Let’s start with a Twitter thread I read yesterday, 30.10.24, morning. Many parents and teachers complain about kids who fail to read at grade level. Unfortunately, they don’t accept simple solutions. Let us read their comments as a preliminary to ‘Kids Shutting Down’.
This is a
long post but will prove that teachers worldwide are having kids in grades 4
and above reading at grade one level. Many teachers who are still employed dare not comment as they have been warned by powers that be.
The following was the post commented on.
Beanie @Beanie0597
A 4th grader who can’t read because he wasn’t taught properly doesn’t need “accommodations” to make his illiteracy easier. He needs specific interventions that teach him to read. Otherwise, he’ll just become an illiterate middle & high school student with “accommodations”.
My thoughts: Does she know what intervention is needed? No, she does not and refused to comment on my comments over the past few weeks. This is the problem with teachers who think they know all there is to know.
Here are comments by her readers:
Skip10 @tnsampson2
Failure cascades if not stopped early on. I've taught 8th graders who were level 1 kids since the 4th grade, and they did no better in my class thanks to Common Core. They had simply missed too much.
My thoughts:
This comment is from an 8th-Grade teacher. The kids were in level 1 reading from 4th - Grade to 8th Grade. This is what is happening in most schools worldwide. I’ll bet that many kids who could not read in grade 4 would have figured out how to read before they came to Skip 10’s class. The ones who came to grade 8 without being able to read would be the kids who had shut down/disengaged from learning to read.
Kalian Osborn @kalianosborn
This is the main reason we started homeschooling. Our son was way behind and the plan was to keep advancing him in grade level. He would have virtually no clue what was going on for 5 of the 6 hours of instruction. If he ever caught up with the basics, he would still be behind in everything else.
It's like a guarantee of academic failure and frustration starting at age 7.
My thoughts:
I have been saying this for years. Many kids will figure out how to read at higher grades. That is, they will have caught up with the basics. However, they will still be behind in everything else. These are the kids who figure out how to read. They figure out how to read using patterns and analogies as I explained to Ethan Lynn. LINK
Becky Woodward@brwoodward6
Ehhh- doesn’t seem to matter to most people. It’s mind-boggling to me how education and the genuine need to change up what we are doing isn’t on every single voter’s mind in every single county in the US. The reading program my county has used for years is part of the problem.
My thoughts
It is mind-boggling that no one questions me or comments let alone share what I write on my blog posts. It reminds me of the remark by a podcast host who said that he did not upload my discussion with him on his podcast because my ideas were too simplistic. Why are they looking for something complicated when I have proven beyond doubt that the main problem is kids being taught the wrong sounds of letters and shut down due to confusion? Who was pod cast host financed by?
Dawn De Lorenzo, Ed.S. @DeLorenzoEdS
That 4th grader will need both. Unfortunately, too many schools give the accommodations w/o the intensive, targeted instruction they need and the problem only gets worse.
My thoughts
What intensive targeted instruction can one give a kid who has shut down/disengaged from learning to read?
RochesterGal @RochesterGal57
My rural school district has less than 700 kids; 50% of them are at least 1-3 grades below in reading and math, K-12. How is this possible; who and what is responsible for these numbers, it makes no sense. Twelve years ago, we were an award-winning school.
My thoughts:
I have asked many teachers including Ethan Lynn (researcher) to record the pronunciation of sounds of letters by kids in grade 4 who cannot read at grade level. They don’t do it because they probably cannot accept that the cause cannot be as simple as this. What further evidence does one want other than the more than 80 students I taught who began to read once they were taught the correct sounds of the letters? If the Twitter discussion between an accomplished teacher in Australia and me in 2020 doesn’t convince readers nothing in the world can. LINK.
Scott Adamson @scottadamson11
You've identified a problem with educators who say-'just wait and he/she'll come around' and educators who claim that one month of progress in a school year is still progress. Parents need to stand up to anyone who takes such a stand; such educators aren't experts; they're deniers.
My thoughts:
Yes, some students will come around but as pointed out by Kalian Osborn in a comment above ‘they would still be behind everything else’.
What about the kids who shut down and are waiting to leave school as illiterates?
Scott Somerville @ReviveDueling
A 4th grader who can't read because of some innate handicap needs accommodations. But if it's the SCHOOL that's "teaching disabled" he needs school choice.
My thoughts:
What school choice is Scott talking about when this is a problem in every school? Why don’t any teacher or parent have the Bees to stop Baby TV from broadcasting the Charlie and the Alphabet programmes that is one of the culprits?
Farmer Mim @DebKing11785195
I’m a retired special ed teacher. That is true. Skills instruction must be provided for these students who missed out on actual reading instruction for a year or more. If not, they will essentially be non-readers.
My response:
Yes, but what skill instruction must be provided to get these kids to decode and blend? I have the answers but why isn’t anyone accepting it or questioning me?
SkepticalCynic @SkepticCoach27
20+ years as a special educator at the HS level. This is exactly the problem. We don’t treat the issue at hand.
My response
20 years as a special educator at HS level will not be able to treat this issue. This issue should have been treated in grade 1.
Oneguy @oneguy75537604
This! I have 6 graders like this.
Mike Hunt IV @MRINFLAMMATORY
Exactly. Is like giving someone with a mobility-related injury no treatment or physical therapy and telling them to just stay in that wheelchair forever
My thoughts
This is similar to the example I gave in one of my posts. A kid is found limping and they will give him better shoes or a crutch but not pull out the thorn stuck in his foot.
Theresa @frogaustin
Yes, preach! How is this level of incompetence in our public schools acceptable? Most of the country and parents just seem to shrug. Disheartening.
My thoughts
Yes, most teachers and parents have a lackadaisical attitude. How many parents or teachers will bother to complain about the Baby TV programme that is being aired in more than 100 countries? Does anyone dare tell me that this is not planned by the powers that be?
Matt Finch @mfinch1211
Accommodating a child who can't read creates an illiterate adult. By not intervening with remedial action to force the kid to learn to read, you would be sentencing that person to a life of poverty.
My thoughts: What did Matt or anyone do about this problem?
No comments:
Post a Comment