Working with an LD student.

From your experience, describe a child who was delayed in either reading or language development. Then describe the response of teachers, parents or other significant adults as they attempted to deal with the delay. What would you have done if the child were your responsibility?

This will be the saddest story I tell (I think, relative to what subjects are coming). I will tell of the student, “Danny” whom I had while teaching at the private school. This module asked, “From your experience, describe a child who was delayed in either reading or language development. Then describe the response of teachers, parents or other significant adults as they attempted to deal with the delay. What would you have done if the child were your responsibility?”

When I met Danny, he was 16 years old. He had been homeschooled by his mother, much like his older brother had been. However, unlike his older brother, Danny clearly had learning disabilities. His mother was a working woman and because Danny’s older brother had been able to do things on his own, she thought Danny would be able to do the same. I don’t even think Danny’s mother realized how far behind her son was getting until most people would have said it was too late. Simply put, by the time I met Danny, he could not read beyond what I would say was a second grade level. He was also similarly behind in math skills.

--- I want to insert here that in many cases, this IS how it goes with homeschooled kids. Ohio makes it very easy to home school your child. There are no standards which must be met, no abilities which must be obtained. All a parent has to do is submit a writing sample from the student, OR a standardized test each year, along with the proposed curriculum and books you will be using. There are no score requirements (we used the IOWA for standardized testing, which at the time was good. This test, however, has changed greatly in the past year and I would no longer recommend it for achievement testing – it is now set up much more like an aptitude test.). There are no checks. It is sad when we see homeschool children who have in all reality had no schooling. Though this is common, this is not the rule. If the parent is involved, and if the student has other sources for social interaction (youth groups, church groups, etc.), then homeschooling can be very successful. I’ve known homeschooled children to earn full college scholarships – but those were the children who had parents who were truly involved. It’s not for everybody, and I think it should NEVER be used because you don’t want your child in the public setting. Using homeschooling as a form of protection from the reality of the world is not wise, and will leave your child very unprepared for life once he or she finally sees it. Since this is most often done by Christians, I must remind: Jesus prompted that we SHOULD be out in the word, but not take part in the sins of the world. How can a Christian shine as an example if he or she is hiding in a room somewhere?---

Back to Danny. His parents were divorced, and though his mother had intelligence in her line of work and social areas, she was not a teacher. His father was not bright (is there a nice way to say that – he was a very nice man) who had had constant financial/job troubles. Danny himself was probably the most polite and considerate young man I have ever worked with. He showed myself and the former teacher of my class tremendous respect. He had gotten along on his personality and good language skills for years, and I do believe those wonderful features of his personality in part caused his severe lackings in all things academic.

So, Danny came to the school a year before me, at age 15, and at that time he was pretty much completely unable to read. The way his former teacher handled it was by giving him 1st grade reading work and having him work with students of that age. This helped some, but was stigmatizing for Danny, especially in the small school where everyone could see.

Not having had to really do any studying all his life, and not being really good at it, Danny had become quite lazy in the academic fields. I always felt he was one of those students I could not help as much as I would have liked, but I did try a few things.

1. As first grade work sheets are very boring for 16 year olds, I used a curriculum (I forget the name) which took classic stories (Poe’s Pit and the Pendulum, etc.) and put them in a very short, densely laid out comic form (they were condensed books – NOT comics) and we read those together and then he took quizzes on the subject matter. He enjoyed those and did seem to progress with that system.

2. We also tried “Alpha Ladder” – this is a gradual program aimed at increasing reading skills. From the same company as “Calcu-Ladder”

3. For non reading subjects such as math or history, I would have Danny do the best he could at reading the tests, etc, but I would always go over and ask him if he needed me to read anything to him. I lectured, and we discussed the topics the students were to read, so Danny did well there, and even participated in the discussions on a semi regular basis. For some tests which were more difficult, I would even discuss the questions with Danny in private, and grade him based on his spoken responses.

Another student's response: David, I like your interventions that you used for
Danny.
I was wondering if home-schooled students have to take
the proficiency test. From what you have said, I doubt
it. Maybe, if they could make a test like the
proficiency test mandatory for home-schooled students,
we could identify students with special needs sooner,
and provide necessary services instead of waiting till
they are enrolled in high school, and then it gets
really difficult.

My Reply:
They are not required to take a proficiency test. They
can do a paper or some other testing, such as the IOWA
to show where they are each year, but there are no
scoring requirements. Having the students take “the”
proficiency test would defeat many of the purposes of
home schooling, as a lot of the parents who homeschool
do so because they want to teach what they believe is
right (such as Creation as seen in the Bible and the
many scientific notions which support it) rather than
what is on the proficiency (in this case, evolution, and
the pig’s tooth which doesn’t support it).

And yes, sometimes I’m sarcastic just because it’s fun.

The Professor's Response:
It sounds like you turned a "sad story" into a more
promising one through your attempts at providing
appropriate instruction for Danny. What was the outcome?

Actually, it is my understanding that although the
parents do not have the pressure to have their child
take the proficiency test, the school district is still
responsble for all students that live in the district.
As such they are also required to report test scores for
students within their district, whether or not they
attend the school in the district. Please let me know if
my information is not correct.

My Reply:
The school district is responsible for their students,
yes. However, the test scores they report are the test
scores the parent's choose to give. This means the
parents can choose what test to take. Traditionally, the
students in my home-school program, and the students
currently working with my mother turn in IOWA tests.
State proficiency exams are not taken. But, parents
don't have to give the IOWA. They can do any of these
three:

1) standardized test scores (Such as IOWA, or 2) a
written narrative showing satisfactory academic
progress, or 3) an approved alternative assessment.

Yea, that’s pretty open.

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=OH This web
site lists all the rules required for both home-school
students and for non-chartered schools. My school was a
non-chartered school (My undergrad degree was in
psychology, so I could not have a chartered school. My
other teachers were all certified with many years of
teaching behind them).

Professor's Response:
I also checked this out today. You are correct. Home
schooled children do not have to take the Proficiency
tests. Students who are on "home instruction" (that is
those who have been suspended from school with IEPs) are
required to take the Proficiecy tests.

Thanks for the info.

Another Student:
David I had no idea that home schooling was so open and
unmonitored. It is slightly disturbing that children
can go through their school years and basically receive
minimal assessment of their progress. It seems as
though these children would be more closely tracked as
they are typically being taught by parents who are
without teaching credentials. From what I have just
learned the entire process of follow up with home
schooled students seems somewhat strange and almost
backwards to me.

Another Student:
David P. Good suggetions that you listed for this
student. It is important to begin where the student is
in order to not quickly discourage him from learning.

Also, you are correct about it being easy for kids to
fall through the cracks in Ohio when being home schooled
and the education is not appropriate. The child can
slowly become behind and after time become very delayed
in course work.

I have a relative who was not only home schooled but had
a learning disability. The family moved out of state
several times(a common cause of children getting behind
and parents not being held accountable for the education
being given)and by the time the student was sixteen, she
was still reading at a first or second grade level. She
now has a child and has been taken in by social services
who basically has began kindergarten school work to
improve her education. This is something we will likely
all face in school psychology.

My Reply:
Yes, Just as Danny was left behind because of Ohio's
laws and the freedom involved in home schooling, other
students do very well. It really makes a difference as
to who is doing the home instruction. I've seen great
success stories (full four year scholarships awarded to
home school students) and I've seen very sad cases. I
must admit, however, that both scenerios exist for
students in the school systems as well. Currently, there
is no perfect solution.

Filed under: EDC 541 Curriculum and Instruction for Diverse Learners
Copyright: June, 2003 - David Profitt