Why Are We Doing This in Literacy Intervention?!?

We know that we have a massive reading gap for so many students…

Knowing what we know - we keep questioning -

Why do we have so many struggling students when the research is clear on what evidence-based practices MUST look like to support our struggling readers?

Ultimately, there are a LOT of potential answers and factors at play when we consider this question but for us, it really comes down to 3 major categories. And…because we always teach our students to use graphic organization strategies to make sense of and organize information, we felt compelled to do the same!

1 - Strategy

One of the main reasons that students aren’t closing the gap even though research is clear is because those of us doing this work are not given the strategy or training we need to be effective. If we know that 1 in 5 students have dyslexia (ranging from mild cases to severe cases) - WHY are we not receiving instruction in systematic and structured literacy intervention?!? WHY are colleges and graduate programs preparing special educators and speech-language pathologists not teaching the science we know to be true in our training programs?!? This feels crazy!!!! If we don’t know how the reading brain works and all the factors that come into play as a child is developing reading and writing skills, we have a really hard time making educated decisions on which tools and resources we should be using! How to help them when things aren’t sticking and how to generally be effective at what we’re doing in the literacy space. It was because of this that we decided to create a FREE course called 7-Steps to Reading Intervention that Works so that you can get the background and strategies needed to be truly effective in this field. >>Click here<< to learn more.

2 - Tools

The next reason that students aren’t closing the gap is that even when we have the strategy and training and know what effective literacy intervention should look like - a systematic, structured, cumulative, data-driven approach, we often don’t have the tools to be able to implement that type of instruction. So it’s great to get the training on the theory and the background of the reading brain and to understand in theory what effective instruction needs to look like but…then the educators/professionals working with these students are left trying to pull all those pieces together to design a curriculum that works, or trying to duct-tape solutions using the curriculum they have (or can easily access) to pull “ a little bit of this and a little bit of that” together in their instruction. It can feel next to impossible and it’s even worse when you know what good instruction should look like because as educators we’re left feeling as though we’re not measuring up when we don’t have the tools to implement. To learn more about our curriculum & materials, click here.

3 - Mindset

Probably one of the biggest and yet least mentioned factors in the conversation about why students aren’t closing the gap, may be surprising. It’s mindset. And not the students’ mindsets (although we know that can definitely be a contributing factor).

It’s the mindset we’ve created and the barriers we’ve put up for educators and professionals in the field.

One of the BIGGEST barriers we’ve constructed to students getting the help they need is by creating an “I’m not good enough, qualified enough, ready enough” mentality in our educators/professionals.

In the field of literacy intervention, there is a lot of “who’s who”…a lot of certifications, hoops to jump through, research to be done on who to be certified or credentialed through and all of that is creating a massive barrier. Now we understand the intention here, we want to make sure that people who are helping students have the strategy and the tools to be effective - NO QUESTION!

That being said, because of all the barriers we’ve constructed - tons of really qualified, intelligent, passionate educators and professionals are passing by the opportunity to HELP STUDENTS CLOSE THE READING GAP. All these certification programs and gurus are leaving you feeling like you’re HURTING students by trying to help them when you’re not “ready” and DO YOU KNOW WHAT?!?!?

We’re calling B.S. Do you need to understand structured and systematic principles? - YES. Do you need to understand how the complexities of language play into literacy development? - YES. Do you need to have the tools to make sure you’re able to do this effectively? - YES.

But do you need to be granted permission to help kids, to begin the journey, to start where you are with what you have, and to improve along the way?! - NO!

We’ve created a mindset that has put up a massive barrier to helping struggling readers get the help they need. Enough is enough.

We need to be committed to changing this conversation. To determine how we can get educators and professionals who are passionate in this field the opportunity to implement effective strategies. To have the tools they need to implement. To stop questioning their amazingness. Because as you will see if you look at the diagram - having 2 of the 3 of these necessary components isn’t enough.

Having the strategy and a “can-do” mindset without the tools and resources to implement leaves our passionate educators BURNT OUT.

They’re stuck in this place of knowing exactly what effective literacy instruction should look like and they’re confident they can do it and yet they’re left spending all their free time lesson planning and working to compile it all into something meaningful.

Having a “can-do” mindset and tools with no strategy leaves our educators clinging to “following programs with fidelity”

We’ve been sold on following programs to a T and not deviating because we aren’t always given enough background on the “why” of the approach and when we don’t understand the why behind the approach, we struggle to individualize or recognize when something isn’t working. But here’s the thing, following a program with fidelity is great in a research lab (and I’ve worked in lots of research labs) - it’s less great when we’re trying to individualize and meet the diverse needs of the child in front of us.

Having only the strategy and tools but not having the mindset leaves our educators feeling inadequate.

We need to know that we CAN accomplish anything we put our mind to whether or not we’ve been “certified” by the powers that be leaves some of our most qualified and intelligent professionals feeling inadequate - and so they choose not to help anyone for fear of hurting these students that so desperately need them.

Enough is enough.

No doubt that all the research that has gone into determining how literacy develops and the complex neurological processes involved was akin to rocket science. The practice of effectively teaching students is not. Let’s stop using this as an excuse and a barrier we’ve put up that stops struggling students from getting the help they need.

For more information and next steps, check out our FREE workshop: How to Create Systematic, SOR-Aligned Lesson Plans. This workshop will help you determine what actually needs to be included in a Science of Reading-based lesson, how to build a lesson plan based on the Science of Reading, and how to optimize your lesson plans. Plus, we’ll share our lesson planning guides!