Family Literacy Network

Research:

Thirty years of reseach coordinated and funded by the National Instutes of Child Health and Human Development show that explicit instruction brings about 95% of students to average reading skills and 99% to useful reading skills (Lyon, 2002; Mathes, 2005). While explicit reading intervention has been well reserached by the NICHD, it is largely limited to funded studies and demonstration projects because there are too few trained instructors and limited time in our k-12 schools. For this reason (to get more “boots in the sand”), we encourage parental involvement. In a few months, parents gain new tools to support reading across all school subjects and homework. This helps to close gaps that can develop between classroom instruction and a student’s individual needs. Parental participation accelerates the development of fluency (and may be necessary for a student beyond second grade, Denton, Vaughn, and Fletcher, 2003). Parental support fades as the student grows in proficiency and confidence.

Top Row: Brain scan show a 7-year old struggling reader before intervention. Large areas in the right brain "light up" (red arrow) when trying to read. Left brain areas that are specialized for efficient reading are quiet.

Bottom Row: After two months of appropriate reading instruction, the readers left-brain (green arrow) has taken over most of the work, and the child is reading at grade-level.

Simos, Fletcher, Bergman, Breier et al. (2002). Dyslexia-specific brain activation profile becomes normal following successful remedial training. Neurology, 58, 1203-1213

click for more information..