Why I became a tutor and how the current public school system fails children with dyslexia
I learned about dyslexia because my own children showed characteristics of dyslexia in elementary school. I educated myself by reading articles, watching videos, and listening to podcasts to gain an understanding of what I could do to help them with their homework and the challenges they faced in the typical classroom.
Through this process, I quickly learned that very few classroom teachers, including special education teachers, are trained in teaching for dyslexia or informed about how it affects 20% of the population: 1 in every 5 students is dyslexic, which means that in a typical public school classroom of 30 students, at least 5-6 students will be dyslexic.
I found that under current educational policy, the burden falls on the parents to research appropriate accommodations, and more importantly, ensure those accommodations are being implemented on a daily basis by school faculty and staff. However, even the best accommodations are not enough if the school’s curriculum does not include evidence-based methods for teaching dyslexic students. Most dyslexic students attending school with an IEP will still need outside, private tutoring to progress because many classroom and special education teachers are not informed about dyslexia and are not using evidence-based teaching methods for dyslexia/dyscalculia.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not blame teachers for this – Our public school teachers are overworked, underpaid, and doing the best they can with the limited resources and training provided to them. If you would like to find an appropriate place to direct any frustrations with the school system for neglecting dyslexic students, please work toward ensuring collegiate teacher training programs are using literacy curricula based on the science of reading and that teaching credential programs include dyslexia-informed coursework/training. Future teachers attend and pay for these training programs believing they are receiving literacy expert, evidence-based training and they simply are not in most cases- that is not the fault of hardworking teachers.
By advocating for professional development funds to go to Structured Literacy training for all current lower grade school teachers and Universal Dyslexia Screenings for all 1st Graders, you can ensure future generations of dyslexic students have a fighting chance in our outdated and underfunded school system.
“When children are identified with dyslexia, public schools often lack staff with the appropriate training to help, according to several studies and reports.
And yet, there are proven ways to teach people with dyslexia how to read that are not new or controversial. Research suggests that if all children were taught to read using approaches that work for students with dyslexia, reading achievement would improve overall.
According to the most recent federal data, more than 60 percent of fourth-graders in the United States are not proficient readers. Students who struggle to read are more likely to drop out of high school, to end up in the criminal justice system, and to live in poverty.” (Source)
In fact, 80% of U.S. children identified with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) are dyslexic (source), and yet 0% of the special education teachers at the public schools my children attended were required to have training in evidence-based reading or mathematics methods for dyslexia. Policy needs to catch up with neuroscience research in order to help our students.
The teaching methods that work for dyslexic students benefit all students – these methods rely on developing a concrete understanding, instead of just rote memorization, as much of current public school curriculm and testing methods do:
“I can tell you that growing up dyslexic prevented me from the standard method of learning in our school system, which is memorization and regurgitation. I simply couldn’t cram the facts into my head for a week and then vomit them out on a standardized test. I had to understand every minute detail of what I was learning. And then once it stays in my brain, I’m able to connect those facts with new facts that are coming in.”
-Max Brooks, dyslexic and best-selling author, explaining how his dyslexic mind can analyze complex issues by understanding concepts on a deeper level than what is expected of most students in public school: typically, rote memorization and regurgitation instead of concrete understanding (interview source).
Methods that integrate left-brained and right-brained thinking strengthen understanding and abilities for all types of learners. Even though I am not dyslexic and performed well in traditional public school, I have found that training myself to teach for dyslexic students as an adult has strengthened my understanding and abilities and I wish I had been taught using these methods in my youth – they include auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning. If the main classroom curricula was chosen to include dyslexia-friendly methods and all teachers received the proper training, then many of these students would not need special education pull-outs in the first place.
“But helping students with dyslexia is not just about expanding special education services. Research suggests that if students with dyslexia got effective early reading instruction in their regular classrooms, some of them may not need intensive, specialized instruction.
The problem is that many teachers do not know how to teach reading effectively.”
Source: “Hard to Read: How American schools fail kids with dyslexia.” Emily Hanford, American Public Media. September 2017. https://www.apmreports.org/story/2017/09/11/hard-to-read
The current policies governing the training used to certify public school teachers are not consistent nationwide, and are not always based on neuroscience-proven methods for teaching literacy (evidence-based). Teacher training is often instead based on outdated anecdotes and opinions for methods that work for *some* students (i.e. the Whole Language method of “teaching” reading). This is not only setting up at least 20% of our students to fail to learn to read in the classroom, it is also setting up our teachers to fail. It is unfair to give our teachers a false sense of preparedness as they enter their profession, believing they have been taught the most scientifically sound and proven methods to teach reading, when in fact they have not. Teachers do not want to see their students fail. Teachers do not want to feel frustrated and discouraged when the methods they are using are not working for all of their students. Our teachers and students deserve better. They deserve to learn how to teach reading and how to learn reading with the most effective, evidence-based methods.
The public charter schools my children formerly attended both used mathematics curricula in the main classroom and in the special educational program that did not meet the needs of dyslexic or dyscalculiac students, and in fact, directly opposed the teaching methods that have been shown to be effective for dyslexic students (read more about those methods here). My husband and I homeschooled for three years so that my children received the evidence-based teaching methods and curricula they need in order to progress and thrive, and allowed us to focus our energy on nurturing their dyslexic strengths, instead of using our energy to fight an educational system with outdated policies, beliefs, information, and training about learning differences.
My educational background is not in primary school education and so I have trained to become a tutor using methods supported by experts and researchers in the fields of dyslexia/dyscalculia education. I hold a Master’s of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of California, Irvine.
