Lately I’ve noticed the how large the need is for teaching reading improvement through Orton Gillingham training. An interesting statistic that we often reference at Reading Horizons is that 70% of students automatically learn to read regardless of instruction, but 30% of students require explicit and systematic reading instruction to successfully understand and succeed with reading (Jeanne Chall, Harvard Study).
In my opinion, 30% is a high percentage. As of 2008, there were about 20 million children aged 5-9 (the age group which recieves beginning reading instruction) in the United States (according to the US Census Bureau). If you do the math, 30% of 20 million is 6 million. If 6 million students are not receiving the type of reading instruction that allows them to succeed in obtaining what is arguably one of the most essential basic life skills, if not the most essential, there is a huge problem facing reading instruction. Luckily, there are reading interventions for these students who do not naturally acquire reading skills. However, too many of them are not given the proper instruction that allows them to excel with reading.
I’ve been finding a lot about articles in the news the last few weeks about reading scores and low levels of reading proficiency in 4th grade students. Today I came across an article discussing reading levels in New York City. Although the state has shown progress it still has lower than average reading scores compared to other states. Even with its progress, only 29% of 4th graders are reading at or above proficient levels.
On the whole, reading instruction is not accomplishing its goal of effectively teaching students to read. Fortunately, there are proven techniques that can help reading teachers. One of the teaching principles that have been proven to help students learn to read is Orton Gillingham instruction. The Orton Gillingham approach to teaching reading involves multisensory activities and learning. This approach is effective because it helps students create new connections in their brain by engaging them in the learning process through several of their senses. For students that struggle with reading, this interactive approach builds new brain pathways which allow their brain to understand language and improve reading.
In order to learn methods for applying Orton Gillingham concepts to reading instruction, Reading Horizons offers an online Orton Gillingham Training. To make the availability of this resource reach more teachers, Reading Horizons offers a 30-day free trial of this online workshop.
Learn more: Reading Horizons Orton Gillingham Training for Teaching Reading