Learning From Text - Dave Edyburn, Article Review

Dave Edyburn's article, Learning From Text, discusses the impact of reading deficiencies beyond Grade 3. In our school system, the reading process is so pivotal in the Primary to 3 years. So much time is devoted to developing our student's reading skills, so that, in future years, they may begin to read for meaning & information. Edyburn focuses on the years following grade 3, and the issues that arise for students with learning disabilities; in particular, those who struggle with reading. As was quoted in his article, "80% of students with learning disabilities receive services for a reading disability". That number seems incredibly high at first, but when you take the time to look at how comprehensive the reading process actually is, you come to realize that there are so many potential factors where a child could begin to struggle, causing them to fall behind.

That being said, Edyburn suggests that when the issue of remedation vs. compensation arises, teachers rarely have issue with remediation; ie: breaking down a task into smaller parts, allowing students to use online books, one-to-one support, etc. However, as Edyburn notes, if these remediation techniques were 100% effective, we would not have students in high school who couldn't read. It is when compensation arises where the discussion becomes a bit more heated. Some teachers are hesitant to allow students to use compensatory resources when it comes to learning. They feel as though using these programs may be perceived as cheating, or unfair to the other students who are able to read. But to put it into perspective, I think the most important question to ask is, what is it that we are trying to teach our students? If I have a student in Grade 10 who is unable to read, but is working on a Science project, is it fair to make them sit and struggle to read through a textbook for information, when I could have the book read aloud to him via a compensatory program? We have to remind ourselves what it is we are trying to teach. If we assign our students a Science project, are we going to evaluate them on their ability to read, or their mastery of the subject area?

Edyburn includes a lot of great suggestions for programs that any educator could use with a student who is struggling to read. I felt as though this article really helped put things into perspective for me, and served as a good reminder to always be thinking about what it is that I'm trying to teach my students.