I have a slight disagreement with the sped teacher on terminology. I know it should be no big deal but it keeps eating at me.
I have described my son as not being an independent reader because of his decoding inabilities, poor comprehension, etc. The fact that he reads at a 2nd grade level in 5th grade suggests inappropriate intervention on behalf of the sped department.
The sped teacher insists on using the term reluctant reader. My perception of her term is that it places the blame on him. That he does not want to read which is false. The fact is that he CANNOT read effectively.
I just do not agree with her perception and my fear is that this will affect how she interacts with him.
Should I be concerned or am I worrying about something too trivial?
Re: slight disagreement
Gosh this stuff bugs me. Of course he’s a reluctant reader. Wouldn’t you be reluctant to read if you were three grade levels behind in reading and embarrassed to let anybody know it each time you read out loud? He is reluctant to read BECAUSE he still has poor decoding skills, poor comprehension, and (maybe, if it applies in his case), poor phonemic awareness. Maybe you can compromise: she can use the word reluctant, if you get to use the lack of skill phrases [that will identify the real issues that they haven’t successfully remediated yet].
Why don’t they stop playing games with words and go help him read?
Re: slight disagreement
I would make absolutely sure that that term didn’t show up in writing on anything without a dissenting opinion. And if you haven’t used this argument yet, I’d probably bring it up next time she slides it into her comments that hey, one thing you are trying to teach the kiddo is the importance of good language, precise langauge that really does mean what the word means. The reason he does not read is not reluctance, it is lack of skill. In addition, materials that are marketed and provided for true “reluctant readers’ tend to be at or near grade level — just written on different topics to appeal to different kids. So calling him something he IS NOT could lead to further inappropriate materials and methods being used.
However, I’m afraid that if the teacher insists on calling him a reluctant reader she is a lost cause. Either she’s too dim a bulb in the marquee of life to comprehend the difference, or she’s too set in her ways to get past the “he just needs to TRY HARDER” view. (But that’s yet another argument against putting up with the term — there is still entirely too much of that “JUST TRY HARDER” mentality out there so you don’t want the terminology tossed about)
Re: slight disagreement
I think perhaps the termoniology is not all that important. I can read “reluctant” to mean “lacking in confidence due to poor reading skills” which sounds totally accurate. I think there are more important things to spend time on that dissecting terms….like…is he getting proper remediation?!
Janis
Another idea
Lulu,
Like, Janis, I don’t think the term reluctant carries any meaning for the cause of the problem or who is responsible.
Now, one place where you can sink in your teeth is the Present Level of Educational Performance. This should show the numbers of his current testing and observations *and* carefully worded (;-))parent concerns. If they won’t put it in their PLEP, require that they use your exact wording under parent concerns.
PLEP example
Jason is reading on 2.? level as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised. He shows relative strengths in contextual comprehension but profound weakness in decoding skills as measured by his SS 72 on that subtest.
This sets up the school to be required to put in a strong GnO for decoding skills that is measurable. Pin them down to being accountable for measurable progress.
Re: slight disagreement
I agree. The “reluctant reader” title sucks. Does you son have any class journals where he may have written about his inability to read. In second grade in my son’s journal, there was a page with the date on it that said “I wish I knew how to read books!” scrawed across the page. I brought it to an IEP meeting and I faxed it to the Sp Ed attorney’s office with other coorespondence. No one will ever call him a reluctant reader!
Re: slight disagreement
Robinh,
That is a great idea. I used to take papers from my brothers bag and bring them to IEP meeting. They would say he is writing beautifully and we are accomodating his work!
It was hard to lie when they had the papers right in front of them. Half the time you could barely read his writing. The teacher would mark the paper up with red pen and really nasty comments. The best one was when he had to evaluate a particular class and she asked what is your favorite class, and he didn’t name hers. Then she asked what have you learned in my class and he said, Really, nothing.
She neglected to show that to anyone and when I used it at an IEP she pretty much piped down!!
K.
I can be antagonistic at times, specifically with the school sytem, so I may not be helping the situation any! Anyhow, since the first definition to appear in the dictionary for reluctant is: Unwilling, I would say reluctant (unwilling) reader is not appropriate. Using a term like that sounds more like your son is the one who is not wanting to learn to read! How about using the opposite terms: devoted reader, highly sensitive reader, eager reader!
I guess as long as you state your case clearly, I don’t see what is wrong with not agreeing with their description of your son and his reading abilities.
K.