I selected this subject because of my interest from my very early years in education for the reasons some kids struggle with everyday school demands and what the influence of a different approach towards them would be. Searching through the web as I tried to find out what has been done until now in tis area I discovered that though research has be done there are still a lot of misunderstandings to be solved. I puzzled over this because it affects so many children nowadays…

A little general background

Psychology played a great role as a leading force in the field of education, even from the time of Aristotle and Plato. When it comes to building morals, good character, cultivate psycho-motor skills, building relationships between teachers and students and evolving as individuals during the education years, psychology plays a key role.

Education psychologists have conducted research on Piaget’s theory of development (according to him children mature through four stages of cognitive capability). On this research it was found that transitions don’t happen at the same time for all domains. For example a child may be able to think abstractly about mathematics but having concrete thoughts about human relationships.

Special education involves practices on students that reflect their individual needs and differences.

Learning disability is a classification that includes aspects of functioning in which a student has difficulty learning in a typical manner. This does not mean that they can’t learn in a different manner. The individuals with learning disabilities face challenges that may follow them through their whole life. Thus, the help of all type of intervention applicable in education should be considered crucial. Some interventions are simple while others are more complex.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects reading and language based processing skills,like decoding, comprehension, recall, writing, spelling and in some occasions, speech.

There have been discussions in the psychology field that question the existence of the condition, the usefulness of the term and the difference between dyslexia and other literacy difficulties.

It is important to reach a consensus on the definition of dyslexia for many reasons such as to be able to identify the CYP with the disability and measure it, intervene in the proper manner and for studies to be valid and reliable.

From the Education Psychologists’ point of view there has been much involvement throughout the years to help teachers and parents support CYP who struggle to acquire literacy skills. At the same time it has been documented that there is a continued lack of understanding from teachers and peers of what dyslexia is and the negative impact it has on learning and peer relationships including name calling, bullying and being punished for being dyslexic. EPs can contribute to the dyslexia debate by encouraging and listening to students’ voice. In this way students who may have repeatedly experienced failure in the high literacy demands of the school environment could be helped by professionals who can understand their difficulties and give them tools, and therefore predict the success or the failure in their academic life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNu4WiQaVTIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_psychology

Strangely enough, some EPs do not perceive dyslexia as being a priority for school staff. In their own words I think schools are reluctant to use us for those consultation conversations around literacy…because essentially they can’t see the product so they can’t see what they are getting for their money.”, or “…schools’ main focus is behaviour and its impact on the classroom therefore sometimes LDs tend to get marginalized” “…it might be that some EPs because they haven’t come from a teaching background, feel less secure in terms of delivering around dyslexia”.

There is a movement towards inclusive special educational provision though there is not enough data to support it and additionally the debate has not considered that all the children with special education needs are not the same and while inclusive schools may beneficial for some children, special schools may be beneficial for other.

From the children’s point of view, having to endure bullying in a mainstream school is an extreme emotional burden. The children describe themselves as disappointed, frustrated, ashamed, fed up, sad, depressed, angry and embarrassed by their difficulties. On the other hand research has shown that they feel more at ease around children with similar difficulties, strive more to succeed and they seem to be doing better academically than they did in mainstream school surroundings. In a special school psychology professionals are a major factor for the emotional and, in subsequence, academic evolvement.

Dyslexic Kids in the public schools’ environment

But what about children who would prefer the mainstream school environment and would rather get the help they need while not being different from other children.

In an ordinary classroom teachers may be particularly confused by the student whose consistent underachievement seems due to what may look like carelessness or lack of effort.

These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher’s responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class.

Class teachers need to have an understanding of the problems that the dyslexic child may have within the classroom situation. Hopefully, with this knowledge, a great deal of misunderstanding of a child’s behaviour can be prevented. In a positive and encouraging environment, a dyslexic child will experience the feeling of success and self-value.

At this point a EP could be of valuable use. First as the person who can identify the intensity of the problem, if any, and second but most important implement the right tools and technics to both help the child and the teacher involved in this learning process.

A supreme court casehanded a unanimous decisionthat states that public schools must provide more than the bare minimum to benefit students with disabilities. Needless to say, this decision may potentially shake up (in a positive way) the level of education provided for dyslexic students in public schools.

