Does the Literacy Curriculum Matter?

 Absolutely, but with a caveat. 

So, it turns out that it's REALLY hard to find a good Language Arts curriculum. The textbook publishing industry is a juggernaut and is bloated with cash and the want of more. In turn, they bloat their products with gimmicky things: lots of colors, pictures, manipulatives, puppets, and hopefully some decodable books somewhere in the mix. 

Also, all programs are not created equal. It's important to check the evidence behind a program - but that is also difficult. There are a couple of websites out there that will give you decent information about curriculum, but many of them are difficult to navigate or the information is given without much context. Personally, I think that EdReports is the easiest to follow and understand - here is the Wit & Wisdom Entry - but to be fair, I don't actually know what the EdReports criteria is for reviewing things. Many programs don't even show up on the other websites (What Works Clearinghouse, NCII, Evidence for ESSA) because the criteria for review wasn't met. That means that the research wasn't done in such a way that it qualified for review. Also, I feel like EdReports provides opinions based on the research which is not what you'll find on those other websites. If you want to do your OWN research into curriculum, you can check out The Reading League's Curriculum Evaluation Tool.

All that, which sort of took me into the weeds a bit, is to say that you can have the BEST curriculum out there. Maybe it follows an amazing scope and sequence and the evidence is that kids learn to read at a greater rate than kids who are not getting what we will call Magical Program. 

And here's your caveat...

But if you still have teachers who are telling kids to guess a word by looking at a picture, or to figure out the word from context, or to see if it "sounds right," then all the evidence in the world is not going to make that program work. 

Evidence is only as good as the fidelity with which the program is implemented. 

I cannot stress enough how important it is for teachers to STOP TELLING KIDS TO GUESS WORDS BASED ON PICTURES! It is harmful to EVERYONE, even the kids who do learn to read without proper instruction! Those kids who learn to read without proper instruction? Many of them will develop problems later - when they no longer have pictures and the words are more complex. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about the implementation of Wit & Wisdom in our school district. It's a pretty good  program and it does have a scope and sequence. It also builds upon prior knowledge which is very important. 

What am I worried about with the implementation of the new Wit & Wisdom? 

Off the top of my head:

• Will there be continued coaching for teachers who are using the program? 
• Is the professional development deep enough and are teachers engaging in that professional development? 
• Will the district actually implement an MTSS-R system so that there is a process for what to do when a student IS NOT making progress? 
• Even Magical Program will not work for all students at the same rate. Students with dyslexia and other reading struggles will still require more intensive instruction.
• Will schools continue to implement the program with fidelity through the upper grades? Ideally, putting a good Tier 1 program in place should stem the flow of kids into Tier 2 and Tier 3, but if you stop teaching reading after 2nd or 3rd grade because you've arbitrarily decided that that's when kids switch from learning to read to reading to learn, you're going to be right back where you started.
• What about the kids we've already failed? What about my son who is still struggling with reading in high school and who NEVER learned to write well (dyselxia also impacts writing and organizing thoughts around writing). Are we going to implement anything for them?

I fear the answer to that last question is no. There is no time for my son to get all his credits in high school and take a remedial course in reading or writing. So I will continue to pay a tutor to help him with reading. I may have to find someone to help with his writing - but since I was a creative writing major and it's kind of my jam, I think I can help for the time being. But this assumes that he will actually let me help him.

I hate to end on a low note, but facts are facts. I am going to drop a few resources here to help with some understanding:

Not sure what I'm talking about when I discussed Tiers of Support? Check out this graphic (designed by the lovely people at the Lead for Literacy Center (L4L) and then polished into a graphic by yours truly (I am part of the Lead for Literacy dissemination team). You can read the brief that goes with the graphic too. L4L has a ton of really great resources for school, district, and state level leadership - because everyone from top to bottom should understand what good reading instruction looks like.

Lastly, the new NCIL Supporting Students with Dyslexia Toolkit. This houses Understanding Dyslexia as well as 4 brand new Toolkits and Tutorials. And here's a tip

Whispering: reading instruction for students with or at risk for dyslexia is good for ALL students. So, even though these things say "Dyslexia" everywhere, this information is really good information for all teachers and parents.

