2 SCHOOLS TO RESCUE
B’klyn gets new sites vs. dyslexia, other issues
New York City will open two new specialized programs in Brooklyn for students with dyslexia or who are otherwise struggling to read, Chancellor David Banks announced Thursday.
The new sites, Public School 107 in Park Slope and PS 295 in Sunset Park, are part of a promise made by Mayor Adams, whose own dyslexia went undiagnosed until college, to bring at least one such program to each of the city’s five boroughs. The administration previously announced similar programs in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Greg Lublin, a dad of a second-grader at PS 295, was diagnosed with dyslexia during childhood. Now his son, Greyson, grapples with intense frustration, meltdowns and tears while doing his homework, his parents said.
“I found it heart-wrenching to watch my son deal with the exact same reading and behavioral issues I dealt with as a child,” said Lublin.
“The daunting nature of New York City’s educational bureaucracy, not knowing where and how to start to find help, has been an absolute nightmare. But then just recently, we were told that the help that we’ve been looking for is going to find our son,” he said.
One in five students has a language-based learning disability, and finding the necessary help can be hard or cost-prohibitive, according to education officials.
The Brooklyn schools will receive $100,000 in state funding, on top of the city’s $7.4 million investment in dyslexia screeners and literacy services announced last May.
New funding in the borough will go toward teacher development and interventionists who can work with kids who have print-based learning disabilities in separate classrooms if required. That was spearheaded by Assemblyman Robert Carroll, who was diagnosed with dyslexia in the first grade and attended schools with specialized reading support.
“It is simply good teaching that meets the needs of all students,” said PS 295 Principal Valerie Vanderpuije. “Certainly students with dyslexia, but also students for whom English is not their first language, or those who need a more direct and explicit approach to learning.”
The dyslexia programs are one part of a broader overhaul of how school kids learn to read with an emphasis on phonics. The city’s previous approach to reading called “balanced literacy,” rolled out during the Bloomberg era and still used in many local schools, has been widely criticized as ineffective.
“There was a time when our school system ensured if it did nothing else, everyone was going to learn how to read,” said Banks. “We got away from that — to our detriment.”
Less than half of city school kids in third through eighth grades scored proficient on reading exams last school year, state data showed. Students in the younger grades, who were just learning to read at the height of COVID-19 school disruptions, saw English scores plummet since the 2018-19 school year.
Banks said that changes to teaching literacy are already underway, but to ensure all schools make the switch to the school system’s preferred models may take more time.
“Teachers have been doing things a certain way for quite some time,” said Banks. “That is a challenge that we face as an entire system. It’s not easy to stand as chancellor and say, ‘I decree’ and expect that it’s going to happen across a system this large.”
Citywide, 40 schools are offering dyslexia screeners as part of the pilot program, with over a hundred more in the pipeline, officials said Thursday. The city is also training teachers in phonics, and sending dozens of interventionists into local schools and at the district level to track literacy data.
Carolyne Quintana, the deputy chancellor of teaching and learning, said her team is looking into adding more interventionists so that every school has access to intensive support.
In recent weeks, Adams signaled during his State of the City address that he could open the first district school tailored to the needs of dyslexic students — a plan first hinted at during the first month of the current administration. Currently, the only standalone public program is a charter school on Staten Island.
“We will also launch the first district school in the city’s history dedicated to supporting students with dyslexia, while continuing to expand new dyslexia programs citywide,” said Adams last month.
Education officials on Thursday would not provide further information about that school.