Information about Education Therapy

 

    Our teaching methods are based on Diane McGuinness’ work, Why Our Children Can’t Read., Jeanne Chall’s Learning to Read: the Great Debate,  and Marilyn Jager Adams’ Beginning to Read.   

          “From research in the classroom and the clinic, we have discovered that when the sequence of reading and spelling instruction is compatible with the logic of the alphabet code and  with the child’s linguistic and logical development, learning to read and spell proceeds rapidly and smoothly for all children  and is equally effective for poor readers of all ages.  The  scientific research (Adams, Lindamood, McGuinness C., Alexander, Fletcher, Juel, McGuinness, D., Williams, J.P.) is now showing that phoneme awareness must be taught first in the teaching of reading; the child needs to be trained to hear the order of  sounds within syllables and words, then taught how to spell these sounds.

          Marilyn Adams evaluated the research on phonics and reading as well as the phonics instructional programs of the 1990’s. “The developers of ‘phonics curricula have never analyzed the structure of the spelling code, so that phonics programs are not only seriously impoverished but chaotic...phonics logic is backwards and the code cannot be categorized with this logic....One traditional way to teach phonics is to teach ‘sounds‘.  The other way, which doesn’t have a name, teaches the ‘sounds of language’ and how these sounds are mapped to the letters.  This is the methodology of our clinic.

          We have taken the approaches of Lindamood- Bell, Orton-Gillingham, F.A.S.T. (Steve Tattum of Denver Academy), Allographs, and developed our own highly effective program for low-performing students.

          We have adopted Dianne McGuinness’ major components for a good beginning reading program:

*  phoneme awareness (training in awareness of phonemes in speech and the ability to segment and blend isolated phonemes in words)

*  alphabet principle  (teach the alphabet code the way it was written; from sound to print)

*  sound to symbol association  (teach how to connect phonemes in words to individual letters and letter combinations)

*  logic ( instruction is sequenced in a logical order from simple to complex and conforms to the child’s developmental level.  It includes the entire spelling code, not just a fraction of it)

*  curriculum (materials cover all possible skill areas;  phoneme analysis, segmenting, blending, reading, writing, spelling. Materials are related in content.  Reading and spelling are reversible.

*  pedogogic style (we teach by exposure and example, using brief, clear multisensory explanations and practice.  Child is actively problem solving, not passive.  Error correcting positive and immediate)

*  fail-safe (we constantly monitor and document the child’s reading process and performance)

          

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     Evaluations include Pre and post testing with Woodcock Johnson- Revised Standard and Supplementary Batteries (Reading, Word Attack, Comprehension).  Math subtests are also included upon request.  Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning and other more specific tests for learning strengths and weaknesses are offered.

  

    Diane McGuinness evaluated the most popular and effective remedial  reading programs, concluding that “children fail to learn to read in school because they aren’t being taught correctly.  They fail to learn to read in remedial programs because they aren’t being taught correctly.

 

     The documentation of our program shows that we teach “everyone” to read, including the 90 % of children who never escape special education classrooms, low achieving students with normal intelligence, and the large number of children that other remedial programs fail.  Progress is determined by the quality and the consistency of the program and by the amount of one-on-one sessions that the students receive.  Children learn faster one-on-one than in small groups.  However, for financial reasons, we do serve some students in small groups.

          Children without learning disabilities can be taught to read in approximately 30 hours one-on-one by a reading specialist at our clinic.  The average gain in grade equivalency for 30 hours of tutoring is 1.5 years. With older students, the gains are bigger.  Children with learning disabilities require longer, usually requiring additional specialized attention in auditory and/or visual processing strategies.

          There is a system or hierarchy to remediate reading in low-achieving children.  Our program is hyper-vigilant in this regard.  First graders are taught the basic code.  Reading, spelling, and writing are compatible (games, readers, workbooks) which makes the reading level increase more quickly.  Traditional children’s literature  that includes words with digraphs, consonant clusters, irregular spellings, and words not easily “broken” into syllables are excluded at this level.

          From grades 2-4,  the clinician introduces a systematic program of increasing level of difficulty and sight words.  Use of manipulative letters enable the child to master phonemic spelling patterns up to two-syllable words (use of nonsense and real words).  Sensory cognitive therapy is utilized to enable the child to successfully integrate non-phonetic words.  Teaching a student how to visualize what he/she hears and reads remediates comprehension weaknesses.

          Grades 4-6 focuses on morphemic spelling patterns for multisyllable words, prefixes, suffixes, compounding, and the Latin and Greek layers of language.  Graphic organizers designed to help students process information, summarize reading, and prepare for writing are utilized.  Graphic organizers improve students’ ability to think, to comprehend, and to organize information so that all the key information is presented at one time.  Unlike traditional outlines, graphic organizers  are visual representations of information (i.e., Venn diagram for comparing and contrasting, opinion chart, cause-effect diagrams)

          Grades 7-12 uses the same principles as above in the same sequential order, more expansive graphic organizing, and higher level thinking skills.

Teachers report that students’ skills in reading and writing, as well as science and social studies improve as the graphic organizers make these subjects easier to understand.  Students at all levels assess their written (and re-written) work by comparing it against a Written rubric, a set of rules for scoring writing.  Being familiar with this assessment method prepares students for performance assessment tests that are scored against a rubric. 

 

5.       All tutors are trained in these strategies that are congruent with and facilitate faster mastery of programs used by DOE schools.  In Richard Allington’s summary of the national evaluation of Chapter 1 programs, he considers the instructional treatment of at-risk students, finding that they are receiving less and less quality instruction and more and more worksheets (meant to develop the spelling and reading that these children lack in the first place).

          Our clinic is designed to identify and remediate reading problems..  High energy clinicians, documentation of all sessions with each student, reinforcement and reward for each child are part of what makes our clinic unique and successful.  All activities are based on the child’s individual needs, materials are carefully selected so that the student can read with at least 90% accuracy, and each lesson introduces a new skill.

 

6.  Tutors communicate with the student’s classroom teacher and parents by email, form letters, phone, and one-on-one consult.  Letters of recommendations by school personnel indicate how effective the communication between school and clinic are.

 

7.  Tutoring services are provided at  the Education Therapy office in Kahului and at local libraries and schools, and in some instances, the student’s home.

Motivation and emotional aspects in remediation are critical to the success of the program.  The students’, parents’, and teachers’ emotional reactions to reading failure must be acknowledged and motivation of the student must be present.  One strong component of our clinic is the reward contingency; a child earns play money for mastery and performance; the play money is redeemed for REAL money.

 

 

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          Because I believe passionately that reading impacts on almost everything we do and that the emotional consequences of reading failure for children is devastating, the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is more relevant to reading instruction than to any other endeavor.  It determines how we learn, what we learn, whether we can graduate from high school, or hold down a job.  Reading impacts on every subject, including math.  That is why we stress reading at our clinic; even though we teach the use of graphic organizers, math, and other core subjects, we primarily teach the code of reading, finding that after learning how to read, most students can then with regular classroom assistance, maintain their own level of academic success.  HENCE, OUR MOTTO: READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE!