Need Help from Teachers/Parents about reading problems

[mic&min]

I need some advice from parents or teacher who have dealt with reading issues. My daugher, a senior in HS, has always had an issue with comprehension. I paid for teachers to tutor her afterschool when she was in grade school, she had a great advocate in middle school who had her in a special reading class for those years, and also paid for an outside tutor in high school.

However she still has so many issues and it affected all of her class work. We had her tested for special ed in grade school but she was borderline and did not qualify. Retested her in 10th grade and did not qualify again. However special ed representative stated she knows that there is an issue but they can not help her.

She has to pass a GRAD reading test for graduation and has failed it 4 times with her last score being the worst (47 to a 39). I think she is getting anxiety because it is cruch time and the pressure is on her.

School not to interested in helping as they did not call her in for the 3 make up exams last year, did not send us notification that there was a program after school for help, and they keep saying she will eventually pass. I called on the school counselor as I read on the MN Dept of Education website that a remediation plan is suppose to in place for students that did not pass 2 retests. She has not returned my call.

Any suggestions on how to proceed. I am willing to pay for tutoring again but I am really upset that the school is not doing their part. She has all her credits and has a B average for this trimester however half her classes are in industrial technology (metals, woodworking). She wants to graduate with her class and attend all the graduation functions.

Sorry so long,
Mary

 

[redrosesix]

Yes, it sounds like anxiety is at least starting to play a role in her test scores -- good call on that one. Another thing you might want to look into is a consultation with a psychologist -- try to figure out where the disconnect is happening, help reduce the anxiety level, etc. Just another way to approach it ie. not just from an education perspective, but more of a "whole person" perspective.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My suggestion to you is to have your dd go into the counselor's office and try to get this worked out. That will probably be more effective than phone calls from mom.

Has she gone to the counselor's to try and work this out?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Did the school do the Eval?

I would make sure that my child was evaluated by the most reputable and thorough neuro-psychologist that I could find in my area. ASAP.

There is SOMETHING wrong here. Not (borderline)
I have to believe that there must be some issues/disability for a child who has had this kind of tutoring and help, and struggled going all the way back to elementary grades, and not be able to pass a basic test after 2-3 tries. Also, anxiety is part and parcel when a child struggles and fails over the years, due to possible disability. I would say that anxiety is a normal, given, response.... Not the cause.

(PS: I respectfully but very strongly disagree with the pp who mentions sending the child to the counselors office.)

 

[torinsmom]

You might also look into a class or workshop on testing strategies for her. My DS greatly improved his test scores after his 3rd grade teacher did a lot of instruction on test strategies. DS actually came home telling me that Mr Ellis has taught them how to "cheat", LOL.

One good strategy for reading is to read the questions and possible answers for a passage BEFORE you read the passage. Then when you see one of those answers in the text, you will pay more attention to it. I placed out of French I and II in college by reading the answers before listening to the question(in native French)

Elimination is a important one. If you can eliminate 2 of 4 answers, you have a 50% chance of getting the answer right.

I would also have her skip questions that are very frustrating and come back to them at the end. If there is vocabulary AND reading comprehension, you don't want her to do the vocabulary first while she is not frustrated(if she is okay with vocabulary) Just make sure she puts a little mark by the bubble of questions she missed, so she doesn't bubble wrong.

If one answer is all of the above, that is probably the correct answer. Also if you read two answers that are right, no need to read the third, since all of the above would be the answer.

As far as being stressed, there are some homeopathic drops for stress that have helped some kids I know. Maybe a relaxing bath in them morning before school as well.

Good luck! My son has learning disabilities and they can be really frustrating when they interfere with their progress. Make sure you daughter knows she is smart and that everyone has strengths weaknesses they have to work through.

Marsha

 

[SydSim]

Boy, that could almost be my DD-13. Whiz at math - comprehension, a constant struggle. I tutor her extensively to understand the material and then, she tests fairly well. I have approached her school almost every year since third grade about this issue - only because she is actually tested as being gifted (was in the g/t program in elementary school), yet without extensive assistance on my part, she does poorly in comprehension.

They always tell me "well, her grades are good". Yeah, but only because I help her so much. If you have a kid who is supposed to be gifted, why do they require so much assistance in reading comprehension. To me, it's because there is some sort of problem or disability in that area.

I don't think anxiety is her problem, because if I help her, she tests well. I want to get her tested at an outside facility, for learning disabilities, but it's soooo expensive. The school isn't doing anything because her grades are good.

 

[torinsmom]

Boy, that could almost be my DD-13. Whiz at math - comprehension, a constant struggle. I tutor her extensively to understand the material and then, she tests fairly well. I have approached her school almost every year since third grade about this issue - only because she is actually tested as being gifted (was in the g/t program in elementary school), yet without extensive assistance on my part, she does poorly in comprehension.

