The Reading Crisis
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'I Had No Tools': Why Every Teacher Prep Program Should Include the Science of Reading
LAW: I do. I think that's kind of a silver lining of the pandemic: As we look at reports on how our kids are doing and what they need, the evidence is clearer than ever. Also, during the pandemic, families had front-row access to what was going on in the classroom, and they could see whether their child was able to keep up or not.
THE Journal: What are some of the key elements of literacy teaching that you wish you would have learned sooner?
LAW: I wish that I would have been taught about the human brain as it relates to learning to read, and that if we explicitly teach children how to read, we're making those connections in the brain. I wish I'd learned that dyslexia impacts one in five students, which means that each year, four to five students in my classroom will have dyslexia. It would have been helpful to know this and to have an inkling of the tools available to support not only the students, but also their families.
THE Journal: What are some of the foundational literacy lessons or areas that you had to learn "on the fly" as the teacher while you were simultaneously teaching the students?
LAW: When I moved from teaching fourth grade to first grade, I didn't know all of the sounds that correspond with letters. That's something that I had to learn. I hadn't been taught the importance of phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear the sounds in words and manipulate the sounds and words — that's foundational for our students. Without that foundation, it's hard to teach phonics, and then build up to teaching fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
I wish I would have learned the intricacies of the five essential reading components established by the National Reading Panel in 2000; those were never discussed in my teacher prep program. It would have helped me help my students, had I been taught how these components work together to create that ultimate goal of comprehension. Without this foundational knowledge, it's like telling the teachers that they need to get 30 students from point A to point B, but not providing a map or any additional information. After much anguish and no training, a lot of teachers just give up.
THE Journal: Do you think that every teacher, no matter what grade or subject they're teaching, should understand these five essentials of teaching literacy?
LAW: I do. A high school social studies teacher needs to have this knowledge because they are going to have students who struggle with some of these foundational literacy components in their classroom. If they understand these basics of teaching literacy, then the teacher is able to intervene — or at least guide the student to gain this information. The bottom line is that all teachers need to know how the brain learns to read.
THE Journal: For the teachers currently practicing who don't know how to teach reading or help the struggling readers in their classroom, can you suggest some easily accessible professional learning resources on this subject?
LAW: This is kind of what I went through — searching for resources as I was teaching and running into problems I didn't know how to solve. During my career as a teacher, I first learned about dyslexia. Dr. Sally Shaywitz's book Overcoming Dyslexia gives a lot of background knowledge on brain research and the foundational skills that students need in order to read. I also got involved with my local Decoding Dyslexia group, so I could learn more about advocacy.
This ultimately led me to the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education, IMSE, which is where I gained the training that I needed, not only for the foundation of my knowledge, but to be able to then implement it into my classroom. I took my training through them, and then I took a practicum through them. Okay, get certified. And that's what I'm working for now.
THE Journal: So how can advancement in education technology help students better learn how to read and help teachers step in when they see there's a problem — or help them identify the problem?
LAW: The goal of learning to read is to be able to comprehend the written language. So while students are learning to read, they also need access to texts that may be above their skill level. The advancements in the quality of text-to-speech technology has really allowed struggling readers to access texts that they may not otherwise be able to digest. This kind of levels the playing field and provides support to increase that comprehension.
One of my favorite websites is called ReadWorks; it provides support to build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension by using high-interest articles. ReadWorks gives teachers the ability to differentiate articles by students' reading ability, and it offers an audio narrative feature to make grade-level content available for struggling readers.
Now, in the same sense, students who struggle with reading may also struggle with writing. They might have amazing ideas in their brain, but getting them down onto paper can be exceedingly hard. So the advancements in speech-to-text have also leveled the playing field for those students somewhat. And then tools like Grammarly and Read&Write can help students feel more confident and successful when they're writing.
Another valuable piece of technology is audiobooks and apps like Learning Ally. It's invaluable to parents and teachers for students with specific learning disabilities or even visual impairments. Learning Ally provides audiobooks for students for entertainment as well as classroom textbooks.
THE Journal: At what point did you decide to dedicate your career to helping teachers provide literacy support to their students?