Special Education: How to Use No Child Left Behind to Help Your Child

Are you the parent of a child with a disability, who is conce
ednabout your child’s reading progress? Would you like to know how to use
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to help your child learn to read? Thisnarticle will discuss 5 basic provisions of NCLB that you can use tonadvocate for your child’s education.

The US Department of Education puts out a wonderful booklet entitled
No Child Left Behind; the Parents Guide. This booklet can be orderednonline at www.nclb.gov/next. According to this booklet there arenseveral things that this law does for children and parents.

1. Supports learning in the early years, thereby preventing manynlea
ing difficulties that may arise later. This is important becausenif a child does not learn certain skills, it may be very difficult tonread at a grade appropriate level, and difficult to catch up. ThenParent Guide also states research shows that most reading problemsnfaced by adolescents and adults are the result of problems that couldnhave been prevented through good instruction in their early childhoodnyears. You should be vigilant about ensuring that your child learnsnreading skills early.

2. Provides more information for parents about their child’s progress.
The Parent Guide states Under this law, each state must measure everynpublic school student’s progress in reading, math, and science, inneach of grades 3 through 8, and at least once during grades 10-12.
This testing provides objective information for parents on thei
child’s academics (Grades and teacher observation of progress isnsubjective, and not effective). You should keep copies of all of you
child’s district and state wide testing. If your child with andisability is not learning to read, you should ask for appropriatenreading instruction with a reading specialist.

3. Ensures that teacher quality is a high priority. What is importantnis not that the teacher has the right credentials, but that thenteacher is found competent to teach children with disabilities tonlea
to read. Make sure that your child’s teacher is competent tonteach reading.

4. Focuses on what works. The Parent Guide states that NCLB putsna special emphasis on implementing educational programs. . .that havenbeen clearly demonstrated to be effective through rigorous scientificnresearch.This is the most important part that parents must getninvolved in. If the teacher is competent, but the curriculum does notnhave scientific research to show that it teaches children withndisabilities to learn to read, the child will probably not learn. Ifnyour child has a reading learning disability, there are specificncurriculums that are proven to work. Check out the Web site for thenNational Center for Learning Disabilities Inc. at www.LD.org.nn5. Allows more flexibility in exchange for strong accountability.
You should hold your school district personnel accountable fornteaching your child to read, if possible. Children with moderate tonsevere disabilities may need to focus on a functional curriculum. Butnchildren with other disabilities are capable, if they receivenappropriate reading instruction.

If you use these 5 provisions of NCLB, you will be helping your childnlea
to read. Remember how important it is, that your child learnnearly reading skills and get early intervention for any readingndifficulty. Happy reading!