HIGHLIGHTS FROM EDUCATION UPDATE'S BLOGGERSBy Dr. John J. Russell
As the
Head of The Windward School, which serves students with language-based
learning disabilities, I am distressed, but not at all surprised, by the
results of a recent survey that was conducted by The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD).
The
Survey of Public Perceptions of Learning Disabilities was conducted in
August 2012 by Lindberg International, which collected data from a
random sampling of approximately 2000 adults across the United States
via an online survey. These are a few examples of the results:
- Many respondents (43 percent) wrongly think that learning disabilities are correlated with IQ.
- Nearly a quarter of respondents (22 percent) think learning disabilities can be caused by too much time spent watching television; 31 percent believe a cause is poor diet; 24 percent believe a cause is childhood vaccinations (none are factors).
- Over half of the respondents (55 percent) wrongly believe that corrective eyewear can treat certain learning disabilities.
- Over a third of respondents (34 percent) believe that students with a learning disability harm the overall classroom experience.
- Over a third of parents (36 percent) said that their child's school inadequately measured for learning disabilities.
- Over two-thirds of parents (64 percent) said that their child's school doesn't provide information on learning disabilities.
This
sampling is thought to be representative of the American population.
While these results are clearly cause for concern, the experiences of
learning disabled students and their parents with education
professionals are far more troubling.
Over
just the past few years, I have encountered hundreds of cases where
families were given unacceptable responses to children's learning issues
from school professionals who were supposed to be assisting them. A few
examples will illustrate the scope of the problem. One Windward parent
had her child evaluated by her local school district. The psychologist
who conducted the testing reported to the parent that her son could not
be learning disabled because "his IQ scores are too high." Another
parent of a bright kindergarten student confided to her daughter's
teacher at a respected independent school that she was concerned because
her child seemed to be struggling with the alphabet. After being told
by the teacher not to worry and to give the child "the gift" of another
year, the family had the girl evaluated privately and was told that she
was dyslexic. The family was relieved to have identified the problem and
happily shared the results with her school in expectation that the
school would be able to address the girl's learning disability. Instead,
the school told the family that it would be impossible for their
daughter to continue there.
Far
too frequently learning disabled students directly suffer significant
negative consequences due to misconceptions that poorly informed
teachers have about learning disabilities. One Windward student wrote: "At my former school, if I didn't answer a question correctly, the other
students would laugh at me and I would feel very stupid and
embarrassed. Being different felt awful." Another student wrote: "Imagine going to school everyday and praying that you won't be called
up to read.... Imagine knowing that you try your best in school every
day but still have report cards that say you are failing, not trying and
need to start making an effort in school." No child should ever have
these horrible memories of school!
Unfortunately
these are not isolated cases and the damage is not limited to emotional
scars. Between 10 to 20 percent of all students are learning disabled
and dyslexia is the most common of the language-based learning
disabilities. Countless studies confirm that there is a wide gap between
the instructional programs that these students currently receive in
public and private schools and the research-based program that they need
to be successful. Abysmal results on standardized tests of reading
provide stark evidence of the lack of effective instruction for all
disabled students including those with language-based disabilities such
as dyslexia. On the 2011 administration of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) 68 percent of disabled 4th graders and 65
percent of disabled students in grade 8 scored below the basic level.
According to NAEP, "fourth-grade students performing at the Basic level
should be able to locate relevant information, make simple inferences,
and use their understanding of the text to identify details that support
a given interpretation or conclusion." NAEP reports that "eighth-grade
students performing at the Basic level should be able to locate
information; identify statements of main idea, theme, or author's
purpose; and make simple inferences from texts." More simply put, basic
level reading skills are the minimum skills necessary to be successful
in secondary school. Results on the New York Sate English Language Arts
(ELA) exams are equally dismal. On the 2011 version of the ELA 84
percent of all disabled students in grades 3-8 were found to be below
proficient in their reading skills.
The
scope of the problem is enormous. In schools across the country,
bright, capable, learning disabled students face plummeting
self-confidence simply because there is a lack of understanding about
their true capabilities. They are threatened with academic frustration
and outright failure simply because they are not receiving appropriate
research-based instruction. At Windward we have clear, unequivocal
evidence that students with language-based learning disabilities can
succeed. Windward is committed to making research-based instruction the
norm for all students rather than the rare exception that it is today
and to dispelling the harmful misconceptions about learning disabilities
that are so common among the general public and educators. Clearly,
Windward alone cannot accomplish these ambitious goals. We believe that
it is time to elevate the discussion of dyslexia and language-based
learning disabilities to a national level so that the vast potential of
learning disabled students can be realized in every school.
Dr. John J. Russell is Head of The Windward School and a regular blogger with Education Update. Read more from his complete blog archives, here.
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