Special Education

Special Education is like the Wild West of #edreform. Here's a tip: if it don't work for SWDs, then chances r it aint workin for other kids.

I've been spreading the gospel of the Simple View of Reading. Such a useful lens, especially for educators working with students with disabilities. It clarifies how to understand psycho-ed reading information

We need as much valid and objective data as we can get to make an IEP. Such a critical piece. But we also need a team of adults discussing, monitoring, and updating that plan in coordination with the student and family to make it come alive. https://x.com/carriemelago/status/1189887617208397824

Correct and accurate D1 and E2, but 0s on D2 and E3. Then a mix of onset-rime, tapering off at basic phoneme level.

Finally got to assess the 6th grade student using the PAST today who was a catalyst for my push to learn and apply Equipped for Reading Success. He follows a pattern at the syllable level of phonemic awareness that I've started to notice, wondering if others have seen it...

How to design daily activities for his teacher/para that can bridge grade-level work and severe foundational remediation. How to remediate for letter-sound proficiency in middle school. The list goes on...

Such a sweet boy, who spoke with me for a while about his struggles with reading. I really want to help him. But I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything I need to know that I still don't know...

Can you imagine how equity in reading outcomes might be achieved if health insurance covered dyslexia evaluation and intervention?

Let's start advocating.

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/a-pediatrician-s-role-in-dyslexia-where-theory-meets-practice

@JoAnneSimonBK52 I wonder how we could partner with pediatrics to make this happen along with senate Bill S4341?

First off, why haven't many heard of it yet? And why don't we just call it Speech-Language Impairment (SLI), which is the formal term used for IEPs and services in schools?

It's a rather recent term, not without some debate, that was introduced in 2016 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0158753

Today is #DLDAwarenessDay! Here in the US, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), seems to not yet be widely known or understood.

So let me try to lay down a few reasons why it has caught my attention, in the hope I can bring it to yours.

A 🧵⬇️

What is the definition of DLD?

DLD is "a language problem that endures into middle childhood and beyond and that has a significant impact on social or educational function."

Sounds important, right?

#Dyslexia has been getting a lot of (warranted!) attention over the last couple of years, resulting in legislation and important investments in early screening.

But did you know that up to 50% of those with dyslexia ALSO have DLD, and vice versa? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30458538/

By adopting a unified term, which can be recognized internationally, allows for stronger advocacy. This is important because "the lack of awareness among the general population translates into limited resources for addressing the problem."

Why use the new term?

There hasn't been consensus about terms, and the identification used for SLI has been too narrow. DLD is a broader term, which can include SLI, that allows for a diagnosis alongside co-occuring conditions, such as dyslexia, ADHD... https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2019_PERSP-19-00083

We need to improve identification of this need from the earliest grades, so we can ensure our instructional core address this need, with intensified supports when needed.

Check out the great work of @TrinaDSpencer2 and others on this: http://www.trinastoolbox.com/

We have many children in our classrooms who need our district, school, and teacher leaders to understand that they need supports with language development.

Wait time after questioning, talking slowly, providing concrete scaffolds to accompany verbal information.

And follow leaders in the US and beyond doing advocacy and research on DLD @tiffanyphogan @larchiba6 @SuzAdlof . . . I know I'm forgetting many here, please tag in more leaders!

For a small number of children, learning to read and write in English is relatively effortless, while for a great many others, it poses a significant challenge . . .

In other words, learning to read and write is something that must be observed, taught, and practiced, just as learning to hit a baseball, ride a bike, or drive a car. Many children need frequent and structured opportunities to practice and develop foundational literacy skills...

Before the technology of writing systems were invented, people had no need to break words into smaller sound parts and recombine them at high speed in our minds.

...(phonemes) and to fluently combine, read, and transcribe those symbols and sound parts into meaningful words, sentences, and texts (decoding, handwriting, spelling, morphology, syntax, and semantics) is a challenge that is relatively new to our species.

...that requires explicit and systematic phonics instruction and sufficient opportunity to apply and consolidate foundational skills through shared reading, spelling, and handwriting activities. Learning to associate written symbols (graphemes) with small parts of spoken language

They engage in small group and individual hands-on activities and centers to discover and learn about their world and make connections to their own funds of knowledge and experiences.

As students learn, practice, and apply their code-based literacy skills, they also listen to their teachers read-aloud complex disciplinary texts and culturally diverse and representative stories and discuss new ideas, concepts, events, perspectives, and vocabulary with peers.

This means that additional time and opportunity to learn is essential for many students, especially for those at risk of dyslexia. Developing proficiency in reading and writing does NOT mean that enriching content and project-based experiences are left to the side.

...as they will not acquire them simply through exposure. Furthermore, the English language has many irregularities in spelling, and our spoken dialects may not match up directly to their ossified written forms.

Through a comprehensive, structured approach to literacy instruction, all students can gain the skills and agency to be critical thinkers, speakers, readers, and writers.

This is why I'm excited about our NYC initiative to support students at risk for dyslexia.

This article on the continued pervasiveness of the discredited discrepancy model for dyslexia identification is important and rightfully getting amplified.

But I wanted to pause for a minute on a paragraph towards the end (screenshot below).

A brief🧵

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-flawed-dyslexia-screen-leaves-thousands-of-kids-without-help/ https://t.co/XuSKwzvdo3

More extensive and voluminous data, in other words, does not necessarily equate to better targeted instructional support or intervention. The idea of neuropsychs for all may be alluring but misguided both in terms of time and cost and in terms of scalability of impact

As a former SPED teacher and IEP coordinator, I loved receiving extensive neuropsychs on kids. I love data. Yet at the same time, making the connection to a specific instructional program or support that my school or class could provide each day was not a clear nor direct task.

There's a tension between a cost-benefit of the depth and extend of diagnostic assessment and its utility for gaining targeted instruction that is glossed over here. There's an assumption that having an extensive 'neuropsych' for more children will better ensure targeted support.

These reflect the measures used by screeners like DIBELS and Acadience. While there is still some work needing to be done to translate that data into targeted instruction, it is much more immediate and actionable -- and that is what is needed to prevent later reading challenges..

Look back at that last sentence I highlighted in that paragraph -- I think the scalable--and already happening here and nationally--solution lies there. There are efficiently administered and more cost effective assessments available for identifying specific literacy needs.

...rather than merely labeling them.

These are the shifts we can make more immediately to get more kids what they need. When we can move more directly from screening (identification of needs) to progress monitoring (targeting specific needs), then we will see impact.

When I coordinated IEP development at a school, I structured the process to ensure students understood their data and had a say in their own goal-setting and aligned supports. And they were invited to share those goals and their reflection on their progress at the IEP meeting

"When kids have a better understanding of the condition that affects their learning, they tend to have a better self-concept, and they are more likely to feel empowered and motivated to self-advocate."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neurodivergent-kids-flourish-when-theyre-taught-how-their-brains-work/

We always had an eye on self-advocacy and agency when developing IEP goals, looking ahead to when students would leave our school and how their services and goals would best put them on a path for greater independence.

It all starts with supporting students with building their confidence to ask questions in class when they don't understand something and to ask for help when they need it--and to understand that self-advocacy as part of the learning process, rather than "not being able."