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When ELLs Struggle: Recognizing the Signs
When working with struggling English language learners (ELLs), it's important to note that there are similarities among linguistic, cultural, and learning disability explanations for behaviors demonstrated by ELLs. This article can be used as a starting point for conversations regarding diverse learners who are struggling.
Familiarity with Greek and Latin roots, as well as prefixes and suffixes, can help students understand the meaning of new words. This article includes many of the most common examples.
Engaging Parents in Literacy Learning
Students whose parents are involved in the academic school experience tend to be good readers and are successful in school. Even for those who struggle and perhaps read below grade level, if their parents are involved in school, then parents provide a support system to ensure achievement. Use the template in this article to generate ideas both from teachers and from parents themselves about how to engage parents with literacy assignments.
Teach Students How to Fluently Read Multisyllabic Content Vocabulary
Dysfluent readers are so consumed with word identification that they cannot focus on extracting or constructing meaning from the text. Here are some activities to develop students' fluency skills, so that they may move on to access content. See also Develop Fluency Using Content-Based Texts.
An Introduction to Analytical Text Structures
Many students are used to writing narratives — stories, description, even poetry, but have little experience with analytical writing. This article is an introduction to six analytical text structures, useful across content areas. See also Analytical Writing in the Content Areas.
Engaging Parents to Support Academic Attainment Over Time
Chances for success are improved when adults offer children, starting at a young age, positive expectations and aspirations about what they can do and achieve. Learn ways to help parents support students' long-term success in school, career, and life.
Engaging Parents to Support Academic Achievement
Academic achievement is a strong predictor of high school graduation and is critical to long-term success in college, work, and life. A sixth grader who fails math or English, has unsatisfactory behavior, or poor attendance has a 75% likelihood of dropping out. Freshmen in Chicago public schools who earn a B average or better have an 80% chance of finishing high school with at least a 3.0 GPA.
Engaging Parents to Support Good School Attendance
Poor school attendance is a strong predictor of school dropout. Children can’t learn if they aren’t present in school, so attendance is a must. Parents are best positioned to ensure children attend school and to build the expectation around attendance.
Parent Engagement in Transitions to Middle and High School
Using the 3A framework (Attendance, Achievement, and Attainment) for dropout prevention developed by the America's Promise Alliance and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this article highlights specific knowledge that parents need to support students' success, as well as ways that schools can engage parents as partners.
Captioned Media: Literacy Support for Diverse Learners
Captioned or subtitled media is a great tool for teachers looking to differentiate classroom instruction — research has shown that ELLs, students with learning disabilities, and students who struggle academically may all benefit from following along with captions while watching a classroom video. Learn more about the benefits of captioned media and additional resources for captioned material in this article.
NEA’s annual Read Across America celebration is a great opportunity for tweens and teens to both celebrate their literacy and language skills and share them in meaningful ways.
Teachers often find the Holocaust to be an overwhelming subject to approach with their students. While the Holocaust offers important lessons to today's students, it can be a difficult to find the appropriate amount of information to share with young learners. This article highlights the importance of the Holocaust in today's classroom, and offers suggestions for integrating historical fiction into the unit of study.
Cómo motivar a los adolescentes a leer
¡Si bien el hecho de que los adolescentes dispongan de sólidas destrezas para la lectura es importante, a veces hacerles que lean puede convertirse en todo un desafío! He aquí algunas maneras de motivar a su adolescente a leer.
How to Increase Higher Order Thinking
Parents and teachers can do a lot to encourage higher order thinking. Here are some strategies to help foster children's complex thinking.
New Electronics: Turn Them On for Learning
Many computer products have built-in accessibility options such as text-to-speech, screen magnification options, or voice input controls. Learn what some of these optional features are and how to integrate them into instruction and studying.
Writing Disabilities: An Overview
Learn from an expert why some kids with learning disabilities struggle with writing and how some instructional approaches can help.
Tips on Starting a Community Service Project
A successful community service project is the result of clear objectives, thoughtful planning and coordination, savvy use of resources, and follow-through.
This article looks at the components of creating a youth/adult partnership and what needs to be in place for a partnership to develop into a sustainable relationship.
More students fail ninth grade than any other grade and many of these students ultimately drop out. Can pre-emptive interventions lead to increased graduation rates? Emerging evidence suggests that eight-grade transition programs increase pass rates, boost enthusiasm for learning, improve academic skills, enhance self-esteem, and reduce discipline problems.
