Hello parents, Dan Snowberger, superintendent. I'm joined here with by Cindy Ku, our coordinator of literacy. This is our second episode uh in our series of explaining some of the new initiatives we have here in the district. Uh this year, we've talked about direct instruction. We've talked
about our dyslexia um therapy that we now have in place to support our students who are struggling to read. Um and so we want to talk a little about that today is our dyslexia initiative. Cindy, it is so great to have you in our district. We're so lucky to have you. So, um, so Cindy, you are a certified
academic language therapist and you're also able to train other certified. Tell us a little about what and we call those couts, too, for parents who always know that education has those acronyms, CALT. Tell us a little about what what type of training goes into a CELT. So, a
certified academic language therapist or a CALT um undergoes two years of graduate level training specifically in the science of reading um with an emphasis on understanding students with dyslexia and how to help students um
achieve reading success. So, it's the the two years of graduate level programming. Um it's over 200 hours in the classroom. It's uh 700 hours of observed practicum and then you have to take over the course you have to
take two nationally certifying tests. So the first test makes you a practitioner or a >> kelp >> and then once you pass the second test you become a kelp a certified academic language therapist >> um and then you can go beyond that and become a qualified instructor which
allows um you to train other >> train others >> uh pract practitioners and therapists. So this summer you had the opportunity to train some of our staff which we're really excited about. So we we multiplied you. >> Yes. >> For our district. So tell us a little about that experience. I think we had four staff members.
>> It was so exciting. We had four staff members who were absolutely loving um this opportunity >> and they went through a three-week very intensive course um that studies first the science of reading and it is a super
intense in-depth course um because we cram basically it's basically two or three college courses crammed into a week and a half. Mhm. >> Um, so there's a lot of information that they're learning. Um, a lot of detail, a lot about dyslexia, the science behind
it, lots of research that we look into. Um, so they come out of those three weeks, um, knowing so much about the science of literacy, structured literacy, how do we proceed to help these students who don't learn the way the traditional education system
teaches. >> Great. Great. And I and it was all day because I I think I saw you coming out of some of those sessions and everyone looked a little tired. >> Oh, it is exhausting because it is um I always tell them it's like drinking from a fire hose. Yeah.
>> You know, and I also tell them kiddingly if if you don't cry during this training program, you're not doing it right. You're not you're not putting enough into it because it's that overwhelming. I mean, there is so much information coming at you. Yeah. >> Um, >> that >> you're becoming an expert in
understanding the the the concepts of literacy and how they're built in a child's brain to to be able to decode and and actually make sense of printed words. >> Yeah. So, I would say the way the program works is they're learning all the science behind reading first
and then they're practicing it and as they go through the year, they're seeing how that's applied. And so, they have all that background knowledge that then as they're going through teaching their students, they're they're seeing that, oh, I see how that research is fitting in and I see how that works. Um and so
it's very um a very successful way of learning and they will become when they are done with these courses they will become some of the top literacy experts in our state. >> That's fantastic. That's fantastic. So parents we've talked a little about dyslexia and some parents are like so so what's the big deal? The research shows
that one in five some research studies say one in seven students have some form of dyslexia. Now not every student with dyslexia needs drastically changed instruction. Some of them need maybe more refined practices, but there are students with dyslexia that are pretty
severe and those students really um really struggle with learning. Tell us a little more about how does dyslexia impact a student's learning. >> So I think this is let me start with kind of the sad thing about education today is we've known for about 40 or 50 years
what these students need to be able to read. Yet our educational system across the nation is not teaching reading the way that we know scientifically it needs to be taught. So these students are trying to access information that's
being presented to them in a way that their brains cannot make sense of. And so what we do with Take Flight is we teach reading the way the science shows. And we, you know, they the research puts kids under fMRIs and they can watch where their brain lights up so they know
what's working and what's moving. the activity from the right side of the brain, which is usually where dyslexic reading is occurring. And with the therapy, we can move it over to the left side of the brain. >> Um, >> and so a student with dyslexia just needs the
right type of instruction. And I think this the really sad thing is that if we taught every child to read the way we're teaching kids to read with Take Flight, >> we would truly have only about 5% of our kids that struggle to read. Mhm. And that's really our goal.
