Advancing Children With Learning Disabilities: How an Innovative Cyber Charter School Specializing in Serving Students with Reading, Math and Written ExpressionCould Foster Wide-Reaching, Breakthrough Innovation in Education

Abstract

The failing state of our education system is old news. The immense irony in simply the phrase “No Child Left Behind” is hard to ignore even for those who aren’t directly involved in education. While diversity has become the norm in public schools, as many have pointed out, the curricula and instruction have largely been designed to address the needs of the typical student at the expense of others. And this has been particularly damning to children who learn differently and those with learning disabilities. Ten to 15 percent of the population, or approximately three million students, possess some type of learning disability, yet approximately 44 percent of them spend 80 percent of their time in inclusive classrooms that teach curricula designed for the average student (US Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2005). Neurological in nature, and often lacking physical symptoms, learning disabilities are considered hidden and difficult to diagnose. This leaves many children struggling silently and remaining undiagnosed for years or even their entire lives. Without diagnosis and access to specialized teaching strategies or effective assistive technologies, these students become only functionally literate, ultimatelyending up as part of the 44 million Americans with the lowest literacy levels (Dyslexia Research Institute, http://www.dyslexia- add.org/index.html).With the inability to properly engage in reading and writing,these Americans face steep uphill battles, continually struggling to find gainful employment and ways to positively contribute to society.