Components in a Comprehensive Definition of College Readiness
College readiness is a multi-faceted concept that includes factors both internal and external to the school environment. The model presented here emerges from a review of the literature and includes the skills and knowledge that can be most directly influenced by schools.
A Definition of College Readiness
A list of knowledge, skills, and attributes a student should possess to be ready to succeed in entry-level college courses.
A Beach Bag Full of Summer Learning Resources
Learning shouldn't stop just because school is out. Here are some ideas to keep students reading, writing and thinking all summer long.
Getting Ready for College: What ELL Students Need to Know
For ELLs, the challenges of going to college and finding the right opportunities can be overwhelming, but ELL teachers can play an important role helping students apply to college and preparing for the application process as well. This month's Bright Ideas article offers some great ideas for ways that you can support ELL students as they consider their future plans.
October is Learning Disabilities Month
October was designated LD Month in 1985 through a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan. Each year the celebration is used to educate the public about learning disabilities.
Does your school do a good job of reaching out to parents? Use this checklist to evaluate and improve parent-school partnerships.
Dropout Prevention Interventions
This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) topic report evaluates 16 dropout intervention programs that have been found to meet WWC evidence standards of effectiveness.
Learning Disabilities: An Overview
Learning disabilities (LD) come in several forms. Learn more about them, how they're identified, and what types of instruction support students with LD.
Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences with Bilingual Families
How can you hold an effective parent-teacher conference with the parents of English language learners if they can't communicate comfortably in English? This article provides a number of tips to help you bridge the language gap, take cultural expectations about education into account, and provide your students' parents with the information they need about their children's progress in school.
Who's Who In Your Teen's School
There are many people at your child's school who are there to help your child learn, grow socially and emotionally, and navigate the school environment. Here's a selected list of who's who at your school — the teaching and administrative staff, as well as organizations at the district level.
Cross-Disciplinary Proficiencies in the American Diploma Project Benchmarks
Students must graduate from high school with not only a firm foundation in mathematics and English, but also with the ability to approach with confidence new and unfamiliar tasks and challenges in college, the workplace and life. Embedded within the American Diploma Project benchmarks are four cross-disciplinary proficiencies — Research and Evidence Gathering, Critical Thinking and Decision Making, Communications and Teamwork, and Media and Technology — that will enable high school graduates to meet these challenges.
Understanding the School Counselor-Parent Connection
School counselors work with teachers, administrators, and parents to help students with schoolwork and their social/emotional development.
An expert shares her observations of a dyslexic student struggling to learn at school. Also included are numerous proven examples of differentiated instruction and accommodations that can help a student to succeed.
The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools
The social and economic implications of America's high dropout rate are staggering. In addition to the waste of human potential, the costs of dropouts include lower tax revenues from lower paying jobs, higher crime rates, higher demand for social services, and the loss of global economic competitiveness.
Having Your Child Tested for Learning Disabilities Outside of School
Children who struggle with reading often need extra help. This help usually comes from the school, but some parents choose to look outside the school for professionals who can assess, diagnose, tutor, or provide other education services. The following article provides information on how to find the right person for your child.
If the teens in your life love movies, check out this list of read-alikes for 2008 blockbusters like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Finding a Great Summer Program: A Checklist for Parents
Early and sustained summer learning opportunities lead to higher graduation rates, better preparation for college, and positive effects on children's self-esteem, confidence, and motivation. High-quality summer programs keep students engaged in learning, teach them new skills, allow them to develop previously unseen talents, and foster creativity and innovation.
How Parents Can Encourage Teens to Read
You know that reading is important and you want to make sure that your teenager grows into adulthood with all the skills he or she needs to succeed. The following list offers suggestions for encouraging your teens to read.
A Student's Perspective on Writing
Eli tells us what it is like to have dysgraphia. Regina Richards, a well-known expert on dysgraphia (and Eli's mom), explains how to help children who struggle with the challenges Eli describes. Practical techniques discussed include POWER (Prepare, Organize, Write, Edit, Revise).
Consejos para padres de adolescentes con dificultades para escribir
Al graduarse de la escuela preparatoria, se espera que los estudiantes estadounidenses hayan aprendido a escribir de manera eficaz para una variedad de propósitos, desde la redacción de cartas y cuentos hasta ensayos e informes de investigación. Sin embargo, a muchos estudiantes de la escuela media y la preparatoria no les gusta escribir, y los estudiantes que están aprendiendo inglés como segunda lengua pueden tener especial dificultad para la escritura. En este artículo veremos algunos de los motivos por los que los estudiantes más grandes buscan evitar la escritura, así como algunas sugerencias para que usted pueda ayudar a su hijo adolescente a convertirse en un mejor escritor.
