Reading Problems – Are You a Part of the Reading Crisis in America?
37% of fourth graders struggle with reading problems so severely that it is impossible to successfully understand and complete normal fourth grade assignments. Further, 3 out of 4 of that group read so poorly they have little chance at educational progress and ultimate educational attainment. (This data was reported in a recent National Assessment of Educational Progress report.)
Why So Many Struggling Readers?
Most of those fourth graders received substantial reading instruction in either whole word or phonetic reading systems, yet still so many, instructed in either system, simply cannot read. To understand the cause behind this reading disaster, consider that a substantial segment of the population has some form of auditory processing weakness; in many, this weakness is classified as severe.
Auditory processing is the underlying cognitive ability to recognize, analyze, segment, and blend sounds. It is an essential mental skill required to read and spell successfully. One hundred and thirty studies commissioned by the federal government and our own pre- and post-test data from thousands of students over 10 years show that weak auditory processing skills are the major cause of struggles for the students who read and spell below grade level. A student with severely deficient auditory processing ability simply cannot read fluently or successfully. The great news is this:
Auditory processing skill weaknesses can be identified, trained, and strengthened. Stronger underlying skills lead to better, faster, more fluent reading.