Interview with EducationNews.org

These students and difficulties aren’t popping up out of nowhere. In the past, we were satisfied saying, "They are just lazy." Then, when they dropped out of school, or didn't continue on to college, we just accepted it as part of the natural order of things. Now, we know better. – Michael F. Shaughnessy

From EducationNews.org.

1.) How many students are actually diagnosed with a learning disability in writing?

I conservatively estimate 10 million students in the United States.

Properly done, a diagnosis doesn’t conclude: “LD in Math,” “LD in Reading,” or “LD in writing.”  A diagnosis will usually test a range of 80-120 different skills and abilities, which affect a wide range of different school activities. A weakness in many of these abilities can negatively affect a student’s writing ability.

These students and difficulties aren’t popping up out of nowhere. In the past, we were satisfied saying, "They are just lazy." Then, when they dropped out of school, or didn't continue on to college, we just accepted it as part of the natural order of things. Now, we know better.

2.) Many teachers blame inclusion and mainstreaming, saying they are spending so much time in IEP and other meetings. Could this be a factor?

I agree that teachers are spread too thin. But, to say “teachers can’t teach different types of learners” is ridiculous.

I recognize that oftentimes, the complaints are understandable. They come from a system that is trying to retrofit an outdated education model, which assumes that meetings, money, and policies will fix everything.

If the system was designed around inclusion and learning disabilities as part of the norm, instead of the exception, then we'd waste less time discussing and spend more time teaching and preparing to teach.

CAST has done an admirable job exploring Universal Design for Learning as a model for education, and it is something we should all strive for. In this model, all types of learners can succeed because they are provided with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement to meet their specific learning needs.

3.) Let’s face it—correcting writing is a labor intensive, time-consuming process. How do we best help the overworked English or Language Arts teacher?

Completely agree. Correcting poor writing is even more labor intensive, since it is harder to read, and more difficult to understand. It is no wonder why so many teachers and professors dread grading papers.

The solution is to use technology to assist students to accomplish better writing on their own. For example: one common difficulty is that we often don't read exactly what we wrote when proofreading, instead we read what we 'think' we wrote.

Fortunately, there are tools that can help, like WordQ. This software has been designed to read writing aloud with a high quality computer-generated voice. Nearly all the mistakes a student didn't see before become obvious when hearing them: misspelled words are pronounced wrong, bad grammar sounds jumbled and confusing, and poor punctuation negatively affects the rhythm of a sentence.

After finding, fixing and preventing mistakes, students quickly start to be more critical of their own writing. They work to improve clarity, explore more complex ideas, and try to express themselves better. Mechanical errors come to a stop, and quality of expression goes up, as do grades. Teachers are elated because students are writing more independently with more success, freeing up their time for more advanced questions and material.

4.) Where is the accountability in the schools? Or does it not exist?

What I know for certain is that determining 'who is accountable' for writing problems isn’t going to solve them. In my view, the education system isn’t broken because someone isn’t doing his or her job. Fundamentally, the world has changed and the education system hasn't.

Ten years ago, adolescents would spend time on the phone and watching TV. Now that time is spent online. Communications are happening via texting, emailing and posting online. Writing is the new social currency.

Like it or not, ‘writing’ means a whole lot more than it used to. Despite these social changes, for many people in the education system ‘writing’ still means – pencil in hand, hunched over a desk, scratching out letters.

Certainly, “buttons, batteries, and Bluetooth” will not solve all the problems in education.  But, we have to meet students on their terms, both for where the world is, and where it is going.

5.) Many people I know blame multiple-choice test for poor writing. Others blame true-false tests, or fill in the blank. Others blame the matching column. Your thoughts?

The problem is much bigger than those examples. Much of grading written assignments should be qualitative, but it is very hard to evaluate a student's ideas and expression. Then, it has to be done consistently across different teachers, students, and schools, where ideas may be valued differently.

Teachers haven't gotten lazy. The environment has gotten bureaucratic and litigious. When giving a poor grade, even professors have to consider the negative repercussions on their careers. It isn’t surprising that so many teachers play it safe and focus on deducting grades for non-debatable mechanical errors. Students that review these corrections often wonder if their ideas and expression were just completely ignored.

The inevitable question for a student that struggles with writing: "Why should I bother investing my ideas and myself into a paper?”  Too often, they conclude, “I am just going to get a bad grade, and no one is actually going to read it."

6.) I have to tell you ASAP that I often see all these abbreviations that people are lmao and will get back to me ASAP and cu soon. Is it any wonder that clear, succinct writing is a problem?

The slang of the current generation is tame compared to the 60's and 70's. The medium for communication has merely changed, and it only makes sense that teenage slang has adapted to it. One of the things we all learn at that age in school, at home, and in part-time jobs is to be 'formal.’ I don't think much has changed in this regard.

Writing isn't merely about spelling or getting pen to paper. It is about the expression of ideas. It is no simple feat to simultaneously harness the imagination, apply and combine knowledge, crystallize it into the perfect words and phrasing, and then work through the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation flawlessly. It is no wonder that more of us aren't professional writers.

7.) In your view, how large a role can technology play to help those students who are struggling with writing?

Tools like WordQ+SpeakQ are the great equalizer for many students. Personally, before my freshman year at college, my reading and writing was evaluated at a 7^th grade level. By using the technology to cope, I completed a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy, and went on to graduate school. Over the last several years, I have worked with hundreds of students and have seen my story repeated with them. Parents and teachers regularly relate similar stories of success.

I am the first to advise caution, though. We can’t confuse a tool with a “magic wand.”

I have seen too many students ‘abandoned’ with technology that was expected to ‘fix’ them. Using these tools is a skill, like any other, and it can take time to develop. Like many things we teach students – just because they know how, it doesn’t mean they will. Students often need help building effective study habits. Having the right tools isn’t enough to make a difference, on its own.

This doesn’t mean the technology takes up more of a teacher’s precious time, either. In fact, many teachers report that it frees up time, because students are working more independently.

It is important to remember this isn’t just about school life. In today’s world, writing is how we communicate, socialize and express ourselves. These tools do a lot more than improve grades.

8.) How responsive are schools/school districts being to introducing assistive technology to help struggling writers?

The vast majority of people and schools don’t know that tools like WordQ+SpeakQ exist.

We often hear the same story: A teacher uses a 30-Day trial and tries it with a few students. The students with the most difficulty often experience the biggest and most immediate improvements. At the same time, many other students also become more motivated to write.

Eventually, the teacher shows it to a department head, who asks: “How many students do we have that would see improvements in their writing?”

It doesn’t take long before districts are purchasing unlimited school-wide licensing with unlimited take-home privileges, at a one-time cost of $2750, per school.

About Neil MacGregor: Neil MacGregor, VP of Learner Development for WordQ+SpeakQ assistive software, has been battling his own learning disabilities since childhood. Neil has coached hundreds of students who struggle with writing. Over the years, he’s seen and used a variety of assistive software tools and, recently, after 4 years, he helped launch WordQ+SpeakQ version 3.0, which he describes as “the first and only integrated word prediction and speech recognition tool designed specifically to help those who struggle with writing.”