Hi, I was recently informed that SRA DI Reading Mastery was originally designed for children with learning disabilities. Is this correct? The reason that I ask is that my daughter’s school uses this program for every student and I am confused on how they can do that. My daughter does have ADD so I can see why they use it on her, but if it was designed to help a child with a LD, I am confused because she is in the 4th grade, in a SRA reading book at 3rd grade level and is going into the 5th grade. She has never even picked up a 4th grade reading book once this year. So how does this program help kids with learning disabilities? I especially don’t understand how it could help an average student or gifted student. I would appreaciate any help that I can receive about this.
Re: SRA Direct Instruction - Reading Mastery
Direct Instruction programs have a high level of direct interaction wiht the student and a lot more back-and-forth feedback. The idea is that you leave nothing to chance - you dn’t assume a kid will infer things or pick them up on his/her own. SO instead of turning the kiddo loose with reading and relying on the kid to pick up the skills by practicing reading, the kiddo is told exactly how to do the skill and then the kid does it and practices that skill. (On hopes there are lots of other chances throughout the day to turn the kid loose and enjoy books and reading with the skills they’ve got that enable them to do that instead of having to pretend.)
Many average and gifted students *do* pick the stuff up — but it doesn’t mean that it hurts to actually be taught the details (it can really help kids later, when things get more complex, too). Are all the kids — your kid who they’ve got in third grade level as well as everybody else in her class — doing the same thing, or are they grouped by their reading level?
If a fifth grader reading at a seventh grade level is being marched lock-step through a program that’s geared to readers at a fourth grade level, your gut response is right — YUCK! (If it were me… I’d have a novel tucked under the book and be reading that at the same time ;)) I’m not sure what you’re driving at with your statement about your kid not picking up a fourth grade book this year, though. ARe you thinking she could read it if given a chance?
SRA Reading Mastery is the commercial product of a method of instruction called Direct Instruction. It is designed for ANYONE at risk for failure and who is unsucessful in the typical basal reader used in general education. In my district we use it with all special education students AND at risk readers(not
on grade level). It has been very sucessful!