>> And that is our goal. That is what we will get there. >> Um, you know, we're we have to do baby steps and get there, but the goal is that we will teach reading to every single student the way every single student can access it. >> And parents, we've talked about, you
know, 40% of kids in the United States can read at grade level. It's despicable. And and while we outperform that a little bit, it's still we're not where we need to be. That's why we're really excited about about having these tools. And so this isn't the only training we've done. I know you've done
some training as our coordinator of literacy with our teachers. You want to talk a little about some of that? >> Yeah. So, um, we just did a training today on the science of reading. Um, we've done some trainings on assessments, making sure that we're gathering the right kind of data so that we can really see where our students are
struggling. And I think um the important thing I mean yes we want to help students with dyslexia but a student doesn't need a label for us to be able to help them. We want to help any student who has any type of deficiency whether it's because they weren't
exposed to the material or exposed to a way that they learn. >> Um >> but that's one of the things that we're doing with the science of reading. We went in depth um because teachers need to understand how brains work when it comes to learning to read and if we can
do this for all students. >> When we see reading go up, we will see all the other subjects go up because >> it affects everything. >> Y >> yeah. And it's a societal issue, too. I mean, we know that some states base the number of prison beds >> based on what their literacy rates are
in elementary school. >> Sad. Um, we know it costs our country billions of dollars a year for students who or adults who can't read or read below levels. So, it's a it's a changing their life and it's important. >> Yeah. >> That we do that. >> I know one of the things you did for a
couple of our schools is a is a is a dyslexia simulator experience and and parents, we're we're going to try to offer that as well for our community um here during the year is that chance for teachers to experience what it's like for a child who has dyslexia. Uh, you
know, I often think of the cartoon, uh, Peanuts, Charlie Brown, where you hear the teacher wa wa wa wa wa. And honestly, I'm going through the dyslexia simulation. You really do realize that's exactly what a dyslexic students hearing when you're teaching in the way that unfortunately
>> public education's drifted to. Um, they're they're not making sense of it. And so, um, I'm excited about that. So, just to debunk, kids with dyslexia can learn. >> Oh, they can. Yeah, >> they absolutely can learn. They just need instruction in the right way.
>> Um, and you know, we look at I always tell my kids who are feeling down because this is an emotional thing. And so students who are struggling to read often have very low self-esteem. Um, and I always tell them, hey, you look at the general population, about 20% of
students or people have dyslexia. Mhm. >> But you look at the entrepreneurs, the people who are filthy rich, about 35% of them >> have dyslexia because they there's nothing wrong with their brain. >> It's the education system. And I hate when people say that dyslexia is a
disability. >> The educational system makes it disabling. >> Y >> and there is a distinct difference there. when you look at some of the the famous uh brilliant Americans um Albert Einstein I think was dyslexic you know just
>> we suspect yeah yeah so the list of people who have dyslexia >> so with dyslexia comes some other coorbidities we call them and that's disal discalculia >> disalculia >> thank you thank you I need some help from my literacy expert sorry and disgraphia right
>> so you want to talk a little about what those two are >> sure so discalculia is bas basically the kind of math version of dyslexia and very often it is um students may know numbers but they don't
know the twess of two >> like what does two represent it's a label but they struggle with that concept >> okay >> behind the label what two really means or what does five really mean right >> um >> and so it's it's just um a a learning
difference in math And we know we can, I'm not a math expert, but we know the science. >> Yeah. >> To fix that, we know that if we start with concrete >> and then move to representational and move to abstract, those students can also >> learn math.
>> Awesome. And then disgraphia or writing >> disgraphia, it presents in two different ways. Um, we see disgraphia that comes across as a motor a fine motor skill where students are struggling to form letters. Um and then we also see it where students have ideas but because
there is a disruption they struggle to get those ideas on paper. So you may ask them to answer a question and they can give you this wonderful long answer >> but you ask them to write it and you will get a very scarce sentence. >> Yep. Y
>> um because they they have the brilliant thoughts they just cannot get them out on paper. And the good news, parents, is none of these are are are preventing a student from learning if we instruct in the right way. That's what's really critical, parents, is
>> this isn't about excuses. This is about recognizing the challenges that are happening with our children in our classrooms and changing our practices, supporting our teachers in changing those practices so that we can do a better job in reaching more of our students. So, >> I know all of our students have been
engaged in the beginning of the year reading assessments, I Ready, um, K through eight. >> Um, and I know we're monitoring those because we want to see, you know, are there indicators? And I think I Ready does have some indicators that allow us to to see some red flags. >> Yes. And we actually added to the
diagnostic. And so, um, K through five, we have done the literacy tasks, which is a one-on-one assessment with a teacher or a >> okay, >> an adult, um, that gives us >> even better information that can really dig down to what kids need.