Understanding Dyslexia

School-based Screening

Identifying School Based Supports

👉Reading Instruction

Intensifying Instruction

Don't dive into all of this at once 😀

Is It Dyslexia? Does It Matter What I Call It?

 NO! It doesn't matter what you call it! But also, it totally does.

First, it's #DyselxiaAwarenessMonth so I'm not sure if this post is well-timed or ill-timed, but here it goes!

It turns out that nearly ALL kids can learn to read if you provide them with appropriate, evidence-based, systematic, cumulative instruction. It should include instruction in all the big ideas of beginning reading - phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

For some kids, this process will take little time. They will get it after just a little practice. But MOST kids - not just kids with dyslexia or a reading disability - need systematic instruction in the 5 big ideas. 

Sidebar: I love this video from my friend Jess Surles. She can tell you better than I can, what effective instruction looks like: 

 All kids are going to learn to read at a different rate. Like I said above, some will pick it up like it's nothing and that's great, but not everyone can do that (in fact, MOST people can't). But what we DO know is that systematic, cumulative, instruction (that hopefully has an evidence base) is the best way (that we know of right now) to teach MOST kids to read (like, virtually anyone). Sorry for all the parenthetical phrases there, but I wanted to make sure that I was qualifying things - because it turns out that science is ever evolving and we should change practice as new evidence comes to light.

So, call it what you want - dyslexia, a specific learning disability in reading, struggling reader - if we were providing the appropriate instruction to all kids, the labels wouldn't matter so much. 

I also think that some people find the word dyslexia to be a little scary. It's scary to think that your child has a disability and maybe it's easier to just use the term struggling reader.

So, all that being said, why do I believe that it's also totally important to use the word dyslexia?

Because when I told my son that the reason he couldn't read was that he had something called dyslexia which just meant that his brain was wired differently and it made connecting sounds to letters and words in print difficult, he was so relieved. He was relieved because he had spent years feeling like he was stupid; like he was incapable of doing this thing that all these other kids could do. Adults made him feel like he was supposed to be able to do this thing and instead of helping, they paired him with other students who couldn't read and told them to "read together" which of course, they couldn't do. 

So suddenly he had confidence in himself. He felt like he could say, I have dyslexia. It's a brain difference that makes it hard for me to read. And you know, for the most part, people just accept that. 

So, do we need to call it dyslexia? We shouldn't have to. We shouldn't have to pay a neuropsychologist to give us a diagnosis of dyslexia to get help for our kids. It's cost prohibitive for most people. And we shouldn't have to be in a situation where our kids have to have a word to apply to themselves because they haven't been taught to read. But...here we are. So, the answer is YES. It is so important that we #saydyslexia that we screen for dyslexia and that we provide intensive evidence-based instruction for kids who have dyslexia (but also any other reading struggle). 

Dyslexia Awareness Month

 Did you know that October is Dyslexia Awareness Month? For those of us who see the struggles of our children, dyslexia awareness is every day, but it's always good to try and bring attention to this disability that affects around 15% of the population. 

The National Center on Improving Literacy will be sharing resources all month long. 

Start with this video to learn about the resources that are currently available. 

Or you can find a list on the Dyslexia Awareness Month Resource Page.

Make Your Voice Heard! Oregon's New Literacy Framework

 The Oregon Dept. of Education is asking for feedback from stakeholders: educators and families about literacy support! Please complete this survey!

K-5 Literacy Framework - Community and Professionals Input Survey

Here's what I wrote: 

Needs for teaching literacy

Every teacher needs training in how to teach based on the Science of Reading with deep dives into professional development in systematic, evidence-based reading instruction.

Every elementary school teacher should get training in LETRS or a similar program to help them understand what they need to do to teach reading. Programs in addition to LETRS are: The Reading League Online Academy, CORE Learning Accelerated Reading Achievement with the Science of Reading, AIM Institute for Learning & Research Pathways to Proficient Reading Course, The Center for Literacy and Learning has a couple of options for virtual coaching and online learning, The Big Dippers, EBLI For educators, and Keys to Literacy Keys to Beginning Reading PD course.

