Article Response 6: Learning from Text

Dave Edyburn's article is a clarion call against the mantra of, "But we've always done it that way." In his critical reflection on what really matters for struggling readers, he asks a series of probing questions to address "... the mismatch between the skills that students with disabilities bring to the general education classroom and the expectations deeply rooted in learning from text instructional models (p. 16)."

His questions could be the focus of many staff meetings or site-based teams. They include:

• Can students demonstrate appropriate academic achievement when the instructional model expects reading fluency at grade level and their disability reflects skills at a much lower level?
• What should be done when a student fails to learn necessary information because he can't read the instructional materials?
• Is the core task learning to read or reading to learn? And, if I can't read, which task takes priority?
• How do we decide if the best course is remediation versus compensation?
• When should students be provided with compensatory technologies when they can't read?
• Are there other ways of performing reading tasks?
• How much failure data do we need before we have enough evidence that the child can't perform the task? When do we intervene? And, what do we do?

Edyburn goes on to argue that it is our responsibility to make texts accessible to learners. Following Dyck and Pemberton's model for adapting text, Edyburn proposes a modifed version that includes tech interventions:

His article concludes with a wealth of tools that can be used to implement the various strategies such as bypass reading, decrease reading, support reading, organize reading, and guide reading. I would guess that, since this article was written in 2003, he has updated his list with apps and accessibility features.

I found his article speaks to me. In our board's social justice framework, how do we ensure a socially just learning environment for all? More specifically,as a Grade 3 teacher, I understand how critical it is for students to have control of the reading process before they leave me and move on to Grade 4. I advocate continually for the struggling readers in my class to receive program support, early literacy support, and other additional supports that may be available. But Edyburn's questions give me pause. I need to consider when it may be more appropriate to advocate for the appropriate assistive technology to support student learning. I need to ask myself, "What really matters for this struggling reader? For, in the words of the Lorax: