Early intervention works. Because it is also expensive, it’s important to be able to identify the kids who are most at risk of reading failure. Thanks to a new generation of screening assessments, we can identify these students as early as kindergarten — and then invest in interventions for them.
Parents are often the first to suspect their child has a reading problem. An expert alerts parents to some of the earliest indicators of a reading difficulty.
The most common learning disability is difficulty with language and reading. Here are some warning signs of learning disabilities to look for in preschool and elementary school children.
Back to School is an exciting (and sometimes nervous!) time for students and parents. A few tips might help you and your child get off on the right foot.
Starting preschool is an exciting (and sometimes nervous!) time for little ones and parents. A few tips might help you and your child get off on the right foot.
Hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with listening difficulties due to hearing loss or auditory processing problems continue to be an underidentified and underserved population.
Reading instruction does not need to stop when the bell rings. Using out-of-school time (OST) can be an effective way to boost academic skills while engaging students outside of the classroom. Education research lab McREL reviews effective afterschool and summer programs that focus on reading, and identifies the components that make them successful.
A review of the research on the effective use of homework for students with learning disabilities suggests that there are three big ideas for teachers to remember: (1) the best use of homework is to build proficiency in recently acquired skills or to maintain skills previously mastered; (2) homework should be individualized; and (3) teachers should evaluate homework and provide detailed feedback to students.
Learn the basics about Structured Literacy and how it helps children to decode words in an explicit and systematic manner. This approach not only helps students with dyslexia, but there is substantial evidence that it is more effective for all readers.
The National Association for Elementary School Principals has released a booklet on what principals should know and be able to do. Learn about their recommendations, including a focus on instructional leadership and six steps to raise test scores.
Learn how technology tools can support struggling students and those with learning disabilities in acquiring background knowledge and vocabulary, improving their reading comprehension, and making connections between reading and writing.
Even the youngest child is somewhere on the path to becoming a reader. Learn more about emergent readers, and a tips to ksupport their literacy growth.
When reading is an enjoyable part of everyday life, children will develop positive attitudes about reading. These tips for parents demonstrate how to make reading a part of life for preschool and school-aged children.
Informal literacy experiences often serve to shape young people’s identity as readers and writers as much as or more than formal schooling.Community and family support can emphasize the importance of reading and writing, build confidence, influence young people’s literacy habits, and encourage youth to seek out ways to engage in literate activities. Through a renewed national push for literacy on all levels, both families and community members have diverse opportunities in which to impact students’ literacy skills.This article offers strategies to develop community engagement.
Learn about a partnership between Georgetown University and a local community outpatient care clinic to help improve the early identification of autism in young Latino children, including lessons learned that are relevant to school settings, such as effective communication approaches and building strong relationships with diverse families.
English orthography, or the English spelling system, may not be as transparent or easy to spell as Spanish, Italian, or Serbo-Croatian, but it’s not crazy! Most English word spellings can be explained and most English words do follow spelling patterns.
A veteran reading teacher shares takeaways from her ‘Teachers as Readers’ learning group. What teachers need: enough time to teach language arts, well-stocked classroom libraries, student input, and meaningful professional development.
All parents want their children to receive the best education possible. One way to help your child succeed is to know if the school is using effective teaching and intervention practices. But how can schools and parents know if a practice is effective? One method is to see if there is any research or “evidence” to prove that the practice works. This handout explains the meaning of “evidence-based practices” and why they are important. It also lists resources where parents can learn more.
Research shows that students need at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction each day to become strong readers, and that this instruction must be systematic, explicit, scaffolded, and differentiated across the classroom.