The state needs to get involved in Higher Ed Colleges of Education. They need to be teaching future teachers how to teach reading. It needs to happen NOW. Look to Eastern Oregon for a model.

Literacy priorities

That schools are NOT teaching our children to read. Just providing a list of evidence-based programs to choose from isn't enough. Teachers need systematic professional development to get them to STOP asking kids to guess words based on pictures and context. If the teacher continues to use strategies that are proven to not effectively teach most kids, even the most evidence-based program is not going to help.

Ongoing support is KEY. Literacy coaches should be funded, and they should have extensive knowledge in how to teach reading effectively.

As part of that ongoing support, providing PD around effective ways to use data to support students often gets pushed aside. Schools do the required screening, but if they are still looking at data in first grade and saying things like, "oh, he's fine, he'll catch up, so he doesn't need any help," that data is useless. Often data is collected but there are no tiers of support and that is how kids fall through the cracks.

Helpful strategies

Systematic, evidence-based instruction based on the 5 big ideas of beginning reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), Instruction should be evidence-based, engaging, systematic, cumulative, and explicit.

Data-based decision making - using screening data to make sure that students who need additional instruction and intervention are actually getting it.

Tutoring or intensive intervention for students in middle school who lost so much in the last few years of elementary school.

What questions do you have for ODE about the Literacy Framework or revisions?

I want to know if schools and districts will get professional development around literacy and the Literacy Framework. Again, making changes to the literacy framework so that it aligns with best practices in teaching reading, isn't going to change anything at the school level unless PD is provided and ongoing support happens for ALL schools.

What else should we know about you and why you are invested in literacy education for Oregon's children?

My son was diagnosed with a specific learning disability in reading and writing just after the 2nd grade, but it took us 3 months after he started 3rd grade to get him any services. He never once met any of his goals on his IEP, and the ONLY reason he's ever learned to read is that I shell out thousands of dollars a year to have him tutored with instruction that aligns with the science. I didn't trust that the school would take care of him or help him and I was right.

Gearing Up for the New School Year

The Debate

It's that time of year again. When you get messages from the school about how excited they are for your kids to be back and all of the fantastic learning they have in store for the year.

Really, all it does is ratchet up my anxiety. Who will his teachers be? Will they understand dyslexia? Will they accommodate his disability? Do they have any idea what Universal Design for Learning is? 

Sidebar: you should check out UDL, they are actually supposed to use it in the district, but I'm pretty sure that not one teacher has had any professional development around it.

Check out these pages for information about Universal Design:

 Understood.org: What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

CAST: Universal Design at a Glance

Reading Rockets: Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of All Students

Every year at this time I try to decide if I'm going to be "that mom." You know the one. The one who contacts all of the teachers for her 15-year-old child to tell them how they need to teach her child. Reminds them that he has an IEP and to save them time, adds all of his accommodations to the email, perhaps highlighting the few that are the most important for that particular class.

So far, I've only done this once. It was in the 6th grade and all the teachers I contacted responded with, "I already know that your kid has an IEP." And when I did it late in the year for 8th grade, the teacher completely focused on "need for praise" which got left in from elementary school and my son HATED it. He does not ever want people to praise him. He would rather float under the radar. 

But this year, as he enters 10th grade, I feel like, I need to take that first step. I'll reach out to the teacher, provide the information, and let them know that he's working on self-advocacy, but he struggles with that when he is with unfamiliar teachers. He HATES to ask for help. 

UPDATE: I did it! I sent messages to all of his teachers and I feel like I've gotten a pretty positive response. Today was the first day of school so we shall see how things progress. What to know what I said? Here's my email with names removed to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

My name is Anna Ingram and my son is in your [specific class name] class this fall. As you may know my son has an IEP for a Specific Learning Disability in reading and writing. 

He is extremely bright and remembers nearly everything he hears. His listening comprehension is in the 96th percentile while his reading and written language skills have hovered in the single-digit percentiles. He still spells many things phonetically. 