Engaging Family and Community in Afterschool and Summer Programs
Informal literacy experiences often serve to shape young people's identity as readers and writers as much as or more than formal schooling.Community and family support can emphasize the importance of reading and writing, build confidence, influence young people's literacy habits, and encourage youth to seek out ways to engage in literate activities. Through a renewed national push for literacy on all levels, both families and community members have diverse opportunities in which to impact students' literacy skills.This article offers strategies to develop community engagement.
What Are the Key Components of Dropout Prevention Programs?
Dropout prevention research shows that most programs use more than one type of intervention (family outreach, academic tutoring, personalization and vocational training, for example). While there is no one right way to intervene, research has identified several key components to intervention success.
Where can your school, library, or community group find free or low-cost books for kids? There are a number of national organizations and programs you can turn to for books to fill the shelves of your library, classroom, or literacy program and help you put books into the hands and homes of young readers.
The Why, When, What, and How of Disclosure in a Postsecondary Academic Setting
When you continue your studies after high school, should you tell the school and instructors about your learning disability? This article will help you decide when and how to disclose your disability to obtain accommodations.
Tests and Measurements for the Parent, Teacher, Advocate and Attorney
Learn to develop the evidence you need to support your belief that your child is not receiving the right help in school. Peter and Pamela Wright, from Wrightslaw, tell you how to interpret and chart your child's test scores, graph your child's progress, and successfully communicate with the educators who make decisions about your child.
Designing a Dossier: An Instruction Book for Your Child
Many of the adults in your child's life are unfamiliar with learning disorders in general, or your child's unique pattern of strengths and limitations. Developing a one- to three-page dossier that provides useful information about your child can help their babysitters, coaches, teachers, bus drivers, school support staff, neighbors, and relatives understand their limitations. This article describes key elements of such a document and provides a sample.
The Impact of Afterschool Programs that Promote Personal and Social Skills
This meta-analysis of 73 programs finds that afterschool activities can have a positive impact on children’s personal and social skills, including problem-solving, conflict resolution, self-control, leadership, responsible decision-making, and self-esteem. Youth who participate in afterschool programs show significant improvement in their feelings, behavior, and school performance. Research demonstrates that the most effective programs are SAFE (sequential, active, focused and explicit).
Understanding the Special Education Process
This overview from the PACER Center walks parents through each step of the special education process, describing what happens from the time a child is referred for evaluation through the development of an individualized education program (IEP).
Attending Meetings to Plan Your Child's Individualized Education Program (IEP)
This checklist prepared by the PACER Center will help parents prepare for and get the most out of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with school staff.
Organizations that Promote Adolescent Literacy
From lesson plans and classroom tools to free books and opportunities to publish students’ work, nonprofit organizations have a lot to offer parents, teachers, and struggling readers themselves. Learn about some nonprofits with a commitment to helping young people become better readers and writers.
Millions of today's adolescents lack the reading skills demanded by today's world. The impending crisis — millions of under-literate young people unable to succeed economically and socially — requires an immediate response. This report outlines 15 key elements of effective adolescent literacy programs and recommends that schools use a mix of these elements, tailoring the combinations to the needs of individual students.
African-American Students and U.S. High Schools
This fact sheet, prepared by the Alliance for Excellent Education, looks at statistics related to the graduation rates and college readiness of African-American students, as well as the quality of the teachers and schools that serve them.
Concrete suggestions for teachers who want to communicate well with all of their students, especially English language learners and students with learning disabilities.
Social Support: An Essential Ingredient to College Success
Social support strategies that sustain the preparation and success of all students are critical to improving academic achievement, raising expectations, and increasing the college-going rates of underserved students.
Response to Intervention (RTI): A Primer for Parents
Learn what questions to ask about Response to Intervention (RTI), an approach to helping struggling learners that is gaining momentum in schools across the country. This article from the National Association of School Psychologists tells you the most important features of the process, key terms, and RTI's relationship to special education evaluation.
Academic Rigor: At the Heart of College Access and Success
Low-income and minority students, students with disabilities, and those who are the first in their families to go to college, are often unprepared for and discouraged from taking rigorous academic courses in high school. It is therefore imperative that all young people — especially students traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education — are prepared to succeed in entry-level college coursework.
