Archive for February 13th, 2008

DLD Elections

Published by JohnL on 13 February 2008 in News. 0 Comments

Every year, the past president of the Division for Learning Disabilities presents candidates for offices in the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD). This year, Karen Rooney has assembled an outstanding slate of candidates for whom members of DLD can vote.

For secretary Erica Lembke
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 		June Szabo-Kifer
Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Santa Barbara, CA
 
For vice president Gary Troia
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 		Linda Siegel
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
 
For president-elect Anthony Van Reusen
California State University, Bakersfield, CA 		Kenneth Kavale
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.

Members, jump to TeachingLD to vote.

If you’re a member of CEC but not a member of DLD, you can still join in time to vote. If you already belong to CEC, you can call CEC’s Constituent Services Center US toll free at (888) 232-7733 [TTY (703) 264-9446] and add DLD membership for just $20. If you’re not a member of CEC, it’s a bit more costly, but you can join CEC and DLD in time to vote; just call the same number.

Disclosure: I’m a former officer of DLD and currently serve as the organization’s executive director.

J. Lee Wiederholt

Published by JohnL on 13 February 2008 in Comments and News. 0 Comments
Lee at a desk
J. Lee Wiederholt

J. Lee Wiederholt, a widely published author in special education and assessment, died 19 August 2007. After obtaining a doctorate from Temple University, Professor Wiederholt served as a member of the faculty at the University of Arizona and University of Texas. For much of his career, he was also affiliated with Pro-Ed, a publishing firm that specialized in tests, books, curricular materials, and journals in the area of special education and related disciplines. For ten years he served as editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities.

As an academic, Professor Wiederholt provided valuable contributions to our understanding of Learning Disabilities. In 1974 he authored an important history of Learning Disabilities that is still routinely cited in texts and other histories of the discipline. For ten years he served as editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities. As an author and publisher, he developed widely employed assessments such as the TOAL-4: Test of Adolescent and Adult Language and the GORT-4: Gray Oral Reading Tests, among many others.

Thanks to the Donald D. Hammill Foundation for providing the accompanying photograph.

An illiterate teacher

Published by JohnL on 13 February 2008 in Dyslexia, News, Policy and The Press. 1 Comment

Joanne Jacobs has a post entitled “The illiterate teacher” about author John Corcoran who reports in a book that he “taught high school social studies, bookkeeping and P.E. for 17 years despite being illiterate.” Ms. Jacobs reported that Mr. Corcoran, who’s book is The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, also funds a foundation that promotes reading instruction. According to the John Corcoran Foundation Web site, Mr. Corcoran has also written another book, Bridge to Literacy: No Child - or Adult Left Behind.

Link to Ms. Jacob’s post. See also the John Corcoran Foundation Web site.

Bogus Bowl II

Published by JohnL on 13 February 2008 in Comments and News. 0 Comments

In case readers of LD Blog missed it, I posted a new version of the Bogus Bowl over at Teach Effectively. This one is about the excuses that people use for not teaching students. As of this writing, there’s a close contest between the excuse of not liking helpful teaching methods and the rationalization that students’ home lives trump teaching. If you haven’t already done so, please jump over there and vote.