At my son's latest eligibility meeting, the school psychologist and both his teachers admitted that my dyslexic and dysgraphic son is far below average on spelling and grammar on standardized tests as well as demonstrated on classwork. The psychologist then followed up this statement with the disclaimer that "spelling isn't even on the Oregon 3rd grade state standards" and is not worth remediating, nor necessitates an IEP goal. Yikes.
I politely replied that 1) The way a student spells is a representation of their understanding of the English language (or any other language), showing us their knowledge of its phonetic rules, and the way their brain is processing language, 2) Spelling IS a part of the 3rd grade English Language Arts standards in Oregon (why didn't the 3rd grade teachers jump into back me up on that one?, and that 3) Spelling is an integral part of language usage and is a major barrier to effective self-expression in writing. In combination with his low reading fluency scores and anxiety and frustration around writing, we see that his brain struggles significantly to make sense of language and its usage. His teachers frequently wrote comments like "work harder on spelling" on all his papers, circling random words in red while leaving other misspelled ones completely ignored, never giving him chances to investigate, fix, or learn the correct forms.
The message that school was sending my son isn't unique. As Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley writes,"The ubiquitous message that English is crazy and we just have to memorize all the ‘sight’ words only sends the message that it isn’t even worth trying. And trust me, that is the message they receive and then they are told to ‘try harder’ – do you see the vicious cycle?"
Eugene 4J School District had been using the Journeys ELA curriculum, a balanced literacy approach, and the teachers' idea of remediation this year was giving my son select lists of random, unrelated words to copy three times by hand -- not exactly research-based literacy instruction. He had received no structured literacy, no structured word inquiry -- no specific help or instruction on phonemes or graphemes he does not yet know -- because they have never been taught. I was told that either he didn't need it or that help didn't exist.
Struggling spellers need help in order to understand language and its usage. If this sounds like your situation, as maddening and possibly illegal as it sounds, take heart and get busy to help your struggling student:
1) Don't wait for the school to remediate -- most teachers in Oregon have not been trained in the specific literacy techniques that will help dyslexics and struggling readers. Most don't know anything specific about dyslexia, including recognizing it.
2) If you have an IEP, be sure that it targets specific phonemes and graphemes that your student has not demonstrated mastery of. If your student has a 504, be sure it includes an accommodation that spelling will not be graded or tested. Make those goals specific and time-oriented! Reach out to an advocate to help you create some great goals to take to the meeting.
3) When your student writes a word incorrectly, do not just circle it and move on. As soon as possible, it is important for them to look up the correct spelling and insert its proper spelling on their own.
4) Do not let school staff tell you that spelling does not appear on Oregon's school standards: it does. Do not let anyone tell you that spelling is not important: it is an indication of the understanding of language and its usage and struggling spellers have brains that are working against them, slowing the writing process. Struggling spellers are often slow readers and processors because they are working overtime to figure out words.
5) Be sure to ask for an Assistive Technology Assessment, which will be done through the school. Support your student at home to access it and self-advocate -- many teachers will not support it on their own without nudging.
6) Intervention, whether at home, in tutoring, or at school, should be multi-sensory, structured, frequent and intensive -- and the earlier the better!
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