They always tell me "well, her grades are good". Yeah, but only because I help her so much. If you have a kid who is supposed to be gifted, why do they require so much assistance in reading comprehension. To me, it's because there is some sort of problem or disability in that area.

I don't think anxiety is her problem, because if I help her, she tests well. I want to get her tested at an outside facility, for learning disabilities, but it's soooo expensive. The school isn't doing anything because her grades are good.

You need to request testing IN WRITING. At that point, they have a certain amount of time to consider testing. You could also have outside testing at your own expense. Children can be gifted AND have a learning disability. Many times, it becomes especially noticeable in middle school. I was always told not to worry because my son was average overall on standardized tests. That was true, but he was scoring a 95% on some subject areas, and a 10% on others. THey did test him and he qualified in three areas and still gets accommodations in high school. You just have to keep on it, because schools will resist testing as hard as they can.

Marsha

 

[crusoe2]

OP, I teach hs special education and your DD's situation is a heart breaker. Some of the current rules we have to follow are causing so many kids to fall thru the cracks. That said, you have already been given some good advice. I'll try to offer a little more that might be helpful.

First of all, does your daughter have any trouble with basic reading skills? In other words, does she recognize most of the words and know what they mean? I've found many times that my students don't recognize a word in print because they haven't encountered it before and no one ever taught them to break the word down phonetically. Once I say the word aloud, they know what it is and what it means. If your daughter is having the same problem, not knowing even a few words in the reading passage on the test can make a huge difference in how much of the passage she understands. If this is the case, it might be helpful to go back and review basic phonics.

I also highly recommend the testing strategy mentioned by a previous poster - read the questions and answer options before reading the passage on the test. We teach this strategy to our students and it really seems to help. They know what information they are looking for before they begin and they're more likely to recognize the important points of the story or passage. Have her practice doing this before the test, too. That way it becomes second nature.

If she has a problem with losing her place in the reading passage, have her try using a blank sheet of copy paper placed just below the line she is reading. The paper covers the portion of the story she hasn't gotten to yet and should help her keep her place. I've never had reading problems myself but even so I sometimes find that words and phrases further down the page can catch my eye and distract me from the line I'm currently reading and I have to go back and re-read.

Since I'm not from your state, I don't know if the following will apply so check with your daughter to see if she has encountered this on the test. The reading portion of the grad exam here can include all sorts of informational reading - menus, schedules, forms, maps, graphs, tables, charts, etc. There could also be test items about using reference materials - an atlas, almanac, encyclopedia, dictionary, the table of contents, glossary, index, appendix, etc, etc. We can also have timelines on ours. And, of course, there are questions on literary terms like imagery, setting, plot, figurative language, etc.

Our state dept. publishes a student reveiw guide for each portion of the grad exam and it covers all of the different types of reading materials that could be on the exam. If you haven't already been provided with one, definitely ask about any type of study materials created specifically for the test.

I hope this helps some. It's so hard to give advice without actually knowing the child and seeing examples of her work. But hopefully you'll find something in my ramblings that will be useful. Good luck to both of you.

 

[jenlynn0808]

Did they test your DD for Dyslexia?

My BIL struggled all through school. They-the school system-tested results were he was "just behind." During his Senior year he had a teacher who had a son that was Dyslexic and noticed a few things BIL did that were similiar to her son. Off the record, she suggested that MIL & FIL have him tested. Sure enough he is Dyslexic (school had never tested for it). He had an accomidation plan his last semester of HS, but because it was in place he always has it. When he took his licensing test to get his Electricion's License, the state had to provide him with accomidations. He knows his stuff, but wouldn't have passed because of the reading, not due to a lack of knowledge.

 

[RitaZ.]

Has your DD taken the ACT or SAT? If she passes one of those tests, it may satisfy the reading requirement for graduation. Have her talk to the guidance counselor or call the counselor yourself if that's what it takes, but find out if she has any alternatives. In the meantime, check out her school's web site or your school's district for graduation criteria. Since her guidance counselor hasn't returned your calls, then contact the head guidance counselor first thing Monday morning and explain the situation. Don't give up on this until you get a concrete plan/answer on how to help your DD overcome this difficulty so that she can graduate with her peers.

Every year I read stories about seniors that couldn't graduate because they weren't able to meet the reading requirement. It breaks my heart. Best of luck to your DD!

 

[mic&min]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

She was not tested for dyslexia because according to the school that is a medical term and not something they test for.

I am going to the call the school on Monday and demand some answers as to their plan. If the counselors do not get back to me I will go to the principal as I feel very let down by this whole process. I am also going to put her into a private tutoring so she can get some help before her next test. I just don't feel like the school is vested in her getting through this.

I also found some practice items that I will be printing and working with her on. She has worked so hard to get to this point and I will not let her be knocked down because of this.

The strategies suggested will help me when I work with her.

Thanks Again,
Mary