I write a weekly column - here.  Two on education: 1) The five principles of real school improvement 2. A look at really improving public schools

My passion in life is education. I consult in New Mexico School Districts on fragile students unable to read effectively or to acquire fundamental math skills. In schools some students thrive, others get along and some are very fragile. Keep doing what works for the ones that thrive, improve the connection with those who are just getting along and change what we are doing that is not working for fragile students.

Fragile students who are unable to read effectively or to acquire fundamental math skills make up the majority of school dropouts. They lack these academic skills, therefore, feel alienated since they cannot participate at grade level, Example: most do not read well silently. Reading silently is how students take almost all of their tests. It is taught the least and tested the most.

Two general types of students try to learn to read or do fundamental math: intuitives and non-intuitives. The intuitive students have no trouble even if they jump over some concepts, they just use their intuition to connect with the fundamental building blocks of learning. Contrast that with the non-intuitives who are analytic learners and must go from learning square one to square 100 in order of they get lost and do not learn.

What works for intuitives does not work for non-intuitives. Intuitives figure out concepts without instruction. Many are able to read or do math even before starting school. Most non-intuitive do not and if they are not taught and reinforced properly, they do not learn to read or do math well. Without these academic skills in the first few grades they often drop out later since school makes them feel stupid.

Non-Intuitive students must have interventions providing explicit, structured, sustained and branching practice to be able to consolidate the teaching into long-term skills, abilities and knowledge. Computers engage students more because they deal directly with the needs of that student. Therefore, computer technology allows teachers to concentrate on only what a fragile student needs and to monitor exactly what that student does second by second. Each computer click is a formative assessment because when the student gets the question right, the student proceeds to the next activity. If they do not get it right they are re-taught in a different way the same information until they master the lesson. Importantly, the students goes from success to success to success which bolsters their confidence and abilities. Often fragile students have not experienced any success at school and expect to fail. We have to change that perception first.

 - phonemic awareness, the ability to hear the 44 letter and combined letter sounds correctly,

 - the rules of phonics, to be able to understand from what they read, what sounds to make in saying words,

 - grade level vocabulary, to understand the intellectual concepts at their grade level,

 - comprehension, to put strings of words together and read them without sounding each word out, and

 - fluency, to be able to read at the speed that the learner thinks, without thinking about reading and leaving no time to be distracted

Fundamental Math Development.

Cognitive research has shown that some students at risk for math failure have not developed a sufficient conceptual foundation in number sense and math operations. The hierarchical progression of math concepts requires that students develop a strong mathematical foundation to ensure their future success. Problem solving is one of the most difficult skills for students to learn. Many students try to memorize the curriculum without understanding critical concepts. When challenged with problem solving on standardized tests, these students struggle.

Students must solve problems while they make connections between concepts. They consolidate their knowledge through activities that help them to master immediate recall of math facts. Word problems take learning to the next level by challenging students to apply their skills to real-world situations. Again there is the primary issue of intuitive and non-intuitive learners. The more fragile math learners must have an environment with an explicit, structured, sustained and branching system that enables students to progress at their own pace and ensures that they master foundational concepts before progressing to advanced skills.

McComas & Associates.

I work in association with McComas & Associates, Inc. to provide intervention software. The reading interventions are from  Lexia Learning, Mindplay and Reading Plus along with fundamental math interventions from, Symphony Math. 

 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.