A new look at special education: special education should not be a first-line intervention for students with learning difficulties. Regular teachers must remediate weaknesses in phonemic awareness skills.Over the past 15 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has published excellent research regarding the development of early reading skills. As summarized in the article "30 Years of Research: What We Now Know About How Children Learn to Read," we now know that phonological pho·nol·o·gy n. pl. pho·nol·o·gies 1. The study of speech sounds in language or a language with reference to their distribution and patterning and to tacit rules governing pronunciation. 2. processing (including phonological awareness Phonological awareness is the conscious sensitivity to the sound structure of language. It includes the ability to auditorily distinguish parts of speech, such as syllables and phonemes. , phonological processing speed See MHz. and phonological memory) is the primary ability area where children with reading difficulties differ from other children. Phonological processing deficits, rather than a discrepancy between IQ and achievement, appear to be the best predictor of reading delays. Lack of phonemic awareness Phonemic Awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to distinguish phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. For example, a listener with phonemic awareness can break the word "Cat" into three separate phonemes: /k/, /a/, is reported to be the most prevalent phonological processing deficit in disabled readers. Based upon this knowledge, our school district has changed its view of the instructional focus and academic expectations for our reading disabled students. Like many school districts, we previously believed that it was in the best interest of our learning disabled students that they receive collaborative special education, i.e., resource specialist support within their regular education classrooms. The resource specialist teacher and/or the resource specialist's instructional aide would "support" these students within regular classroom settings for the amount of time specified on each student's Individual Education Program. In-classroom tutoring was usually focused upon helping these students complete classroom assignments in their identified areas of weakness, such as reading or written language. Emphasis was given to working with these students in their stronger learning modality modality /mo·dal·i·ty/ (mo-dal´i-te) 1. a method of application of, or the employment of, any therapeutic agent, especially a physical agent. 2. (visual, auditory or kinesthetic kin·es·the·sia n. The sense that detects bodily position, weight, or movement of the muscles, tendons, and joints. [Greek k ). We were very successful in helping these students to complete their classroom assignments and to matriculate ma·tric·u·late tr. & intr.v. ma·tric·u·lat·ed, ma·tric·u·lat·ing, ma·tric·u·lates To admit or be admitted into a group, especially a college or university. n. to the next grade level with their peer group. Unfortunately, these students continued to be classified as "learning handicapped" and, quite often, did not develop the academic skills to become academically self-sufficient. It became apparent that in our zeal to provide "support" for our students with academic delays, we had not taught them the essential skills to become independent learners. They continued to struggle with reading and written language skills. Lessons learned As a result of studying current, validated research, we have changed our approach to special education instruction. We no longer solely provide instructional support within the regular classroom to keep resource specialist students moving with their peer group. We now provide daily directed instruction in phonemic awareness, reading and written language. We no longer focus on instructional accommodations for weaknesses in visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning Kinesthetic learning is a teaching and learning style in which learning takes place by the student actually carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or merely watching a demonstration. modalities Modalities The factors and circumstances that cause a patient's symptoms to improve or worsen, including weather, time of day, effects of food, and similar factors. . We now focus on intensive instruction to remediate weaknesses in phonological processing skills. We no longer expect or excuse weak academic progress for students with mild learning disabilities. Students receiving resource specialist instruction are expected to meet regular education promotion standards; however, they have two years of special education instruction to meet these standards. Promotion standards are written into each student's IEP IEP In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Irish Punt. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. . We no longer have non-standards-based IEP goals and objectives. All IEP goals and objectives are now based upon the California state curriculum standards. We no longer believe that special education is a first line intervention for students with learning difficulties. We now expect regular education teachers to recognize and to substantially remediate student weaknesses in phonemic awareness skills. Only when phonemic awareness interventions by the regular classroom teacher do not lead to success in reading will a pupil be referred for consideration for special education services. The district provides ongoing phonemic awareness training to all kindergarten, first and second grade teachers. The training focuses on the development of phonemic awareness and the skills to diagnose and remediate weaknesses. Teachers are instructed in the administration and scoring of the Phonological Awareness Profile, a test published by LinguiSystems. The test measures student development in the critical elements of phonological awareness--rhyming, segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution, blending and decoding de·code tr.v. de·cod·ed, de·cod·ing, de·codes 1. To convert from code into plain text. 2. To convert from a scrambled electronic signal into an interpretable one. 3. . Teachers are also provided with the Phonological Awareness Remediation Kit by LinguiSystems to assist with instruction tailored to correct identified weaknesses. We no longer accept long-term placements in special education. Special education is considered a short-term intervention. The district has developed district-wide criteria to provide direction for students to matriculate from full-day special education programs to partial-day special education programs to regular education programs. These changes in our beliefs and practices regarding mildly handicapped students have started to yield some promising trends. The number of student referrals for consideration for special education services has decreased tot the past two years for our primary grade level students. We believe this is a consequence of early diagnosis and skillful skill·ful adj. 1. Possessing or exercising skill; expert. See Synonyms at proficient. 2. Characterized by, exhibiting, or requiring skill. interventions provided by our primary teachers to address diagnosed difficulties with phonemic awareness. Students receiving resource specialist services are making substantial academic progress. Approximately 98 percent of the district's resource students are currently meeting regular education grade promotion standards. The future Improvements in pupil performance have been so dramatic that we are beginning to see reductions in the number of students referred for special education services in our school district. Central School District administrators and language, speech and hearing specialists provide phonemic awareness training for teachers; classroom teachers work diligently to help every child attain the critical phonological processing skills, and resource specialists and special day class teachers provide systematic, direct instruction to students who need additional instruction to become independent readers. We are sharing this information with the hope that other districts can replicate our positive experiences. Pairing high expectations and intensive research-based interventions for students with mild learning disabilities could be the legitimate key to reducing ever increasing numbers of special education students in our state. References Brady, S. (2000). A Roadmap for the Literature on Reading Acquisition and Reading Disability: Discovering the Research and the Implications for Practice. http:// www.greenwoodinstutute.org/roadmap /rdmindex.html California Special Education Reading Task Force (1999). The California Reading Initiative and Special Education in California The California education system consists of a full range of public and private schools in California, from the University of California system, to well-known private colleges, to an extensive network of secondary and primary education schools. : Critical Ideas Focusing on Meaningful Reform. http://www.cde.ca. gov/spbranch/sed/readnit.pdf Gough, P.B., Larson, K.C., Yopp, H. The Structure of Phonemic Awareness: http://www.psy.utexas.edu/psy/klarson /recife.html Grossen, B. (1997). 30 Years of Research: What we Now Know About How Children Learn to Read [A synthesis of research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development]. Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, city, United States Santa Cruz (săn`tə kr  z), city (1990 pop. 49,040), seat of Santa Cruz co., W Calif., on the north shore of Monterey Bay; inc. 1866. , CA: The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. Lyon, G.R. (1995). "Research Initiatives in Learning Disabilities: Contributions from Scientists Supported by the National institutes of Child Health and Human Development." Journal of Child Neurology, 10, 120-126. Lyon, G.P. & Kameenui, E. (1999). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Research Supports the America Reads Challenge. http://www. ed.gov/inits/americareads/nichd.html The National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction. http://www.nichd. nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm Robertson, C. & Salter salt·er n. 1. One that manufactures or sells salt. 2. One that treats meat, fish, or other foods with salt. Noun 1. , W. (1995). The Phonological Awareness Profile. East Moline East Moline (mōlēn`), city (1990 pop. 20,147), Rock Island co., NW Ill., a suburb of Moline, on the Mississippi River; inc. 1907. East Moline, along with Moline, Rock Island, and Davenport, Iowa, was formerly regarded as one of the Quad IL: LinguiSystems, Inc. Snider, V. (1995). "A Primer on Phonemic Awareness: What it is, Why it's Important, and How to Teach it." School Psychology Review, Vol. 24, No. 3. Stahl, S. (1992). "Saying the 'P' Word: Nine Guidelines for Exemplary Phonics phonics Method of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. Instruction." The Reading Teacher, Vol. 45, No. 8. Yopp, H. K. (1999). "Phonemic Awareness: Frequently Asked Questions." The California Reader; Vol. 32, No. 4. Sonja Yates is district superintendent District Superintendent may be:
'kəmäng`gə), city (1990 pop. 101,409), San Bernardino co., S Calif. .
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