Special Education: How to Use No Child Left Behind to Help Your Child Learn to Read

Are you the parent of a child with a disability, who is concerned about your child’s reading progress? Would you like to know how to use No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to help your child learn to read? This article will discuss, 5 basic provisions of NCLB, that you can use to advocate for your child’s education.

The US Department of Education puts out a wonderful booklet entitled "No Child Left Behind; the Parents Guide." This booklet can be ordered online at www.nclb.gov/next. According to this booklet there are several things that this law does for children and parents.

1. "Supports learning in the early years, thereby preventing many learning difficulties that may arise later." This is important because if a child does not learn certain skills, it may be very difficult to read at a grade appropriate level, and difficult to catch up. The Parent Guide also states ". . . research shows that most reading problems faced by adolescents and adults are the result of problems that could have been prevented through good instruction in their early childhood years." You should be vigilant about ensuring that your child learns reading skills early.

2. "Provides more information for parents about their child’s progress.: The Parent Guide states "Under this law, each state must measure every public school student’s progress in reading, math, and science, in each of grades 3 through 8, and at least once during grades 10-12." This testing provides objective information for parents on their child’s academics (Grades and teacher observation of progress is subjective, and not effective). You should keep copies of all of your child’s district and state wide testing. If your child with a disability is not learning to read, you should ask for appropriate reading instruction with a reading specialist.

3. "Ensures that teacher quality is a high priority." What is important is not that the teacher has the right credentials, but that the teacher is found competent to teach children with disabilities to learn to read. Make sure that your child’s teacher is competent to teach reading.

4. "Focuses on what works." The Parent Guide states that "NCLB puts a special emphasis on implementing educational programs. . .that have been clearly demonstrated to be effective through rigorous scientific research." This is the most important part that parents must get involved in. If the teacher is competent, but the curriculum does not have scientific research to show that it teaches children with disabilities to learn to read, the child will probably not learn. If your child has a reading learning disability, there are specific curriculums that are proven to work. Check out the Web site for the National Center for Learning Disabilities Inc. at www.LD.org.

5. "Allows more flexibility in exchange for strong accountability." You should hold your school district personnel accountable for teaching your child to read, if possible. Children with moderate to severe disabilities may need to focus on a functional curriculum. But children with other disabilities are capable, if they receive appropriate reading instruction.

If you use these 5 provisions of NCLB, you will be helping your child learn to read. Remember how important it is, that your child learn early reading skills and get early intervention for any reading difficulty. Happy reading!