Lesson #5:
The need for quality remediation rather than accommodation.
by Wendy Crick
I’ve learned the difference between remediation and accommodation. In many schools across our nation teachers are taught to accommodate rather than remediate. The thought seems to be that at a certain point, if a child has not reached a specific reading competency level and educators have tried everything they know, the child is assumed to be “just wired differently” and will never be a strong reader. In other words, the child is unable to learn what is being taught for a variety of reasons and we must make accommodations. The accommodations include things like having someone read to the student or alter their assignments so they may learn content. The problem with this concept is that once we begin believing this, the student has no opportunities to improve his or her areas of weakness and this pattern will, more than likely, continue throughout their entire educational experience. Thus never pinpointing the areas of weakness and remediation. This to me parallels the idea of injuring a body part and never engaging in physical therapy to rebuild that part. What also surprises me is the thought that these children will always struggle to read or not be able read. If you look around any middle school across our nation many of these same students “with reading difficulties” have taught themselves an entirely new language in which they communicate (read and write) daily: instant messaging or text messaging. On their own, with no help from teachers, students have created their own language and effectively use it. I think this observation paints a pretty clear picture of the ability children have to read and comprehend if they are taught and engaged in a logical system.
Teachers do not participate in this cycle of accommodation to intentionally harm, but it is what we have been taught to believe. Although this paradigm is being challenged with ideas like “No Child Left Behind” which is trying to force our education system to reach all students and allow them to achieve at much higher levels. Yet there is still a flaw. The responsibility of correcting this problem is then put back on the teachers to come up with a way in which to teach the child so they may reach a set expectation. Unfortunately, teachers have tried everything they know and are many times not exposed to research in other non-traditional (non- educational) areas. They feel immense pressure to teach these children who in pervious years may have been labeled learning disabled or a slow learner and not expected to excel. Yet they are given no new strategies or tools to complete this lofty task. From what I have seen and experienced, this is very frustrating and nearly a worthless endeavor unless there is a much larger amount of knowledge shared with teachers along with a complete restructuring of our educational system. What many government officials have not stopped to think about is that the system in which we have been trained in and are currently teaching within no longer serves our society. It does not and will not meet the needs or expectations of today’s society. Much has changed since the 1920’s. Today’s society is so immensely different that is it almost as if we were on an entirely different planet. As Phillip Schlechty puts it in his Creating Great Schools book,” Leaving no child behind is a noble sentiment, but ensuring that every child is empowered to get ahead is an even nobler goal.”
More Lessons -
Lesson #1: Turn your anger into a passion.
Lesson #2: The lack of reading skills is a symptom not a condition.
Lesson #3: Think big and look for answers in new places.
Lesson #4: The need for engagement versus compliance.
Lesson #5: The need for quality remediation rather than accommodation.
Lesson #6: Empowering students
Lesson #7: Shift from grade level expectations to reaching ones highest potential.
Lesson #8: Exchange excuses for answers.
Lesson #9: Separate self from the system.
Lesson #10: Change is the only constant in our universe.
