Engaging Students With Learning Disabilities Early On

Students with learning disabilities are twice as likely as their peers to drop out of high school, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Betty Ann Bowser visited an elementary school that practices early intervention -- engaging students with technology and art to improve their chances of earning a diploma.

- [Announcer] Now, how
one school has succeeded

in reducing the odds that a student

with learning disabilities may drop out.

Past studies have found
that these students drop out

at more than twice the
rate of their classmates.

NewsHour health correspondent,
Betty Ann Bowser reports

on what can be done in the
classroom to prevent that.

It's for our series, The
American Graduate Project.

- The up steps up, and
the down steps down.

- [Betty] On a recent Friday morning

at the Henderson Inclusion
Elementary School in Boston,

there was organized chaos
as nearly 250 students

crowded into the auditorium.

Then, it was showtime.

(drums banging)

The students were celebrating

African-American History Month,

but the show was also a celebration

of a unique public school

where 1/3 of the student body is disabled,

and where all the children
are educated together

in an inclusive setting.

Dr. Tom Hehir is a professor
at the Harvard Graduate School

of Education and one of the
country's leading experts

on special education.

- It is not unusual that
some kids don't walk.

It's not unusual that
some kids don't talk.

It's not unusual that some kids struggle

learning how to read
or process information.

That's the norm,

and so that philosophy carries
through to the whole school.

(indistinct chatter)

- [Betty] For the kids
with learning disabilities,

what goes on in the classroom
is especially important.

Using federal government data,

the National Center for
Learning Disabilities says,

"20% of children with LD
drop out of high school

"versus 8% of the general population."

And the center reports

that half of secondary
school students with LD

perform more than three grade levels below

where they should be.

- Not only is it more likely that kids

with learning disabilities are
going to drop out of school,

it's also less likely they're
gonna reengage in education.

That's associated with
unemployment, low wages,

and there is evidence that
there is increased likelihood

of getting in trouble in the community.

And those are all bad outcomes.

- [Betty] So the emphasis at Henderson

is on early intervention,

and a big part of that is technology.

- You have to calm yourself
down, take a few breaths--

- [Betty] Former principal,
Dr. Bill Henderson

realized more than 20 years ago

how technology could help LD kids.

At the time, he was going blind,

and had to learn braille from scratch.

That gave him special insights.

- When we read, most
people with their eyes,

I now with my ears or with my fingers,

you have to

figure out what the text print

or braille docs are
saying; that's decoding.

(indistinct chatter)

Many children who have
specific learning disabilities,

in particular, dyslexia,

have to put extra energies and
efforts into decoding text.

You cannot read as much material.

You can't keep up with grade
level and rigorous material.

- What I wanted to show you in this was--

- [Betty] Current
principal, Tricia Lampron,

showed us how one second grader
with learning disabilities

showed his comprehension
of a story he'd read,

writing in longhand.

- [Tricia] He wrote, not very
neatly, "Rosa helped Blanca,

"and Blanca helped Rosa.
I can be nice to others."

He did exactly what the
prompt asked him to do,

but obviously he has a
difficult time with spelling,

handwriting; and is that a
benchmark second grade response?

I would say no it isn't.

- [Betty] Then, on another page,

she showed us what the same
student wrote using a computer

to explain his comprehension
of another story.

- [Tricia] He uses a text reader

and a word prompting software,

and the word prompting software helps him

to produce something more on grade-level,

and definitely more thorough.

- [Betty] Every classroom is abuzz

with these kinds of teaching devices,

computers, iPads, digital audio programs,

They allow students to learn
a variety of different ways

and at their own pace.

(indistinct chatter)

Two teachers are assigned to
each class, working as a team.

One is a general classroom professional,

the other is a special education teacher.

Together, they brainstorm
what works for each student.

- Boys are in the field with the cattle.

- [Betty] This second grade
classroom of 23 students

has seven disabled kids in it,

and each one works at their own speed.

So for dyslexic kids, like Ronan Gorman,

comprehending text means
using a traditional text book,

an iPad, and headphones.

Principal Lampron explained:

- Ronan can listen to the book,

also while he's reading
along with the book.

So sometimes he may use the
book separately from the iPad,

or he can read it in digital format.

And what digital format
allows students to do

is listen as well as read along.

- [Teacher] That's Ronan right here.

- [Betty] Nine year old Ronan
had been held back twice

before he entered
Henderson last September.

His parents said he was unhappy
and feeling like a failure.

His dad, Jerry, was especially
upset by all of this

because like Ronan, he too is dyslexic.

But in few short months,
things have turned around.

(laughing)

- It's almost emotional for
me to talk about it because

seeing him now, seeing
him from where he was,

and seeing me where I was at that age,

he's doing what I used to
do when I was 14; he's nine.

So it's just phenomenal.

- Mm-hmm, first of all, he smiles a lot.

He goes to bed every night
with about five piles of books,

which he always did,
but he reads them now,

and he used to say to me,

"I'm never gonna learn how to read this."

- Hellow there fifth graders.

- [Students] Hi, Principal Henderson!

- [Betty] When Bill
Henderson was principal,

he realized if kids like
Ronan didn't get help early,

they would fail later on.

So he came up with the team teaching idea

and introduced a robust arts program.

- The arts were terrific for kids

with print disabilities and dyslexia.

There are many outstanding
artists, and visual artists,

and dancers and singers who
have significant dyslexia,

and they have a chance to
shine and show their skills

and their talents in a different medium,

and print isn't always the
easiest way for them to do that.

- 38

- [Betty] The Henderson School

has a full-time music teacher,

several occupational therapists,

a teacher who specializes
in sensory therapy,

and on the day we were in
the second grade classroom,

there were five different
teaching professionals

helping just 23 students.

All that costs money.

Under federal law,

a child identified with
learning disabilities,

must receive a free and
appropriate public education

up to the age of 18.

Generally, the more disabled a child is,

the more money is allocated
for his or her education.

But Harvard's Hehir says

there are many places in the country

that don't spend that money wisely

by segregating LD kids in
special education classrooms,

which costs more than spreading it around

in inclusive settings.

- There are a large group
of kids who still are

inappropriately separated
from their peers,

and also...

The kids who are getting
the better programs

are much more apt to be middle
and upper-middle class kids.

The low-income kids are much
more apt to be segregated.

- Soria.
- Trust.

- Trust, excellent.

- [Betty] There are no figures

on how many students go on
to graduate from high school,

but both Lampron and
Henderson have followed many

of their former students
through the years,

and say most of them are doing well.

- If we want kids to
graduate from high school,

then having a strong foundation

at the elementary level is critical.

And for kids with significant
learning disabilities,

and significant attention
deficit disorders,

having technologies
providing accommodations

for reading and writing are critical.

(indistinct chatter)

- [Betty] There are hundreds of children

on the waiting list to get
into the Henderson School,

and they aren't just
students with disabilities.

(students clapping)

Through the years, the reputation
of the school has grown.

And today, it's held
up as a national model

of what early intervention can do

for children with learning disabilities.

(children singing)

- [Announcer] American Graduate
is a public media initiative

funded by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting.

On our website, we introduce
you to a one-time dropout

whose now a Harvard graduate student.

Find out what advice he
offers students and parents

dealing with learning disabilities.