Resources

The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity recently reached out to Chris Woodin, head of the math department at the Landmark Elementary/Middle School, to help find alternative methods for mitigating common math struggles that seem to accompany dyslexia. Woodin offered many helpful strategies to address them, and we hope that these will help other teachers and parents who are looking for ways to support dyslexic children with math. We also hope that if you are a math specialist or a parent of a child who has struggled in math, you will share what has worked for you.

Read the article here.

Many misperceptions circulate about learning disabilities (LD). Some are rooted in the confusion surrounding LD’s numerous labels and complexities. Others result from a less-than-full awareness of advances in knowledge about how people learn. As educators we are responsible for staying up-to-date and correcting others’ misperceptions when we encounter them.

From the Latest Issue of Better: Evidence-based Education:

"JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY’S Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) recently conducted a systematic review of programs for struggling readers. According to the review’s findings, one-to-one tutoring by certified teachers and reading specialists is the “gold standard” among interventions for low-achieving students.

Exciting News from Carnegie Mellon!

Carnegie Mellon University scientists Timothy Keller and Marcel Just have uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically rewire itself — creating new white matter that improves communication within the brain.

We hear the term "executive function" with increasing frequency. The term comes up in conversations about students who are struggling in school--often not due to specific academic weaknesses, but more often to issues of organization, time management, and a strategic approach to getting work done. Often, these are students who can't find their books or papers, forget to do or turn in their homework, and/or have difficulty getting started on, sustaining effort during, or completing tasks.