The Past, Present, and Future of Reading Diagnosis and Remediation

Abstract

—Reading remediation has dramatically changed since its beginnings approximately 100 years ago. Research into causation of reading difficulties has progressed from cognitive deficit models to learning styles and back to brain functionality. Classroom teachers and teacher educators alike must refine their practices to meet the ever-changing needs of their students. The instructional delivery methods and strategies used today must match the 21 st century needs of students in the age of digital literacy. A brief history of the past, present, and future trends of reading diagnosis and remediation is explained. I. HISTORY As it approaches 100 years since the term remedial reading was coined (Smith, 2002), it seems appropriate to examine those practices taken towards reading improvement throughout history, what approaches are currently in use today, and what the future may hold for reading diagnosis and remediation. Students began to be labeled as having reading disabilities in 1896 with British ophthalmologist Pringle Morgan's diagnosis of a 14-year-old boy who had not learned to read, but was otherwise intelligent (Harris, 1967). Although limited research occurred prior to the 1900s in various countries, it was not until the 1910s that the use of norm-referenced tests to measure silent and oral reading proficiencies prevailed in the United States. Debates of the importance of silent reading versus oral reading competency began. In addition, the idea that the reading of words and the comprehension of text were two separate entities began to take prominence. Thorndike (1917) explained, ―It appears likely that a pupil may read fluently and feel that the series of words are arousing appropriate thoughts without really understanding the paragraph‖ (p. 331). He furthered: Reading is a very elaborate procedure, involving a weighing of each of many elements in a sentence, their organization in the proper relations one to another, the selection of certain of their connotations and the rejection of others, and the cooperation of many forces to determine final responses. (p. 323) Batteries of diagnostic assessments were created to identify students who had reading disabilities and in turn, needed special types of remedial instruction. ―When standardized reading tests became readily available about 1915, school systems were then able to measure the reading ability of their students‖ (Smith, 1965, as cited in Harris, 1980). In 1925, the 24 th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education was published, which contained a highly influential chapter on diagnosis and remedial work. Shortly thereafter, Arthur Gates, an early leader in diagnostic and prescriptive techniques, authored, The Improvement of Reading (1927), concluding that reading problems were a result of not learning fundamental skills or failing to learn them correctly. Within the first 30 years of recognizing students were having difficulties in reading, research efforts led to the creation of assessment, diagnosis, and remediation techniques that schools could utilize to improve their students' reading abilities and comprehension. Large scale remedial programs began to surface within public school systems in the 1930s. Research and development flourished, with some investigators focusing their attention to a machine approach for diagnosis (eye movement cameras) and remediation (reading pacers). Psychotherapy and the study of emotional problems were often included in reading remediation, as psychologists focused their research on causation rather than instruction in what was known as the mental hygiene movement (Cohen, 1983). In 1938, Luella Cole projected that reading laboratories would be developed to serve as a place where students could be assessed, diagnosed, and given remedial instruction. In the state of New York, unemployed college graduates were briefly trained and assigned to work with small groups of retarded readers in public schools (Harris, 1967). Colleges and universities foresaw mutual benefits stemming from housing reading laboratories, as graduate reading educators studying to become specialists could refine their practices while developing the skills of struggling readers. An expansion of organized reading clinics in the 1940s emanated. Remedial reading programs spread from elementary to secondary schools and in turn, published materials were created especially for remedial use. Public schools employed additional remedial teachers to combat their students' reading difficulties. The early 1950s marked the popularity of language-experience approaches to reading instruction, which began in the 1930s. Language-experience approaches are based on activities and stories developed from personal experiences of the learner (McCormick, 1988). Students' emotional disturbances were believed to be underlying causes of reading difficulty, as psychotherapy was recommended in many instances. The publication of Rudolph Flesch's Why Johnny