In 2022, two years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost 60% of California’s third graders could not read at grade level. That is an astounding number. More than half! This points to the fact that literacy in America is still in crisis, as also evidenced by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
What is a dyslexia screener assessment? A dyslexia screener by definition conditionally identifies students who may have reading difficulties or dyslexia. It is important to understand how it does this. Essentially, the screener looks at early reading skills that students are taught in grades K to 2. If student performance indicates that they
What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework created by David H. Rose, Ed.D. of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), that seeks to provide all learners with access to an inclusive learning environment. The guiding principle
One of the most significant special education court cases in several years has been decided by the US Supreme Court this week. The case, Perez vs. Sturgis, clarifies the circumstances in which a disabled student has the right to sue a school district for failing to provide a “Free Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE). Students
During the pandemic, K-12 teachers and staff quit their jobs more than all other US professions, with 2 out of 5 telling a Gallop poll in 2022 that they were burned out. All told, 300,000 teachers quit US schools in just 2 years. What's worse, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and many
What are IEP accommodations? Individualized Education Plan (IEP) accommodations are an important part of individualizing a student’s education plan. Accommodations are changes made to enable a student to achieve learning in their own way. Unlike modifications, accommodations do not alter the learning expectations, only the manner in which the learning goal is taught.
What is Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)? Cognitive load theory (CLT) is an instructional design principle at the intersection of psychology and education which helps teachers optimize the learning potential of their students. CLT divides the storage in our brains into 2 fundamental buckets, short-term and long-term memory, and helps define instructional procedures and
What is a Reluctant Learner? How do educators find motivations for students and reluctant learners? Virtually everyone has encountered students who experience some degree of motivation challenges. A wide variety of complex reasons help explain "reluctant learners", including problems at school, problems at home, confidence challenges, and illness. And student engagement plummeted during
By Candace Williams & Marquise Atkinson Across the nation, students are still facing the lingering effects of learning loss due to the pandemic. For students in certain demographics, that learning loss is even more apparent. In many cases, typical approaches to catching students up have not proven effective. What can educators and administrators
Multiple Meanings of the Science of Reading Executive Summary The term Science of Reading has long been applied to reading programs and frameworks. It’s undergone a myriad of changes from its early use in the 1800s to describe pronunciation of primer words, to Kenneth Goodman and Frank Smith’s use to describe their