(see the supreme court’s decision here:https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/great-supreme-court-decision-schools-must-provide-more-support-for-students-with-disabilities/)

 

The facts surrounding the case involved Endrew (in this case a child with autism).In April of 2010, Endrew’s parents rejected the 5grade individualized education program (IEP) proposed by the Douglas County School District. Endrew’s parents believed the proposed IEP was basically the same as the previous IEPs under which their child’s academic and functional progress had stalled. Endrew’s parents subsequently withdrew him from public school and placed him in a private school that specialized in the education of children with autism. Endrew’s behaviour in the private school setting improved significantly; his academic goals were strengthened and he thrived.

At this point we should pause and think about the percentage of kids that are unable to attend private schools due to economic or other factors. What is being done for them. This is why this supreme court decision is so crucial to the educative field of learning disabilities.

The Supreme Court decisively rejected the “merely more than de minimis” standard; therefore that standard is no longer considered good law. The Court explained, “[a] student offered an educational program providing merely more than de minimis progress from year to year can hardly be said to have been offered an education at all...The IDEA demands more.” Now, as a result of Endrew F., each child’s educational program must be appropriately ambitious in light of his or her circumstances, and every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives.

 

The role of IEP teams

As the Court stated, “advancement from grade to grade is appropriately ambitious for most children in the regular classroom;” however, the Court also noted that while these “goals may differ...every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives. In order to make FAPE available to each eligible child with a disability, the child’s IEP must be designed to enable the child to be involved in, and make progress in, the general education curriculum.

At least once a year, IEP Teams must review the child's IEP to determine whether the annual goals for the child are being achieved.

The IEP Team also may meet periodically throughout the course of the school year, if circumstances warrant it. For example, if a child is not making expected progress toward his or her annual goals, the IEP Team must revise, as appropriate, the IEP to address the lack of progress the public agency is responsible for determining when it is necessary to conduct an IEP Team meeting, the parents of a child with a disability have the right to request an IEP Team meeting at any time. If a child is not making progress at the level the IEP Team expected, despite receiving all the services and supports identified in the IEP, the IEP Team must meet to review and revise the IEP if necessary, to ensure the child is receiving appropriate interventions, special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, and to ensure the IEP’s goals are individualized and ambitious.

A school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances and expressly rejected the merely more than “de minimis”, or trivial progress standard.

IEP Teams must implement policies, procedures, and practices relating to

(1) identifying present levels of academic achievement and functional performance;

(2) the setting of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals; and

(3) how a child’s progress toward meeting annual goals will be measured and reported, so that the Endrew F. standard is met for each individual child with a disability.

Separately, IEP Teams and other school personnel should be able to demonstrate that, consistent with the provisions in the child’s IEP, they are providing special education and related services and supplementary aids and services; making program modifications; providing supports for school personnel; and allowing for appropriate accommodations that are reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances and enable the child to have the chance to meet challenging objectives.(read the US Department of Education Guidelines here:https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/qa-endrewcase-12-07-2017.pdf)

 

In order for the whole system to work in favour of children with dyslexia we should take under account what teachers assessment of EPs is.

A study made by T.Reagan - K.Woods showed the different aspects of the work an EP is expected to do in relevance with the dyslexic children.

a. Diagnosis. Detailed analysis of exactly what a problem is.

b. Confirmatory role. The psychologist’s role is to confirm the evaluation for them

c. Working within the available context. The difficulty for the psychologist in working within the particular context of the teacher was recognized

d. A distinctive role. The educational psychologist hasn’t been seen as the person to come in a totally different role, to develop broader strategies within the school to deal with various kinds of children.

 

It is evident from all the above that a lot has to be done from all the parties involved (Government, teachers, parents, education psychologists).First of all, the term “dyslexia” should be clarified as well as the work of EPs involved in this area. Clear issue emerges for the profession is how implementation will proceed and assessment protocols will develop. In exploring these questions, we may also need to explore and clarify understandings about special educational needs.

Significant steps are being made but there is an urgency in the matter as many children strive as we speak to deal with their learning difficulties and challenges, both educational and psychological.

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNu4WiQaVTIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_psychology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_education

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02667360802256741?src=recsys&

Inoue, A., (2016) Educational Psychology and Dyslexia: An Investigation into Current Thinking and Practice ,The University of Manchester

https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/66045446/FULL_TEXT.PDF

Regan, T., & Woods, K., (2010), Teachers' Understandings of Dyslexia: Implications for educational psychology practice , Educational Psychology in Practice

https://doi.org/10.1080/713666081

Nugent, M.,(2008) Educational Psychology in Practice

https://www.tandfonline.com/author/Nugent%2C

https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia/guide-for-classroom-teachers/

https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/great-supreme-court-decision-schools-must-provide-more-support-for-students-with-disabilities/