Components are great, and let us not forget Charley Haynes and Pam 
Hooks' focus on orthographic sensitivity-- the need for readers to 
develop automaticity in looking at print patterns that make up words--  
as well as the mounting evidence that a GREAT many adult learners who 
read poorly can't see to read (because their vision hasn't been checked 
and corrected or they haven't been checked for binocularity- the 
ablility to focus two eyes on one image and keep them there and then 
track a line of print smoothly) or are so affected by  bright light or 
black print on white paper that words move on the page or are extremely 
blurry.  These two issues affect fluency very, VERY significantly. I 
have informally screened for these two issues for more than 20 years 
and find that great numbers of weak readers actually suffer from both 
of these problems ( binocularity and the light processing problems).  I 
  have just met with a whole lot of teachers in K-12 and an adult 
program in MA and a whole lot in Texas and New Jersy adult learning 
programs, and in EVERY school the mere description of these problems 
caused teachers to say they could identify readers who said things 
moved, light was too bright or they needed to shade their pages to 
read......in MA one teacher wrote back to say when a child confirmed 
that things were blurry when he looked at the page, she copied the 
reading onto blue paper, and immediately the child reported words were 
now clear and easier to read.    This is an extremely prevalent problem 
that is almost totally ignored in education.   Data is available to 
show that among adult learners who are at high risk for learning 
problems of some kinds (from a widely used pre-screen) , 50% had 
undiagnosed vision function problems and a whopping 84% had problems 
with glaring light or black print on white pages.   These figures were 
reconfirmed very recently on about 150 parolees in Oregon.    Bottom 
line for me has always been to check these before I put the adult 
learner through tortuous reading remediation she or he may not even 
need.

If anyone wants any testimonials about these, there are LOTS. Robin 
Schwarz

-----Original Message-----
From: Crawford, June <jcrawford at nifl.gov>
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List 
<learningdisabilities at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:53:50 -0500
Subject: Re: [LearningDisabilities] Reading curricula

Lauren and Others Interested in Adult Reading -
 
The reading research in adult education has helped us to understand 
that many students in these programs require instruction that can not 
only meet their needs as adults through appropriate content and 
contexts, but through good instruction in the basic components of 
reading: phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.  Our research 
also tells us, however, that many, many teachers in adult education 
have not had much training in reading instruction and they need 
assistance if they are to make good decisions.
 
Would you, please, be sure the teacher is made aware of our reading 
assessment program on the NIFL website?  The site was developed by Dr. 
Rosalind Davidson and is based on research that she and Dr. John 
Strucker did through Harvard University, under a government grant, with 
adult reading students.   It helps teachers determine what the student 
knows and needs to learn, helps the teacher determine what the emphasis 
of instruction should be and how the teacher should plan the 
instructional time, and helps teachers think about their students in 
clusters according to common reading needs and strengths rather than as 
just one large group.  The address is www.nifl.gov/readingprofiles; 
it includes a short tutorial that explains how to make the best use of 
the site.  The profiles of the students are very helpful when teachers 
are looking for assistance.  It is free.
 
For teachers who need assistance with making the transference of this 
information after the assessment is completed, we have a new 
publication online (not yet available in hard cover) that was authored 
by Susan McShane, reading specialist at the National Center for Family 
Literacy:   Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults: First 
Steps for Teachers.  To download this book, simply go to www.nifl.gov 
and click on the title.  The book will also be free and if you would 
like a copy when it is published in hardcover, just let me know.
 
If you would like any other information or would like a list of our 
publications on adult reading, just let me know.
June Justice Crawford




 
-----Original Message-----
 From: learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov 
[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Lauren E 
Ellington/FS/VCU
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:28 PM
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List
Subject: [LearningDisabilities] Reading curricula



I'm writing to ask for your suggestions regarding reading curricula.  I 
have had a call from the field from a teaching in one of our local 
jails.  She wanted suggestions for reading curricula that could be used 
with her learners.  Some of them are extremely low readers (1st and 2nd 
grade) while others are higher.  They are working on GED prep for all 
but she understands that not all will achieve that goal while they are 
with her.

Do any of you have any suggestions for reading curricula that you have 
found particularly effective?

**************************************************************
Lauren Ellington
Online Training Specialist,
Learning Disabilities Specialist, and
Writer/Editor of Update and Update on LD
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
817 W. Franklin Street, Room 221  |  P.O. Box 842037
Richmond, VA  23284-2037
Phone:  1-800-237-0178 or  804-828-6158  
Fax:  804-828-7539
http://www.valrc.org
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