Since our group formed, one topic has come up frequently at parent meetings and in our online groups - WRITING. Many of our students are struggling to put ideas onto paper and as parents we don't quite understand how to help them. Some students have IEP goals and services related to written expression, but even those students can use more help at home.

On Friday, November 6th at 9:30 am, Christine Pacioretty will be joining us IN PERSON to share ways we can help our students improve their writing. Ms. Pacioretty is a former classroom teacher and 504 Coordinator with a masters degree in special education. She has experience from the Yale Child Study Center and manages Pacioretty Academic Support Services here in Dallas.

Ms. Pacioretty will speak for about 30 minutes, then will answer parent questions. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents with students of all ages to learn practical ways we can support our students. Please bring a chair and socially distance around the Goar Park Gazebo.

As we shared previously, The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently found that HPISD was out of compliance with regard to two separate complaints submitted by parents of dyslexic students. A third HPISD complaint was recently reviewed by the TEA and, once again, HPISD was found to be out of compliance. The complaint was specifically related to how a child's services were improperly and drastically reduced during last spring's virtual learning.

The TEA is now requiring HPISD to review it's policies and guidelines that led to these improper decisions. HPISD must also provide training to those individuals and administrators who contributed to the noncompliance. These mandated, corrective actions are in addition to the student evaluation reviews currently being done at Hyer and University Park following two earlier complaints. For more information about previous or new parent complaints, visit TEA Complaint News.

As COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season continue to impact parent and student choices about school attendance, parents should understand their children’s educational rights. It's important to have a clear agreement with the school about how a student will be served while attending school virtually (whether by choice or because of school closure). For more information about virtual learning, please visit our website's COVID-19 Learning page.

American Public Media (APM) reports that Units of Study author, Lucy Calkins, now admits her curriculum needs to be changed in order to align with scientific research. HPISD uses Calkins' curriculum and its instructional strategies that include prompting readers to guess words instead of sounding them out. Experts have said that this method can impede the brain's ability to process and remember words; this is especially true of struggling readers.

To read more about investigations into Lucy Calkins' Units of Study and why this influential literacy expert is changing her views, visit APM's website. For more stories like this, visit Dyslexia News.

In most parent / teacher conferences in elementary school, parents are curious to learn their child’s reading level (Ex. Level G in Fountas & Pinnell, Raz Kids, etc). However, reading levels aren’t always as reliable as a parent may think.

The video shown below gives a fascinating break-down of reading levels, along with 3 easy steps parents can use to learn more about their child's individual reading levels.

First, review a child’s “just right” level book and write a few of the individual words on notecards or something similar. Next, ask the child to do the following things:

The parent in the video draws some very insightful conclusions about the words her daughter could and could not read. The video also gives further background on “just right” reading levels and the Lucy Calkins Units of Study curriculum used in HPISD. Take the Purple Challenge with your children and see if the results are similar to those in the video below!

The topic of dyslexia in college is one that is frequently discussed among parents in our group. We recently shared a helpful resource in our Facebook group, but we're also highlighting it here to reach more parents.

Elizabeth Hamblet helps students with disabilities successfully transition to college and her website offers a great deal of information parents may find useful. Ms. Hamblet began her career as a special education teacher and case manager, worked as a learning disabilities specialist at Simmons College and Rutgers University, and now is a learning specialist at Columbia University. Ms. Hamblet tells parents they should, "Foster independence, self-sufficiency, and responsibility. Let your offspring, who is transitioning into adulthood, learn from experience, including the consequences of one’s actions or inaction."

A recent blog post of Ms. Hamblet's was especially helpful to parents and we encourage those with older students to take time to read it, College Disability Services Directors Offer Advice for Parents.