Why Do So Many Children, Teens, and Adults Have Reading Problems? And, What Can Be Done About It?
Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Central Washington University--adjunct faculty
Second Presenter's Institution
NA
Third Presenter's Institution
NA
Fourth Presenter's Institution
NA
Fifth Presenter's Institution
NA
Location
Poster Session (Harborside)
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Relevance
The presentation will offer a well-researched explanation of why students struggle with reading and an explanation, including effectiveness research, of how that struggle can be significantly alleviated if not eliminated altogether. Because reading issues constitute a major barrier in achieving academic success, knowledge about how this barrier can be eliminated is extremely relevant to the Academic Achievement & School Leadership strand.
Brief Program Description
“If we are to achieve things never before accomplished, we must employ methods never before attempted” —Francis Bacon. Learn about a paradigm shift in reading that quickly eliminates reading problems—for even the most challenged readers. How is this possible? Unleash the power of the brain to focus on figuring out how to make excellent reading happen by aligning intervention with what the brain needs to learn any process.
Summary
Attendees will:
- Understand that inappropriately constructed neural circuitry is the root cause of reading problems.
- Appreciate the inherent plasticity of the brain and how that reality means it is possible for the brain to remodel the network built to guide the process of reading so it operates appropriately.
- Understand that procedural learning, including reading, happens implicitly—below the level of conscious awareness.
- Realize that the implicit nature of procedural learning means that students need a constructivist environment to learn a process--including the process of reading.
- Investigate common assumptions about what the brain must do to make excellent reading happen and present for consideration alternate assumptions that challenge traditional reading theory.
- Learn about an innovative reading intervention model that reflects the reality of the implicit nature of procedural learning and the alternate assumptions about what the brain must do to make excellent reading happen.
- Hear about the results that have been achieved with students (special education, ELL, Title I, and non-labeled students) who have participated in the intervention model (as measured by a standardized, norm-referenced reading test and by various state testing instruments and including third-party, gold-standard research).
- Learn how the same theoretical constructs that support the innovative intervention model can guide instructional practice in the classroom
The session will be primarily lecture augmented by PowerPoint slides. There is a significant portion of the presentation that requires audience interaction, providing in-the-moment experiences that challenge conventional reading theory and help to illuminate some of the implicit aspects of the reading act. This serves to make the complex concepts being explored understandable.
Too often teachers and administrators who work with students who are at risk due to reading problems believe, based on their own experiences, that these populations will show only incremental improvement. This is especially true for secondary students. This presentation will provide realistic hope--these students can show rapid, significant improvement if the environment is right. Attendees will leave the presentation with a new understanding of what causes reading problems and what can be done to successfully address them.
Evidence
The proposed approach is based on what is known to be true about the ability of the brain to change itself (brain plasticity), about the implicit nature of procedural learning, and about a new understanding of what brains do to make excellent reading happen. This new understanding is supported by fMRI reseach and by eye-movement research. The effectiveness of the approach has been borne out by numerous pre- and post- evaluations using norm-referenced, standardized reading tests; by growth as measure by State testing instruments; and by third-party, gold-standard research. Data of each kind will be presented.
Biographical Sketch
DEE TADLOCK earned a Ph.D. in reading education in 1978. She has taught reading at every level from elementary school through graduate school and has also worked with adult literacy in community college, community-based, and workforce programs. She is currently adjunct faculty at Central Washington University, and she also works as an educational consultant. Dr. Tadlock has been published in several professional journals including Journal of Reading, Phi Delta Kappan, Reading Psychology, and Adult Literacy & Basic Education. She is author of the book, Read Right! Coaching Your Child to Excellence in Reading, published by McGraw-Hill in 2005 and was nominated for the prestigious Brock Prize for Innovation in Education, placing third out of nine nominees.
Keyword Descriptors
reading intervention, brain-based learning, eliminate reading problems, help with reading, academic success, reading problems, causes of reading problems
Presentation Year
2019
Start Date
3-5-2019 4:00 PM
End Date
3-5-2019 5:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Tadlock, Dee R., "Why Do So Many Children, Teens, and Adults Have Reading Problems? And, What Can Be Done About It?" (2019). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 41.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2019/2019/41
Why Do So Many Children, Teens, and Adults Have Reading Problems? And, What Can Be Done About It?
Poster Session (Harborside)
“If we are to achieve things never before accomplished, we must employ methods never before attempted” —Francis Bacon. Learn about a paradigm shift in reading that quickly eliminates reading problems—for even the most challenged readers. How is this possible? Unleash the power of the brain to focus on figuring out how to make excellent reading happen by aligning intervention with what the brain needs to learn any process.
