Tag: standards

Reading Is for Everyone

I have always loved to read.

As a child, I would organize and categorize my books, planning the next 5 books to read. When I was in fourth grade, I was introduced to mysteries, a genre that continues to be a favorite today.

I also remember the years when I was assigned books to read, many of which I would not have selected on my own. Some of the titles became favorites while others were a challenge to finish. Whether or not I enjoyed the book, reading the same title as my classmates created a bond through the shared experience,  discussions, and opinions.

Now that I am an adult, I continue to connect with friends in book clubs or during long discussions about favorite authors, series, or titles. We will talk for hours about the differences between a book and the movie or show,  analyzing the casting, storyline, and actors’ portrayal of characters. We connect over non-fiction reading as well, comparing stories in the news, magazine articles, and research reports. Political discussions are informed by the opinion of others on social media, articles, web pages, or blogs.

Reading connects us to our world, our neighbors, and the possibilities for our future. It is a powerful use of language and can transport us to the castles of faraway lands, the bottom of the ocean, a magical land of animals, or to the center of a football game.

Reading is also natural. Small children begin reading, recognizing their favorite restaurants, movies, or television shows by the mascot or logo. The pairing of a picture with a word leads to the eventual recognition of the word without any pictures. As formal instruction in reading begins, most children continue the learning that has occurred in the environment and applies it to books, magazines, worksheets, and notes or letters.

Reading is the foundation of everything: communication, learning, connecting, adventure, employment, and so on.  In short, reading is the most essential life skill.

Students with cognitive disabilities benefit from participation in rich reading instruction. They will learn the skills and share in the conversations and connections with peers that come from the shared experience. They gain skills to access new information, derive an option, and understand the perspective of others.

True, all adults don’t read with the same fluency or speed. However, we know from historical research that reading increases an individual’s employment opportunities or salary. Reading increases the choice to attend a college program or pursue a chosen career. Reading protects an individual from fraud or misinformation. Reading increases the likelihood of freedom as an adult to make their own decisions.

We must ensure that all students are allowed to become a reader. Prioritizing reading in the student’s daily schedule will serve to increase their success as an adult. The best thing we can do for our youth is to make sure they know, reading is for everyone.

Making a Case for More

There are two very simple principles at the heart of instructional institutions:

  1. Teachers teach, and
  2. Students learn.

While yes, it is really that simple, it is also very complicated. What to teach?  When to teach? How to teach? These are just a few of the questions guided by a mountain of research and endless political pandering. Likewise, what the student should learn, by when, and how we know they learned it are equally compelling discussions sparking endless debates.

State standards were written and adopted with the good intention of ending the debate, clarifying for everyone what should be taught or learned and by when. Standards are a target. Educators, families, and students can measure their progress toward the target and make adjustments to help accelerate or change course as needed. As the student progresses to the next grade, the target is moved, challenging the student and teacher to another year of growth.

The ability to measure a student’s journey toward the grade-level target has led to the realization that some students will simply not make it to the goal before it is moved again. The gap between the student’s current skills and the target is increasing, not decreasing with each year, creating a feeling of inadequacy and hopelessness.

This brings me to the “Case of More.” Students with complex disabilities including a cognitive disability are often described as those learning significantly less than their peers, mastering less, or achieving less. I dispute these statements as false. In fact, I am arguing that the students actually learn more than their classmates with no disabilities.

When a student with a cognitive disability or complex needs makes a step forward in the curriculum, they have effectively integrated and executed multiple new skills and concepts learned. For instance, while learning a simple academic skill, such as how to add two numbers, the student has also had to learn the following:

  • communicating their knowledge,
  • asking questions,
  • learning new vocabulary,
  • giving focus and attention to a topic or individual for an extended period,
  • leveraging mastered motor skills to maintain posture, safe body placement, and minimize sensory disruption,
  • social engagement skills,
  • emotional regulation,
  • sorting of important and not important stimuli,
  • reducing the focus on background noise, and
  • so much more.

Yes, it is true these skills are necessary for everyone to learn. But, if we get really honest, for most of us, these are skills we possess so automatically that they occur as naturally as breathing. There may be one or two we are refining, but in general, they are natural. In fact, when we use terms like “significant disability” or “complex needs,” we are actually trying to convey in a few words, that this is a student who will need all of these skills in addition to content.

“In addition”…aha, that means more, and so, again, I will say it but this time in a short, succinct way:

Students with complex needs learn more.

And so, I ask you, would you agree that indeed, students with complex needs learn more? And wouldn’t you also agree, we need to applaud their incredible tenacity, integration of skills, and accomplishments, not in the name of empathy, but in awe.

Students with significant cognitive disabilities or complex needs are a challenge to teach, because they challenge us to learn a lot. And yet, we are typically not learning even half as much as they do each day. It is for this reason that I am in awe of their courage, grace, knowledge, and skills. And, I am constantly humbled by their dedication to continued learning every day.