curriculum casualties

Reid Lyon seems to have come up with this phrase: curriculum casualties.

Q: Will Effective Reading Instruction Reduce the Need for Special Education?

Reid Lyon: That is possible in the long run. What is now clear is that effective instruction will help differentiate between children whose reading problems are related to inadequate instruction (curriculum casualties) versus children who continue to struggle despite early and intensive instruction.

I'm going to remember it and use it.


how many curriculum casualties do we have?

...by putting in place well designed evidence-based early identification, prevention, and early intervention programs in our public schools, our data strongly show that the 20 million children today suffering from reading failure could be reduced by approximately two-thirds.

approximately 38% of fourth grade students read below the basic level. Keeping in mind that the majority of these children will continue to have reading difficulties throughout their school career if they do not receive systematic and focused early intervention, we can estimate that at least 20 million school-age children suffer from reading failure. Among these 20 million children, only approximately 2.3 million school-age children are served in special education under the category of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). The remaining 17.7 million poor readers not meeting the eligibility requirements for the SLD category are either provided some form of compensatory education or overlooked all together.

[snip]

[B]y putting in place well designed evidence-based early identification, prevention, and early intervention programs in our public schools, our data strongly show that the 20 million children today suffering from reading failure could be reduced by approximately two-thirds.

So that's an estimated 6,700,000 curriculum casualties amongst school-age children.

Right?


our challenge

Our challenge now is to close the gap between what we know works from research and the ineffective practices that many prospective teachers are taught during their preparation and the ineffective instruction still being provided in most of our nation's classrooms. The question is, do we have the courage to do so?