>> Um, and so, >> so when we identify a student who may have some characteristics of dyslexia, what else are we doing? Well, um, as many as we can fit into a take-flight therapy, which is truly a therapy as
opposed to an intervention. I mean, it is a a totally different level of help. Um, we'll fit as many kids as we can in there. We have our interventionists that are being trained in the science of reading. Um, so they will have a multi-ensory structured literacy approach to their instruction that
they're giving students. And eventually we're going to work on the tier one >> because if we can fix the tier one, we could put people like me out of a job. >> Yep. Yep. And that's what we're all working towards, right? >> Put me out of a job. >> Yep. Well, >> we don't want to put you out of job. U so so it's important parents to know
that in the coming weeks you're going to receive a letter um if your child is is is performing below grade level. And that's not to scare you. That's just to alert you because what we have found is in the past as we've collected this data sometimes we've we've not necessarily reacted to it. Um and that's something
we're changing as a system. So you will be notified and please don't take that notification as alarms are going off but more or less of we want you to know that hey we've identified that your child might might need some additional supports. Um what we have found early on um because this is so new we've had have
had some parents who have said I don't want my child to get intervention and I really want you to understand how important it is. We have now um very structured interventions in place to support children who are functioning below grade level that we can help them recover and get back to grade level. And
that's so important that we take advantage of that. um you know, every every year that goes by and the child's continuing to I call it move forward like Swiss cheese with holes in their learning, the more challenging it's going to get for them as they as they reach high school. And and high school
is really not a learning to read by a reading to learn um scenario. Middle school is too, but luckily in middle school, we have a lot more uh reading interventions as well uh this year. So um just know parents that that's coming. Um, again, it's not an alarm. It's a
communicating with you so we can work together um as we go through the rest of the year. Um, I think it's also important to note we're not diagnosing dyslexia. Um, because we're we're not medical doctors. It is a medical medical diagnosis. >> We're diagnosing characteristics. You
want to talk a little about that? >> Yeah. Um, and I think it's important that we're looking for areas where students are struggling and then we're addressing those areas. So to whether or not a student has an official diagnosis or not, it's not going to change what we
do. >> We are going to do what they need, >> right? >> We don't need that piece of paper that that gives a formal diagnosis. Um because we can recognize those characteristics. We can recognize those areas of deficiency and we can address
those directly. And so it's more of a a laserointed approach rather than a shotgun approach that we take. >> Perfect. Perfect. So parents know when you get a letter, don't feel that you need to go get a diagnosis. Um we're going to treat the symptoms. We're going to treat the challenges that your
child's having in reading. We're going to make sure that we close those gaps. We're going to communicate with you throughout the year as we work to close those gaps. Um and we really want to make sure I will be very honest with you, our goal is that children not leave elementary school reading below grade
level. Um because it it again when children go to middle school, when they begin take accessing electives and they begin accessing all of the content that is opened up in the secondary level, children need to not have those reading difficulties that get in the way. And
so, um our goal this year is to make sure that certainly at the elementary level, children are are caught up and that they're that that we close that gap or at least we're on track to closing that gap. Um, and so, you know, we'll talk with you during the year if we feel like your child is struggling to get
there and what we can do together to try to make sure that they get there. Um, we may have some summer programs next summer for students who who still need some additional support. Um, so there's a lot still ahead. Um, but most importantly, I I hope what you're hearing is we've added a lot of tools in
the toolbox here in Elizabeth School District and and Cindy has been a just a great partner in doing so and we're so fortunate to have her. So, again, um, any closing words, anything? >> Well, I just want to know throw in that we're also doing this at the middle school. >> Yes, >> we have two CLTs at the middle school or
a Calton training and a CL and I'm in there doing jet training, which is the same as take flight, but it's condensed to a year. It's a little faster pace. Fantastic. So, we have students at the middle school that are also getting therapy. >> Fantastic. And that's important to know. Again, we know we have children who did leave elementary school not reading on
grade level, and we're not dismissing that. We're we're trying to make sure that we close that gap before they move on to the high school. So, again, parents, if you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Um certainly, uh if it's a if it's a question about literacy, I'm certainly happy to get with Cindy and make sure we get an
answer back to you. Um, again, this series is really about trying to highlight the changes that are happening here in Elizabeth School District. Uh, we're so fortunate to have resources and and and quality people like Cindy to help us and supporting um shifting our system and and and supporting our great
teachers who really come to work every day wanting to do uh amazing things and and giving them the tools now to to address some areas that we know that as a district we've not um always been as efficient as we need to be. So, uh, again, uh, look for our last episode in
the series, which will kind of hopefully show you, um, what's happening in our classrooms, actually share some of those, um, actual clips of things that are going on to to address some of the things you saw with Zach Rashelle in our last video, the direct explicit instruction, and we'll probably highlight some of our take-flight
groups. Parents, be sure to follow our website, um, elizabethchooldist.org, and all of our social media channels for more information like this uh that we're constantly pushing out for you. Thank you.