You must go beyond the definitions of the words. Developing vocabulary as part of knowledge structure, when students get to a point where they are able to include those words in their reading, speaking, and writing, requires much more energy and focus than simply memorizing terms.

Comprehension… it’s the ultimate goal for your struggling readers! You can see why comprehension is the final key in the 5 pillars of reading. Without a certain level of competency in Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, and Fluency, how can we expect our students to comprehend what they are reading?

What is an educational psychological assessment?

This assessment evaluates your child’s thinking and problem solving abilities, as well as your child’s academic achievement skills in the areas of reading, writing and or mathematics. The purpose of an educational psychology assessment is to obtain information that can inform educational program planning.

Imagine that you have just received the full edpsych report for one of your students and now it is your responsibility to do something with it!

I have just completed benchmark assessments with many of my students. Once again I have a list of “look alike” words on the assessment protocol that the student needs to study and secure. I’m talking about words like “even and every,” “cold and could,” “said, and says,” and “for and from.” Sound familiar?

Dyslexia, a specific learning disability affecting 20% of our school population, can result in many of these children not being able to identify the differences between and among the sounds of letters in the alphabet. As a result, spelling is nearly impossible and pronouncing words correctly is difficult at best. So, writing and reading aloud are near-disasters for many. What does that mean for their future in the job market? It could be bleak!

My good friend and colleague, Jodie, sent this cartoon to me a few weeks ago. And as we make our way through these last weeks of school assessing our students from every angle, I think it is important that we listen to the message of this cartoon.