|
|
|
 For most parents, ensuring their child's achievement in literacy is paramount because advanced literacy skills are highly correlated with future academic and, subsequently, career attainment. However, given the normal bell-curve of human abilities, 35% of us will struggle to read at grade level. Not surprisinglyly, then, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 40% of 4th graders do not read at the their 4th grade level, the grade at which they are expected to read to learn rather than learn to read. And, unfortunately, despite conclusive findings by the Congress-convened National Reading Panel (2000) attesting to the centrality of phonics in effectively remediating reading difficulties, political will has not changed graduate teacher preparation programs in either reading or primary education. The look-say method of learning to read remains the dominant instructional approach. Only one in seven American teacher-preparation graduate programs teaches the science of reading, which typically is portrayed by educators as a method no more valid than any other. Fostering a love of literature with only incidental attention to phonics has remained the pedogogical rage since the 1970's, despite overwhelming conclusions by research that phonics taught in an ad hoc, rather than systematic fashion, is an educational disservice. If phonemic awareness is not emphasized in K-3 reading, then a child will not be reading accurately after 3rd grade. However, phonemic-based reading instruction is almost unheard of unless privately-sought. Phonemic instruction is not phonics instruction. Phonemic awareness is an auditory skill that is not print-related. There are 7 essential phonemic skills that are precursors for learning phonics. Facility with these skills is critical for providing the foundation to be able to read and spell phonetically. For more than 75 years, the Orton Gillingham approach has effectively addressed reading difficulties via one-to-one tutorials that emphasize both phonemic awareness and phonics. Language-based, rather than literature-based, reading is essentially learned by mastering the principles of spelling. But, to compensate for weak auditory memory, skills are taught explicitly, systematically (from simple to complex, high-frequency to rare), by coordinating visual, auditory, and motor memory simultaneously to give the learner critical redundancy. Most of all, the Orton Gillingham approach is emotionally sound, so that the reading-challenged student experiences himself/herself as a successful reader-- perhaps for the first time. Lessons are created for the individual based on the extensive knowledge of the Orton Gillingham practitioner, who generates lessons in which the learner will experience 90% or greater accuracy. The student develops a new experience of the English language as reliable and accessible to him/her. Confidence emerges as the child begins to observe himself/herself read accurately, thereby improving motivation. To be listed on the exclusive Orton Gillingham Academy Provider List (www.ortonacademy.org), an Orton Gillingham practitioner must have apprenticed in a 3-6 year practicum under a supervising Orton Gillingham Fellow, as well as have been admitted to the Orton Gillingham Academy on the basis of demonstrated competency as a service provider. Only the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practioners & Educators (AOGPE) has the authority to regulate Orton Gillingham training. Jan Campbell is one of only 7 approved Orton Gillingham Academy Provider List practitioners serving Fairfield County. Such credentials assure parents that their child's Orton Gillingham provider has sufficient expertise to handle this critical and timely task.
An Orton Gillingham provider's extensive knowledge of English permits that practitioner to individualize instruction responsively and prescriptively for the unique requirements of each student's case. Because these students read more slowly, the carefully-targeted design of handcrafted Orton Gillingham lessons ensures the most efficient use of learning time. No arbitrary elements appear in the lessons simply because they are pre-printed program materials. Errors from the prior lesson can be featured in the next, so that the student's foundation becomes secure. Non-Orton Gillingham-trainined educators lack the deep knowledge of the English language's structure, so they are at the mercy of scripted programs, which they deliver without the ability to individualize prescriptively and responsively. Orton Gillingham is not taught in graduate programs for reading and Special Education. Many Special Education and reading teachers and tutors are reluctant to use Orton Gillingham because it is perceived to require too much training, although its practices are research-validated and have stood the test of 75 years. Without intensive phonics instruction, however, struggling students will not close their skills' gap. On average, public school students enter Special Education reading two grade levels behind and exit reading two grade levels behind. These students have made progress-- just not enough progress to read at grade-level. The district will maintain that as long as a student is making some progress, all is well. However, children reading behind grade level after 3rd grade are unlikely ever to catch up with their more literate peers.
Timing is everything in remediation. During the primary years, learning to read and spell are the cornerstone for future academic learning. By 4th grade, students are expected to read to learn, now in non-narrative texts with no leading pictures and predictable narratives. However, under current law, students can fail to make progress for a minimum of 2 months before supplemental small-group instruction is recommended. Another 2 months can elapse before failure to progress requires even more supplemental intensive intervention. Two months later, should no evidence of progress be demonstrated, referral for Special Education may occur. Most of a school year can elapse before a student, failing to progress, may be eligible for a language-based learning disability screening. Once a year's worth of skills is lost, the student is doubly behind-- not only must he/she struggle with learning the skills of his/her peers, but he/she must work to make up those of the year he/she missed. The Information Age's demand for greater literacy is undeniable. Compulsory education for all citizens has been a fact for the past century in the developed world, and for the past half-century in second-world countries, making widespread literacy common. Corporations now have the world marketplace to outsource jobs, making Americans compete in an altogether new way. The OECD's Program for International Student Assessment recently found that the reading skills of American fifteen year-olds ranked in 16th place when compared with those of students from 31 other developed nations.
Both reading evaluation and reading remediation are available services (listed below):
|
BENEFITS OF A PRIVATE READING EVALUATION
Time is of the essence in reading remediation because learning to read is taught in the primary grades (K-3), before reading to learn is expected. The earlier a problem is caught, the simpler the remediation is. A reading evaluation can identify a student at-risk for reading struggles in mid-kindergarten.
Before a child is referred to Special Education because of a problem that hinders academic progress, a significant discrepancy between IQ and academic achievement must be documented by standardized testing. Or, if the student is in one of the 25 states that also uses Response to Intervention (RTI) as a means of identifying reading problems, the student may be remediated in a small group, and subsequently, one-to-one instruction for a semester or academic year before being referred for Special Education eligibility testing. A semester or year of opportunity is lost.
However, 90% of dyslexics, all but the most profound, typically fail to qualify as having a Specific Language Disability. These non-identified 90% of struggling readers, from mild to moderate, must still cope with the exigencies of school. Diagnostic testing, using a dozen or so tests, can lead to the creation and adoption of a 504 Plan of accommodations to help the student in school outside of Special Education.
Testing includes:
ORAL LANGUAGE SKILLS Listening Comprehension Phonological Awareness Receptive Vocabulary
READING Single-Word Decoding (Actual and Pseudo) Text-Reading Fluency Comprehension
WRITING Handwriting Spelling Written Expression
|
BENEFITS OF PRIVATE READING INSTRUCTION By far, the most popular way of teaching reading is the look-say method. It is the easiest to teach because it is the least analytical. An incedental phonics mini-lesson about a phonetic component encountered in literature typically is what is offered. For at-risk readers, such cursory exposure is neither explicit nor repetitive enough to become internalized. Orthography is held in their visual memories as weakly as sand in an hourglass. An Orton Gillingham lesson offers the reverse prioritization, with independent reading comprising the mini-lesson, while the lesson focus is the practicing of a sound-symbol relationship visually, aurally, orally, and kinesthetically for reading and spelling in isolated words and subsequently in text. Frequency of remediation often depends upon the individual. A new Carnegie-Mellon University brain-imaging study of dyslexic students indicates that their brains readjusted themselves to mimic those of competent readers after 100 hours' intensive instruction (www.dys-add.com/RemediationRewires.pdf). Some students are highly distractable or easily fatigued or need several repetitions of a skill before being able to internalize it. Five meeting times a week is ideal, four meeting times a week is recommended, three meeting times a week is adequate, and two meeting times a week is minimal. A calendar-year contract is required to secure a permanent place in the schedule, with tuition being paid monthly. By adding 6 weeks' summer instruction, with meetings every weekday during the school year, the student achieves the desired 100 hours goal within a calendar year (if school year meetings have been only twice weekly). Lessons are 60 minutes long, with 20 minutes allocated for reading, 20 minutes for spelling, written expression, and 20 minutes for related skills such as learning nonphonetic words, ABC order, handwriting, and reading leveled text at the student's independent reading level.
Tuition includes:
- 60-minute Orton Gillingham-based individualized
reading and spelling lessons taught 1:1
- 2 school visits throughout the year, either for meetings or to conduct observations
- Ongoing progress monitoring
- Semester progress reports summarizing the student's curriculum and skills' acquisition
|
|
|
|
|
|
