The Science of Reading and the Role of the IEP

By Wendy West

Since 1992, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has monitored the nation's proficiency in the domains of early literacy and math using what is commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card. The NAEP breaks scores into four categories from lowest to highest: below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced.

The Sobering Truth

The NAEP found that on average 36% or less of Florida’s 12th-grade students are graduating as proficient readers. This number is close to the national average. However, Florida’s numbers are much lower than the national average in math. Only about 19% of Florida’s seniors are graduating as proficient in math where the national average is about 26%.

The numbers are even more dismal for students with disabilities (SWD). In the US, the NAEP found that 71% of SWD score below basic reading proficiency.

There is No Excuse

The National Institute of Health (NIH) indicates that nearly all children have the cognitive capacity to learn to read, estimating that only 5% of young readers have significant cognitive impairments that would make acquiring reading skills extremely difficult.

Approximately 1% of special needs students in Florida have a significant cognitive impairment. Therefore, 99% of SWD in Florida, should graduate high school as proficient readers. And yet, Florida continually graduates students with disabilities who are not proficient readers. 

Reading is Science

The International Literacy Association refers to the “Science of Reading” as the specific set of research insights on how reading develops, why students struggle, and which interventions are successful.

What makes a reader proficient? Learning to read requires certain cognitive processes. At its most basic form, learning to read requires the reader to take in information and process that information. It is a mental process that requires some basic skills such as memory, attention, organization of information, retrieval of information, and interpreting information. Many SWD struggle with reading because their disability affects the skills listed above.

Despite this, most students have the ability to learn to read proficiently. They simply need specialized reading instruction, accommodations, and perhaps some assistive technology to get there. This is where an Individualized Educational Plan, or IEP, comes into play.

Role of the IEP

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that every IEP must contain a "statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child." 20 USC 1414 (d)(1)(A)(i)(IV).

An overriding theme of the IDEA is that it requires the use of "scientifically based instructional practices." Peer-reviewed research is one such scientifically based practice. Ultimately, the IEP team has the final say about what is required to provide the student with FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education). IDEA is clear that whatever is used must be peer-reviewed as effective for this population “to the extent practicable.”

Finding what works for students is an individualized approach. However, there are some universal best practices that have been long recognized as effective for struggling readers, including direct, explicit, and multisensory instruction.

It is also important that the curriculum is systematic, has built-in progress monitoring, is differentiated, and covers all five foundational reading skills in the proper scope and sequence:

• phonemic awareness,
• phonics,
• fluency,
• vocabulary, and
• comprehension.

Identifying which type of learning disability the student has and tailoring the goals and objectives to their specific needs is the job of the IEP team.

You can find much more information about special education and IEPs in our Special Education Disability Topic of our website.

If you need help with advocating for your student with a disability, contact Disability Rights Florida at 800-342-0823 or complete an online intake.