Academic Child Neglect – One Representative Case Study

My nephew’s wife mentioned that their 12 year old son had recently been reported to be having difficulties in school. The worried parents had arranged for a psychological assessment . They were told that he had a condition known as dysgraphia – the inability to express himself clearly in written English. Having been a teacher,Continue reading “Academic Child Neglect – One Representative Case Study”

September Curriculum Review – Why do schools spend weeks reviewing last year’s work?

  The Existing Condition Each year as kids head back to school, they can most likely expect to spend a few weeks catching up on the basics that they were taught the preceding year. Parents and teachers suggest that review is needed due to forgetting over the long summer break with minimal or no practice.IContinue reading “September Curriculum Review – Why do schools spend weeks reviewing last year’s work?”

The current situation. Really !!! Tell me it isn’t true!!!

Remedial ed rate high in Alabama colleges.  This article appeared in the Dothan Eagle yesterday morning. It is a sample of the current state of literacy in America. Posted in News on Monday, July 15, 2013 5:27 pm.  The Dothan Eagle Making sure Alabama students enter college prepared for the course work they’ll encounter there is a problemContinue reading “The current situation. Really !!! Tell me it isn’t true!!!”

Lying About and Cheating with the Evidence

Teaching Reading – The Lies and Deceit in Studies of Evidence-Based Research In Jean Stockard’s recently published book, The Science and Success of Engelmann’s Direct Instruction, the author reviews how educational research is chosen and publicized and how agencies lie to us about scientific research in education. An Example of Good Science – Project FollowContinue reading “Lying About and Cheating with the Evidence”

Why Your School Doesn’t Care That Johnny Did Not Learn to Read This Year

Part 2- Don’t Blame His Teacher!!! As I mentioned in Part 1, 35% of the children leaving first grade this year still cannot read. These children have generally spent three years in school already in Junior Kindergarten, Senior Kindergarten and First Grade…. and they still have not been taught to read. Now Hear This –Continue reading “Why Your School Doesn’t Care That Johnny Did Not Learn to Read This Year”

Why Doesn’t Your School Care That Johnny Didn’t Learn to Read?

Why doesn’t your school care that Johnny didn’t learn to read? Fact:  This year 35% of the children leaving first grade did not learn to read. Fact:    85% of these children will never learn to read and will become illiterate. Fact:    A high school student drops out of school every 26 seconds. Fact:  Continue reading “Why Doesn’t Your School Care That Johnny Didn’t Learn to Read?”

Helping Our Schools Increase Literacy Skills: Part 8

  Helping Our Schools by Increasing Literacy – Triggering an Epidemic – Part 8        In most organizations, a minority of members does the majority of the work. It is sometimes referred to as the 80/20 Rule in which 80% of the work is completed by 20% of the membership. This is anotherContinue reading “Helping Our Schools Increase Literacy Skills: Part 8”

Helping Our Schools Increase Literary Skills: Part 7

Helping Our Schools by Increasing Literacy – Triggering an Epidemic Mary had a plan She got the principal’s and the parent’s permission to do the reading screening from the website with the school’s students. She got her book club to give up a session and to spend a day listening  to the children do theContinue reading “Helping Our Schools Increase Literary Skills: Part 7”

Why Our Schools Are Failing- Part 6

  Helping Our Schools by Increasing Literacy – Part 6 Let’s Start a Word-of-Mouth Literacy Epidemic – A Hypothetical Example. Mary is a connector. She has many friends and acquaintances, is a member   of several community groups, is called upon often to head up or serves on       committees, including the Parent/TeachersContinue reading “Why Our Schools Are Failing- Part 6”

Why Our Schools Are Failing: Part 5

              Helping Our Schools Create Literacy Skills–Part 5  Let’s Start a Word-of-Mouth Literacy Epidemic Introduction It is incredibly important that we understand, as Gladwell points out, that epidemics develop in geometric progression, not linear progression.  With each successive step, they double in size. The HIV/Aids epidemic started with oneContinue reading “Why Our Schools Are Failing: Part 5”