Institutional and Individual Approaches to Understanding Reading Difficulties

1. Institutional and Individual Approaches to Understanding Reading Difficulties Aubry Threlkeld H860: Reading Difficulties

2. Agenda • Institutional Approaches • Quick overview of policies and decisions affecting students with disabilities • Discussing students through common frameworks • “At-risk” • Reading Difficulties • Reading Disabilities • Individual Approaches • Calibrating our lenses • Implications for practice

3. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • 1967 – Hobsen v. Hansen • 1970 – Diana v. BOE, CA • FERPA of 1974 • EAHCA later IDEA of 1975 • 1979 – Larry P. v. Riles, CA • 1988 – Honig v. Doe, CA • ADA of 1990 • NCLB of 2001 • IDEA of 2004 What has created/affected the designation of “disability” in the United States? Labor rights movement Civil Rights movement Social Activism Identity Politics

4. At-Risk: Children not currently classified as having a disability but are considered to have a greater-than usual chance of developing one

6. “At-risk” of what? • Multiplicity of Usage: • Reading Difficulties (Snow ed. 1988) • “a fair number of children who will have reading difficulties do not obtain low enough scores to merit an at-risk designation on the basis of the kinds of kindergarten measures that were used (most typically literacy-specific knowledge, phonological awareness, etc.)” • For School Problems (Smith et al. 2006) • Students from minority cultures • Students from low-income homes • Teenagers who become pregnant • Students who speak English as a second language • Students who are in trouble with the legal system

7. Modeling Risk and Resilience • Argue that “At-risk” designations have not changed outcomes • Resilience is product. • Consultative Model • Systems Theory • Children • Homes • School • Learning Disabilities are a risk factor. • How do they problematize models and ways of discussing risk? Pianta and Walsh (1998) Morrison and Cosden (1997)

8. The Affect of “At-risk” • Not a term students usually use to describe themselves • Often used by non-profit organizations for fundraising campaigns: “our organization works with at-risk children” • Often used as a euphemism for people of color, socioeconomic status in a way that does not sufficiently recognize protective factors

9. At-Risk: Children not currently classified as having a disability but are considered to have a greater-than usual chance of developing one. Reading Difficulties: Children with reading difficulties struggle with various aspects of learning how to read and reading to learn.

10. How do we recognize reading difficulties? What do we do? • Reading Specialists in charge of intervention • Required to work with classroom teachers • Intervention should not be instead of instruction but in addition • Clear definitions of responsibilities • Child Study protocols • “failure to learn to read adequately is present among children of low social risk who attend well-funded schools” • “much more likely among poor children, among nonwhite children, and among nonnative speakers of English”

11. The affect of Reading Difficulties • Not a term students generally use to describe themselves. • Avoids using disability classification and thus could reach a broader audience of parents, teachers, administrators, etc. • Students could need a disability classification in order to receive the services or interventions they need. • Should be explained further; Should not be ambiguous/monolithic; Starts the conversation.

12. At-Risk: Children not currently classified as having a disability but are considered to have a greater-than usual chance of developing one Reading Difficulties: Children with reading difficulties struggle with various aspects of learning how to read and reading to learn. Specific Learning Disabilities: Any restriction or lack (resulting from impairment) of ability to learn in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.

13. (10) Specific learning disability—(i) General. Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. (ii) DISORDERS NOT INCLUDED. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. 2004 Reauthorization of IDEA Sec. 300.307 Specific learning disabilities. (a) General. A State must adopt, consistent with Sec. 300.309, criteria for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability as defined in Sec. 300.8(c)(10). In addition, the criteria adopted by the State-- (1) Must not require the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, as defined in Sec. 300.8(c)(10); (2) Must permit the use of a process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based intervention; and (3) May permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, as defined in Sec. 300.8(c)(10).

14. Pop Quiz: Eligibility for Special Education Services under IDEA 2004: • Mental Retardation • Learning Disability • Emotional Disturbance • Deafness • Hearing Impairment • Visual Impairment • Deaf-Blindness • Orthopedic Impairment • Other Health Impairment • Autism • Traumatic brain injury • Speech or Language Impairment • Multiple Disabilities

15. "...a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance-- • An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors. • An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. • Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances. • A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. • A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems (IDEA 2004) Aggression to people and animals bullies, threatens or intimidates others often initiates physical fights has used a weapon that could cause serious physical harm to others (e.g. a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife or gun) is physically cruel to people or animals steals from a victim while confronting them (e.g. assault) forces someone into sexual activity Destruction of Property deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention to cause damage deliberately destroys other's property Deceitfulness, lying, or stealing has broken into someone else's building, house, or car lies to obtain goods, or favors or to avoid obligations steals items without confronting a victim (e.g. shoplifting, but without breaking and entering) Serious violations of rules often stays out at night despite parental objections runs away from home often truant from school (Source DSM-IV) Emotional Disturbance Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder

16. Keep “isms” in mind to reduce bias in assessment and classification: • Classism? • Racism? • Ableism? • Sexism? • Ethnocentrism? Xenophobia? Heterosexism? etc. • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • 1967 – Hobsen v. Hansen • 1970 – Diana v. BOE, CA • FERPA of 1974 • IDEA of 1975 (reauthorized in 2004) • 1979 – Larry P. v. Riles, CA • 1988 – Honig v. Doe, CA • ADA of 1990 • NCLB of 2001 What has created/affected the designation of “disability” in the United States? Labor rights movement Civil Rights movement Social Activism Identity Politics

17. Calibrating our Lenses • Discussion of Mary Jean Hughes

18. Takeaways . . . • Implications for Practice • Avoid using jargon/euphemisms • Know your ideological stance and its assumptions • Avoid disentangling identities • Maintain “ruthless skepticism” of research • Self-knowledge/knowledge of practice • Advocate for students