Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How many years does it generally take to move through this program if you are doing 3-4 sessions per week?
About two years.
I’m someone who studied as a teacher and then went back and did professional development in dyslexia remediation. Dyslexia is a relatively common diagnosis, and schools tend to be unprepared to remediate it, so educators turn to small programs with their own curricula to try to better help our students. Some remediation programs have tests that find students’ levels and then teach them from that level. SIS always starts at the beginning. The program’s philosophy is that starting from the beginning is important and that it teaches students how each lesson flows. The idea is that the lesson structure and how one learns are just as important as the content.
Every specialized program will tell its trained instructors that the program must be followed with absolute fidelity. And to the extent that we ever have data on program effectiveness, these curricula and approaches are usually only studied as a whole; we don’t tend to know which parts are most effective and why or whether they are still effective when adjusted. When someone makes adjustments to a program, she is using her judgment, and those adjustments may or may not maintain program efficacy.
I think SIS is a great program that has helped a lot of students, especially those with severe dyslexia. However, it is so very prescriptive. It wasn’t a good fit for my instructional style and philosophy, nor did I feel it was a good fit for a lot of the students I teach.
For an older student with mild-to-moderate dyslexia, SIS will certainly work. However, there are other approaches that have shown efficacy for mild-mod dyslexia. Some of those programs allow for more flexibility in finding a student’s level and working from there.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How many years does it generally take to move through this program if you are doing 3-4 sessions per week?
About two years.
I’m someone who studied as a teacher and then went back and did professional development in dyslexia remediation. Dyslexia is a relatively common diagnosis, and schools tend to be unprepared to remediate it, so educators turn to small programs with their own curricula to try to better help our students. Some remediation programs have tests that find students’ levels and then teach them from that level. SIS always starts at the beginning. The program’s philosophy is that starting from the beginning is important and that it teaches students how each lesson flows. The idea is that the lesson structure and how one learns are just as important as the content.
Every specialized program will tell its trained instructors that the program must be followed with absolute fidelity. And to the extent that we ever have data on program effectiveness, these curricula and approaches are usually only studied as a whole; we don’t tend to know which parts are most effective and why or whether they are still effective when adjusted. When someone makes adjustments to a program, she is using her judgment, and those adjustments may or may not maintain program efficacy.
I think SIS is a great program that has helped a lot of students, especially those with severe dyslexia. However, it is so very prescriptive. It wasn’t a good fit for my instructional style and philosophy, nor did I feel it was a good fit for a lot of the students I teach.
For an older student with mild-to-moderate dyslexia, SIS will certainly work. However, there are other approaches that have shown efficacy for mild-mod dyslexia. Some of those programs allow for more flexibility in finding a student’s level and working from there.
Anonymous wrote:How many years does it generally take to move through this program if you are doing 3-4 sessions per week?
Anonymous wrote:Thanks! That’s helpful. Does this program lend itself to be learned virtually or is in person a must/much more effective?