Thurs July 10th

Response to Article: "Learning from Text..."  (Edyburn)

The article points out that "Learning to read is a developmental milestone celebrated by hundreds of thousands of young children every school year" (p.16) The author makes a point of saying that it is "incomprehensible" for literate readers to imagine what a struggling reader must endure. It is a "milestone" many of us take for granted. I for one, hadn't thought of struggling readers as people with an "eroded self-concept". There is a shift that takes place in learning around fourth grade. We transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Children who have not learned how to read by grade 3 or 4 will undoubtedly have difficulty in almost all subject areas.

The statistic that "80% of students with learning disabilities receive services for a reading disability" is shocking. The article mentions that many different labels are used to describe students. This both disheartens me and makes me nervous. All too often we label the student instead of the disability. Teachers, students, parents and specialists often believe that reading difficulties are irreversible. I believe that with appropriate and timely intervention some reading difficulties can be reversed. The shift in terminology from the word disability to difficulty is encouraging. The term difficulty has fewer detrimental side effects.

"Accountability climate" is not a term I'd heard prior to reading this article but it is certainly one that captures the teaching/learning environment today. There has been a major educational shift over the last few decades which has led to the "No Child Left Behind Act". Educators are transforming their way of thinking from teaching the kids who "want to be there" to "teaching kids to want to be there". We are in an age where we can more easily identify struggling students. In addition, affordable and accessible assistive technology is on the rise. These two elements combines is making education for accessible for all!