An Epidemic of Rent-Seeking

At FEE Stories Kerry McDonald points out something distressing—the United States is experiencing an epidemic of dyslexia:

The earliest documented cases of dyslexia, or a language processing disorder that makes it difficult to read, date back more than a century. For decades, it was considered a relatively rare occurrence, but today it is estimated that up to 20 percent of the US population is dyslexic. What is going on?

She goes on to attribute the problem to the “No Child Left Behind” program:

Advances in childhood diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia have certainly led to higher rates, but that is only part of the story. A national effort over the past two decades to push children to read at ever earlier ages—before many of them may be developmentally ready to do so—is also a likely culprit.

A study by University of Virginia professor ​​Daphna Bassok and her colleagues revealed that in 1998, 31 percent of teachers believed that children should learn to read while in kindergarten. In 2010, that number was 80 percent.

The children didn’t change. The expectations did.

Some of that was due to the passage of federal No Child Left Behind legislation in 2001 and its embrace of top-down “standards-based reform” that emphasized rigid, standardized curriculum and frequent testing, applied to ever-younger students. Kindergarten became the new first grade.

She then gets to the meat of the situation:

Relatedly, in 2006, the US Department of Education modified its definition of childhood learning disabilities to the following:

“The child does not achieve adequately for the child’s age or meet state-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the child’s age or State-approved grade-level standards: Oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, mathematics problem-solving…”

The “state-approved” standards for childhood development and reading proficiency changed and if kids weren’t meeting those new, arbitrary benchmarks, they could be labeled with a learning disability like dyslexia. We continue to see the fall-out from these policies today.

I think that’s only the tip of the iceberg. When it has been determined that a child has special needs that allows certain breaks to be given to the child in testing and requires the school to devote additional resources to the child. Some parents change their views towards wanting to have their child determined to have special needs. Anything to get a competitive edge.

As I’ve mentioned before I failed to learn to read in first grade. It wasn’t until the summer following first grade that I, in my mother’s words, hid behind the couch and when I emerged could read at a third grade level. By the time I was in 8th grade I had skipped a grade, going from being the smartest kid in 6th grade to the smartest kid in 8th grade, reading at a college level.

I’m quite sure that, had I been tested at the end of first grade I would have been diagnosed as dyslexic. But I wasn’t dyslexic as should be obvious from the sequelae. I was rebelling against a harsh first grade teacher. When that teacher was no longer in the picture, I began to reach the full potential of my abilities.

I think it’s pretty clear that what we’re doing is not working particularly well or, at least, we are not rising to the challenges facing us. There are two many kids who don’t read, write, or figure at grade level for that. I don’t know what should be done but I doubt it is directly related to spending.