Archive for the 'Administration' Category

More services in OZ

ABC.net—the Australian Broadcasting Corporation—reported that local politicians are discussing the need for additional specialists to help students with Learning Disabilities.

The Opposition’s education spokeswoman, Sue Napier, is calling on the State Government to fund more specialist staff to help school students with learning disabilities.

Ms Napier says a lack of specialists such as speech pathologists in schools means many children with disabilities such as dyslexia are failing to achieve basic literacy.

She says more than 10% of Tasmanian children suffer from some form of learning disability.

The full story is pretty brief, but here’s the link.

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Instructivist on LS

It was heartening (sort of like a little kid getting a pat on the head) to see that Instructivist caught the same story debunking learning styles from Great Britain that LD Blog covered recently. Wooohoo!

Instructivist’s coverage (but check the comments). (Link to a list of our earlier posts on this belt-level approach that’s based on virtually no evidence of effectiveness.)

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Torgesen on technology and reading

Joseph Torgesen—a leading authority on reading psychology, reading instruction, and uses of technology in reading (as well as an all-around good guy)—has written a brief piece on what teachers should look for when considering educational software for reading. It’s at TeachingLD.org (scroll to the bottom of the page for “Expert Connection” and follow the links).

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Self-concept and inclusion

One might hypothesize that inclusion promotes better social outcomes for students with Learning Disabilities, especially in the area of self-concept. One might reasons that, if they are not segregated from their non-disabled peers, students with Learning Disabilities will not feel that they are different and inferior.

Or one might theorize that inclusion has negative effects on the self-concept of students with Learning Disabilities. One might think that living in the same classrooms as their non-disabled peers might make the problems they experience all the more salient—and painful—to students with Learning Disabilities.
Continue reading ‘Self-concept and inclusion’

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Mississippi screening unfunded

In “Screening may become norm: Funding still needed to detect Mississippi students with learning disabilities,” Rebecca Helmes of the Jackson (MS, US) Clarion Ledger provides the latest on efforts to screen systematically for dyslexia among school children in Mississippi. The state department of education plans to develop screening tools despite the fact that the legislature has not appropriated funds to support the effort.
Continue reading ‘Mississippi screening unfunded’

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Hill Center recognized

The Hill Center, a North Carolina (US) program for students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders that predicates its efforts on the Orton-Gillingham model, has gotten positive press in a story headlined “Reading program produces: The pilot effort has helped Durham elementary schoolers become proficient” by Samiha Khanna of the Raleigh (NC, US) News and Observer. Ms. Khanna’s story describes how the Hill Center’s efforts have aided students who attend the center as well as those in local schools.
Continue reading ‘Hill Center recognized’

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