I wanted to reach out to you and highlight some of the accommodations that are most beneficial to him.

My son will also likely reach out, but he is still working on advocating for himself and will sometimes not ask questions when he doesn’t fully understand something. This is especially true when he’s unfamiliar with the teacher.

General Accommodations

• Example of the finished product to help with the understanding of expectations.

• Alternative assessment - Allow understanding to be demonstrated in different ways, like oral reports, posters, and video presentations. (For assignments where the goal is to make sure that content is understood rather than an assignment that is strictly about writing.)

• Break assignments into more manageable "chunks" 

• Frequent comprehension check-ins, check his work to show understanding and that he knows how the start assignment

• Some of this can be alleviated just by having clear directions that are bulleted and/or by someone going over all of the directions with him.

• Opportunity to retake the test after demonstrating a relearn, option to test in the learning center

• Preferential seating near instruction away from distractions

• Extra time to complete assignments/assessments as negotiated with the teacher with full credit;

• Option to have a teacher/EA read questions on tests or assignments

Reading and Writing

• When applicable access to the second set of textbooks or access codes for online use at home

• Access to technology for audiobooks, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and editing software.

• Option to use the computer over handwriting in classes

• Graphic organizer for writing assignments

• Access to repeated adult (teacher or EA) editing assistance

Organizational

• Access to class notes/slides (teacher/peer)

• During note-taking, Garret can listen only then write down what he heard

• Access to tech for organizational support

• Access to digital copies of assignments and any resources that go home.

Thank you for your time and please feel free to reach out to me or his Case Manager if you have any questions or concerns.

"Gift" or "Superpower" Nonsense

 I am a firm believer in encouraging strengths and building confidence. I think that is an excellent thing to do for your child especially if they are struggling with something. For example, we have ensured that our son has access to art and sword fighting classes. These are things he's interested in and doesn't have anything to do with reading - which is his struggle.

But I do not subscribe to the "dyslexia is a superpower" school of thought. Do I think that people with dyslexia think differently? Yes. Do I think that people with dyslexia may approach a problem in a unique and different way? Sure. 

But I don't think that it's healthy or fair to tell people with dyslexia that they will turn out to be a billionaire or a professional athlete. People with dyslexia are not uber-intelligent. They can be, but just like anyone else, they can be of average intelligence or even below average intelligence. 

And I really don't believe that it makes any sense to tell someone who struggles with reading that dyslexia is a "gift." Louisa Moats probably sums this up the best:

 Let’s start with the claim that dyslexia – whether mild, moderate, or severe – is a “gift”. This assertion appears grounded in the observation that some people who have trouble learning to read, write, spell or use language become very successful in life. People who have real trouble remembering printed words are said to “see things differently” or have special cognitive powers. Our best science indicates, however, problem-solving and creative abilities are not more dominate because a person has dyslexia. People with dyslexia may be very good at mechanical problem solving, graphic arts, spatial navigation, athletics, or abstract reasoning – or they may not be.

People who succeed in spite of their academic learning difficulties are a marvel – but their talents exist separate from, not because of, their language-based reading, spelling, or writing problems. Those who experience dyslexia often experience anxiety and other affective challenges. We should not assert that dyslexia and giftedness go hand in hand, or that students are better off because they are afflicted with this condition.

See the whole article on the International Dyslexia Association website. And if you don't know who Louisa Moats is, definitely check out her writing (Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science)and presentations - Here is a recent presentation from the PaTTAN Literacy Symposium, but you can just put her name into the search bar on YouTube and there's a host of other options to check out. 

Thoughts on LETRS Training for Teachers

EdWeek just posted this article about LETRS Training that I found very interesting. You can check the article out here: What Is LETRS? Why One Training Is Dominating ‘Science of Reading’ Efforts

First, let's talk about what LETRS is. 

The briefest explanation is that LETRS is a professional development program that helps teachers understand how children learn to read and the basics of how to teach foundational reading skills. Or if you want a more commercial definition, you can check out the Lexia Learning site for LETRS

How does this relate to Oregon? And specifically, Eugene, OR?

Decoding Dyslexia Oregon made a profound shift right after the 2019 NAEP report came out (this report basically says that only Mississippi children made any gains in learning to read by 4th grade), to focus on getting teachers trained in LETRS. This shift was from that focus on dyslexia to a focus on teaching all kids to read the way that all kids can learn to read. However, DDOR is mostly active in the Portland area and that's where the focus has been. Here in Eugene, not so much. There is a relatively young chapter of DDOR in the Eugene area, but I haven't been involved in most of that because it was just getting off the ground when COVID hit. 

Slowly, the LETRS information has trickled into the ears of Eugene's teachers. 

Did you know that Bethel School District has been aligned with the University of Oregon educational research community for decades? Most Bethel schools are teaching reading using evidence-based, systematic reading instruction. Or, they were the last time I knew anything about it which was maybe 5 years ago?

Did you know that 4j schools are so decentralized that they all do things completely differently? Some schools follow evidence-based instruction and some don't and even though they are all supposed to use the same language arts curriculum, some of them just don't use it. (Not that this is a big deal when your curriculum is kind of crappy to begin with)

Did you know that there are about 200 local teachers who are going through LETRS training? 

Did you know that even though school districts could have used COVID money to pay to get their teachers trained, that the teachers getting LETRS training locally are getting it through funding from the United Way?

Why am I asking all of these questions? Possibly because I'm enraged that our largest local school district wouldn't fund such important training...possibly that I feel my question marks drip with sarcasm and disgust.

Thoughts about LETRS

Is LETRS the only option? It's absolutely not. 

Is it the only option that people generally know about and will help increase teacher knowledge about evidence-based reading instruction? Yes. 

Does something need to happen RIGHT NOW to help teachers teach kids how to read? Absolutely. 

Is LETRS too expensive? Probably, but we have to start somewhere and this is what is readily available. Administrators have heard of it because Mississippi was the only state to make gains in reading and it's what they used. 

Is LETRS a cure for what ails schools' ability to teach reading? Probably not? I think that you can't just provide LETRS training to teachers and expect that things will be magically fixed. There has to be a fundamental change at the district (or state) level. If the district doesn't think that they need to teach kids how to read (obviously district leaders wouldn't characterize it this way, but this is what it IS), all the LETRS training in the world isn't going to shift the needle. 

However, is it a bad thing to inform teachers that perhaps they've been doing it wrong all along? NO! Please TAKE LETRS TRAINING if that is all that is available to you as a teacher. The more teachers in your district who are in the know, the more pressure that can be put on school boards and administrators to make giant shifts in the way that reading is taught in our schools! Because make no mistake, giant shifts NEED to happen so we don't continue to create a population that is semi-literate. 

What are the other options?

I'm going to preface this by saying I really know nothing about any of these trainings. Some of them are going to be less intensive and some are more intensive. What I do know is that they are all (in relatively good faith, if with an eye to profit) trying to get evidence-based instructional practices into the hands of teachers. So, I'm not rating these things and I'm not putting them in any particular order. This is just informational. 

• The Reading League Online Academy. Also an introduction to Basic Reading Instruction for Parents
• CORE Learning Accelerated Reading Achievement with the Science of Reading

Fun fact: Carrie Beck who used to run the CTL Reading Clinic and who used to be the state level dyslexia specialist for Oregon is the Director of Literacy at CORE.

• AIM Institute for Learning & Research Pathways Programs Pathways to Proficient Reading Course
• The Center for Literacy and Learning has a couple of options for virtual coaching and online learning. 

Fun fact: They put on a fabulous conference every year called Plain Talk about Literacy and Learning. It's in New Orleans and always attracts the big names in the science of reading community.

• The Big Dippers This is a condensed course but is also inexpensive comparatively. 
• EBLI For educators, but also they have what I think are free resources for Parents
• Keys to Literacy Keys to Beginning Reading PD course. I've heard good things.

Final Thoughts

Don't discount the free resources! Almost every one of those organizations above also has a host of free resources that can help you get started if you don't have funding or support from your district. 

And you can always check out the Educate Yourself and Online Resources sections of this website.