wrightslaw.com for this letter).
What Can Attorneys and Advocates Do?
Throughout
the 1970s and 1980s, much of the research on teaching reading to children with
significant disabilities focused on sight-word approaches that provided
children with functional reading skills (the ability to read a recipe, bus
schedule, weather report, etc.) rather than skills in decoding or
"sounding out" unfamiliar words. However, since the mid-eighties,
many studies have shown that students with intellectual disabilities are
capable not only of learning words by sight, but of reading new, unknown words
by sounding them out. Thanks in great part to the No Child Left Behind Act,
IDEA 2004 requires school districts to hold children with disabilities to
higher academic standards. Nevertheless, many schools exclude children with
significant disabilities from high quality reading instruction. We need to
battle this. Here are some things to do:
• LEARN THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE!!! Go to
seminars, go online, and take classes on reading. Understanding reading will
help you spot issues when advocating for your clients. Two great publications are:
Put Reading First: Kindergarten
through Grade 3, and Put Reading First: Helping Your Child Learn To Read: A
Parent Guide: Preschool Through Grade 3. Get these free publications at
www.edpubs.org.
“I attended a 16
hour COPPA Pre-Conference course in
Orton-Gillingham methodology and it forever changed the way I practiced law.
Let’s face it, if you were a medical malpractice attorney, you would need to
understand a few things about the human body! Similarly, if you engage in
special education law, you MUST understand the fundamentals of reading.
Otherwise you’ll be bamboozled by the school district just like the parents
are.” Attorney Treimanis
• If your client is not a proficient reader,
do NOT assume it’s due to his/her disability. Ask the parents to request a
comprehensive reading evaluation, performed by a qualified reading specialist
(see template below).
• Forge strong relationships with reading
specialists in your state. The input of friends and colleagues who are reading
experts can be invaluable to preparing for IEP meetings.
• Grow the local reading specialists. Most of
them live in the “LD world.” Help them understand that students with
intellectual disabilities can become proficient decoders.
• When a reading evaluation is completed,
check the recommendations carefully. The evaluation may be accurate, but the
school reading specialist may not envision students with intellectual
disabilities as readers, hence recommending a sight word program. Do not
hesitate to ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation for reading.
• Request an assistive technology (AT)
evaluation to see if there are high, mid, or low level AT options that
compliment the client’s reading program and increases access to content.
• Remember that decoding is very distinct
from comprehension. Comprehension is more closely tied to intellectual
challenges; decoding ability is usually relatively independent of IQ measures.
• Do NOT assume that Special Education
Teachers are qualified to do reading evaluations or teach reading. In many
states, a highly qualified Master level special education teacher does NOT have
to take any reading classes!
• Ask for the resume of anyone doing a
reading evaluation on your student. Do not assume the “Literacy Coach” or
special education teacher has credentials. If a teacher claims to be “trained”
in Wilson, find out if s/he went to the 5 hour class – which essentially shows
you how to use the materials – or completed the requirements to achieve
certification. Similarly, a teacher
cannot claim to be “Orton-Gillingham trained” unless s/he has achieved
certification at the Certified level – a multi-year commitment.
• Embedded within the specific requirements
provided by IDEA 2004 guaranteeing a Free and Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE) for students with disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment
(LRE) is the provision that students, including those with significant
disabilities such as ID or ASD, be given evidence-based reading programs. LRE
does not require that reading be taught in the general education settings.
Frequently, individual instruction or small group instruction with like peers
is required in a separate setting. One of the best ways to become fully
included in life is to know how to read!
• In later grades, it is NOT appropriate for
older students to give up on reading and turn to “functional” skills, such as
shopping and learning to do laundry.
Reading is the quintessential functional skill – necessary to obtain and
retain a job, navigate transportation options, read recipes or the back of food
containers, stay safe, read prescription bottles, go on Facebook, text friends,
and have a chance to survive in our print-based community. As proclaimed in
Connecticut’s Blueprint for Reading Achievement (2000), “Teaching children to
read is a central—arguably the central—mission of formal schooling.”
Favorite Websites on Reading
Template to Request a Reading Evaluation from the School
District
Thanks to
Attorney Pete Wright for this – I have been using it for years and I am fairly
certain it came from his website…..
February 15,
2016
Nelly Koch,
Special Education Teacher
Happy
Elementary School
345 Main
Street
Stamfire,
CT 06906
Re: Request for reading evaluation for Jimmy
Smith
Faxed and
also send via first class mail
Dear Ms.
Koch,
My son Jimmy Smith is a 10 year old boy in
the 5th grade, yet he reads on a kindergarten level and has made minimal
progress during his 7 years at Happy Elementary School. Despite his significant
challenges, he has never had a formal reading evaluation nor has he had
services from a reading specialist in Stamfire Public Schools.
What is the plan to bring Jimmy’s reading
ability to grade level?
I am requesting a comprehensive reading
evaluation by a qualified reading specialist to determine what peer-reviewed,
evidence-based reading program Jimmy needs to become a proficient reader. In order to avoid any misunderstanding as to
what exactly I am asking for, I have provided below a list of reading
definitions from No Child Left Behind. Given the enormous reading gap between
Jimmy and his same-age peers, I am asking that this request be attended to
without any delay.
Thank you.
Amy R. Smith
Copy to:
Molly Arbet, Principal of Happy Elementary School
Sally
Simpson, 5th grade teacher, Happy Elementary School
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four
Definitions About Reading in No Child Left Behind
1. Legal
definition of reading The term 'reading' means a complex system of deriving
meaning from print that requires all of the following:
(A) The
skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes, or speech sounds, are
connected to print.
(B) The
ability to decode unfamiliar words.
(C) The
ability to read fluently.
(D)
Sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading
comprehension.
(E) The
development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print.
(F) The
development and maintenance of a motivation to read.
2. Legal
definition of the essential components of reading instruction
The term
'essential components of reading instruction' means explicit and systematic
instruction in-
(A) phonemic
awareness;
(B) phonics;
(C)
vocabulary development;
(D) reading
fluency, including oral reading skills; and
(E) reading
comprehension strategies.
3. Legal
definition of scientifically based reading research
The term
'scientifically based reading research' means research that-
(A) applies
rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge
relevant to reading development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties;
and
(B) includes
research that-
(i) employs
systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;
(ii)
involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses
and justify the general conclusions drawn;
(iii) relies
on measurements or observational methods that provide valid data across
evaluators and observers and across multiple measurements and
(iv) has
been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent
experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review.
4. Legal
definition of a diagnostic reading assessment The term 'diagnostic reading
assessment' means an assessment that is-
(i) valid,
reliable, and based on scientifically based reading research; and
(ii) used
for the purpose of-
(I)
identifying a child's specific areas of strengths and weaknesses so that the
child has learned to read by the end of grade 3;
(II)
determining any difficulties that a child may have in learning to read and the
potential cause of such difficulties; and
(III)
helping to determine possible reading intervention strategies and related
special needs.
