Teachers often graduate from their preparation programs without a firm grounding in common learning differences like dyslexia, which affects the ability to read.
This is the case even though teachers will, over the course of their careers, educate many students with learning differences鈥攑utting them, and their future students, at a disadvantage, experts point out.
Dyslexia, for example, affects 3 to 7 percent of people, with some estimates putting that number at 20 percent. Similar percentages of people have dyscalculia, which can hurt the ability to do math. Estimates for how many people have , which affects the ability to write, range from 5 to 20 percent.
There is much to know about these learning differences and how they affect students鈥� ability to function in the classroom. But what are the most essential concepts every educator should know?
We asked an expert in educational psychology, an elementary special education teacher, and a student with dyslexia and dyscalculia to answer the following question during a recent EdWeek K-12 Essentials Forum: What do you wish all teachers knew about students with learning differences? Here鈥檚 what they had to say.
1. Don鈥檛 mistake poor performance for lack of motivation
Over time, society has come to expect children to master more and more complex material, said Edward Hubbard, an associate professor in educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison who studies dyscalculia. That perspective is important to understanding the challenges students with learning differences or other neurodivergent conditions face, Hubbard said.
鈥淚 remind my college students, 350 years ago, there were only two people on the planet that knew calculus,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow all of them are supposed to learn calculus if they want to get into a university.鈥�
I feel like body language says a lot, so pay attention to that in your students.
And that leads to Hubbard鈥檚 next point: Even knowing that a student has a learning difference, it鈥檚 easy to mistake their struggles for a lack of motivation.
鈥淚 think that that鈥檚 perhaps one of the most important things to understand: that these are kids who are trying, they鈥檙e working hard, they鈥檙e doing everything they can to learn, and that they really can be super successful with the appropriate supports, with the appropriate interventions,鈥� he said.
2. Teachers don鈥檛 have to be experts in learning disabilities, but they should get to know each student well
Just getting to know a student really well鈥攖heir interests, fears, what motivates them, and what causes them to shut down鈥攃an make a big difference in finding the right approach to teaching a student with a learning difference, said Danielle Kovach, a 3rd grade special education teacher in New Jersey and a mother of three鈥攖wo of whom have special needs. When asked what she wishes teachers knew about students with learning differences, she said the question was personal for her.
鈥淚鈥檓 going put my mom hat on for a sec and I鈥檓 going say, 鈥業 wish you knew my kid. I wish that you knew his struggles,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥溾�業 wish that you knew what motivated him, what gets him to learn. I wish you knew where he came from and where he鈥檚 going to.鈥欌��
Kovach is also an adjunct professor of special education at Centenary University and the past president of the Council for Exceptional Children, a nonprofit that works on improving education for students with disabilities. She said teachers should form their own opinions about their students with learning disabilities and not rely on what they have heard from their colleagues.
For students with learning differences, strong relationships with their teachers are key, Kovac said. That relationship makes the classroom a safe place for students with learning differences to try, fail, and eventually learn.
3. Undiagnosed neurodiverse students are sending distress signals. Watch for them
Teachers can play an important role in identifying neurodiverse students early if they know the signs, said Jacquelyn Taylor, a student at the University of Rhode Island who became an advocate for people with learning disabilities while she was in high school. She has both dyslexia and dyscalculia, the latter which went undiagnosed throughout elementary and middle school.
鈥淚f a student is consistently inconsistent in a certain aspect of a subject matter, pay attention to that please. Because you could really help a student get an official diagnosis,鈥� she said.
There are other subtle signs to look for, Taylor said, such as when a student turns in incomplete assignments, makes an excuse to leave class during certain subjects, asks a lot of clarifying questions, or looks 鈥渞eally confused in the classroom.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like body language says a lot, so pay attention to that in your students,鈥� she said.
