New book asks: “why cant u teach me 2 read?”
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Yamilka, a 23-year-old Bronx native, was unable to read street signs well enough to get back home from an unfamiliar subway station. This despite being promoted from grade to grade in New York City public schools — and even graduating with a special education diploma, a diploma she regards as meaningless.
Hers is a shocking story, even for those of us who have been writingabout NYC public schools and students for years . Yamilka’s story is one of several cases documented by Beth Fertig, an education reporter for WNYC radio, in her new book “why cant u teach me 2 read?” which was featured in USA Today yesterday.
Fertig tells the stories of three young adults - all in their twenties - who cannot read. All three have learning disabilities and were clients of Advocates for Children of New York (the parent organization of Insideschools.org). After the public schools failed to teach them to read, Advocates fought successfully for them to have private tutoring to try to make up for the years of service they had never received.
No real happy endings here; although all three students learned to read after they successfully obtained outside help, none of the students was even close to reading at an adult level, graduating with a regular diploma, or even acquiring a GED, by book’s end. The three attended NYC schools mostly in the years before Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein took over the education system. Fertig writes about Klein’s efforts to improve the city’s schools, largely using data-driven methods, but concludes that many teachers are still not receiving the training they need to work with students who have severe learning disabilities.
Yamilka’s case is not that unusual, according to Advocates.
“We find these situations dire but they are not really that surprising anymore,” said Matthew Lenaghan, who is deputy director of Advocates for Children and was involved in the three AFC cases described by Fertig. “Even though we are dealing with limited resources, these cases are always a priority because this is a student in crisis.”
Advocates finds there is no shortage of older students in need of help. Earlier this month, a student from the Bronx called “Josh” contacted Anisha Cumber, a lawyer at Advocates for Children. He is 20 years old and reading at a 1st-grade level. Meanwhile, a school in Queens is trying to “push out” another 20-year-old who is reading at a 4th-grade level. Only recently was it discovered that he has dyslexia. Lawyers will represent these students to get them the help they need.
“I’m getting the kids who are smart, who have the cognitive abilities, but who aren’t being taught the way they need to be taught,” said Cumber. “They are not getting the specialized reading help they need, and they end up dropping out.”
Sadly, Fertig’s book is a reminder that the city schools still have their forgotten students and the Department of Education has a long way to go to make sure every child learns how to read.
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New York City has a large number of teachers sidelined, gathering dust, and being paid who are not in classrooms. Why can’t some of these people be used as tutors for students who need one on one help. While many of the teachers may not be successful in classrooms, many may be able to be successful as one on one tutors. Surely there is some way determine their one on one ability. The city needs to figure out who has talent for this work and get need connected to availability.
Comment by H. Warnock — October 20, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
This is an on-going problem. I think if we can unlock the magic of wanting to read in these students head we have discovered a gold mine. Although these students are not able to read there is a disability some where that is making it difficult to comprehend reading. After many trials they become frustrated and lack motivation as they grow older. Later the whole issue impacts on their self esteem. Reading begins with the student overlooking these hurdles and make a determinant effort to just read. They will be successful in the future.
Comment by Liz — October 21, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
There are common threads here. While this occurred a while ago (prior to Bloomberg) the students in question were all learning disabled, had trouble with comprehension and required one on one services to be ultimately successful. This is very similar to some people that I read about on Long Island where generations of people with Auditory Processing Disorder that had to come up with their own accommodations over the years to find success. When current students are given their 504 accommodations properly by their teachers, proctors and administrators they are able to read and excel in their scholastic work. There is a great book by Dr. Loraine Alderman and Dr. Jay Lucker called “Don’t You Get It? Living With Auditory Learning Disabilities” that explains why LD students with auditory processing disorders, have this exact problem and how their teachers, with the support of the student’s parents can overcome the problems listed in Ms. Fertig’s book and not allow kids to fall through the cracks. Don’t you get it? shows through multiple accounts, procedures to get LD children to function within the classroom setting, provided that their teachers are will to give them their proper accommodations and the students are willing to learn. Check it out..the book is inexpensive and available at http://www.psychdocinfo.com and many libraries.
Comment by carl j. — October 23, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
“make a determinant effort to just read”??????
This is the same as saying to a blind person, “Try to made an effort to see!”
All the efforts in the world combined can not make a child read who is learning disabled.
These children need trained teachers who know how to teach reading and our languge in a multisensory methodology.
Comment by Anonymous — October 27, 2009 @ 11:37 pm