Why does it take an education lawyer’s intervention to get evidence-based reading instruction in Maryland? Are you getting pretty sick of Maryland public schools insisting on reading instruction and intervention that has been disproven, especially for students with dyslexia? It should not require hiring an education attorney to get the right kind of reading instruction, provided by a professional with sufficient training, spending enough time every day, in a group size that is conducive to learning, to teach your child to read. Unfortunately, in Maryland, that’s still where we are.
What the Law Says About Evidence-Based Reading Instruction
Reading intervention should be “evidence based,” right? The language used by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says yes, that special education services should be based on “peer reviewed research.” 20 U.S.C. § 1414 and 34 U.S.C. § 300.320(a)(4)
In 2004, new language was even added defining “peer reviewed research” as research that is “reviewed by qualified and independent reviewers to ensure that the quality of the information meets the standards of the field.” Federal Register, page 46664. Seems like common sense, right? Use methods that have been proven to work to teach all children how to read? Why do parents still need to fight for this?
In Maryland, the State Department of Education (MSDE) has made efforts to guide local school districts. MSDE specifically names Structured Literacy in its discussion of instruction for students with specific learning disabilities. MSDE says, “Students with persistent reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, may require evidence-based interventions alongside specially designed instruction. One highly recommended approach is structured literacy instruction, which emphasizes the structure of language, including the speech sounds and the writing systems. To be effective, such instruction must be explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic (International Dyslexia Association, 2015). Structured Literacy is marked by several elements, including: phonology; sound-symbol association; syllable instruction; morphology; syntax; and semantics.” 16-03 MSDE Specific Learning Disability and Supplement, page 11. What MSDE doesn’t mention in this guidance is that Structured Literacy is actually effective for everyone, not just students with dyslexia, but for students with dyslexia, it is imperative. All schools should be using structured literacy to teach early reading skills at this point, but not only do they not, they tell parents that what they are using is just fine, even when children are not progressing.
Not-so-recent evidence (seriously, this has been known for years), shows that “balanced literacy,” “whole language,” and “three-cueing” methods DO NOT WORK for many children, and they especially do not work for children with dyslexia. They are so ineffective that some states have outright banned them.
The Ongoing Battle for Dyslexia Support in Maryland Schools
If we’ve known this for years, why am I still talking about it? Why do special education attorneys see case after case of families who need to hire us to get evidence based reading intervention, in sufficient quantity and quality in public schools to teach their children how to read? Why do so many families of bright, dyslexic students have no choice but to move their children out of public school before the students are taught to read?
Really, the question should be: why are schools still using disproven methods, both for initial instruction and for intervention, even for children with dyslexia? Why are Maryland public schools expending so much energy fighting parents instead of implementing effective initial reading instruction and proven intervention? And why are parents still calling education attorneys to say their school insists on using disproven programs as an “intervention” for their child with a specific learning disability/dyslexia, even when they ask for something different? Why do Maryland schools consistently use teachers barely trained in structured literacy to provide an insufficient number of minutes of intervention when the research shows how much intervention children actually need to “close the gap”?
Want more recent research that the common programs many Maryland school systems use aren’t a good idea for your dyslexic child? Sure! Here you go. And here.
Schools love to point to “What Works Clearinghouse (WWC),” to defend the programs they use. WWC says that one of the most common programs in Maryland– Leveled Literacy Intervention– has “no discernible effects on alphabetics for beginning readers.” But you have to dig down to the bottom of the article to find that. Maybe Maryland schools think parents aren’t smart enough to read the whole article. What the heck is “alphabetics?” It is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. It’s systematic PHONICS! Systematic instruction is without a doubt, what dyslexic learners need (remember MSDE’s statement about this, above?).
What Parents Should Ask About Reading Interventions
Teaching explicit, systematic phonics has been shown to improve reading for all. So, ask your school for the “peer-reviewed research” that shows that the program they use in the general education classroom, and that the program they use with your child for “intervention” is effective in the area (phonics? fluency? morphology?) your child needs. And then make sure that research wasn’t done by the folks who sold the school system the program. And ask what training the teacher has received in the intervention. And how many kids are in the reading group. And how many minutes a day of intervention the children are getting. That’s a lot of questions for an overwhelmed parent of a frustrated 2nd grader to ask an IEP team. Maryland schools should be doing better, and parents shouldn’t have to hire lawyers to get public schools to teach their children how to read.
This blog post is for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
If you need advice from an education lawyer or special education advocate, you can schedule a call HERE.