Our Story

 How McGrath Reading Was Developed

The Problem

 In 2008, Constance McGrath was working at a public school as a special education teacher. She had earned a Master's degree in education with a concentration in reading, and was a committed Wilson Language Instructor (Wilson Language is an Orton-Gillingham based intervention). The year before, in 2007, her book, The Inclusion Classroom Problem Solver, was published by Heinemann (you can purchase her book on Amazon by clicking the link at the bottom of the page).

She was (and still is) obsessed with helping people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties. She was also obsessed (and still is) with reading current research on dyslexia and how people learn to read.

Connie was primarily working with second graders, however, because of her expertise in remediating reading difficulties and her success working with students who were not responding to intervention, in September of 2008, the Special Education Director at her school asked her to work with a student with severe dyslexia. This student had been receiving structured sequential intervention several times a week since first grade. He was now entering 6th grade. Even with all these years of intervention, he was not closing the reading gap with his classmates. In fact, the gap was getting wider - he was reading at a second-grade level and he was losing hope. 

His parents were concerned. His teachers reported that he had always been a hard worker, but it seemed like he was giving up. Everyone was worried. The hope was that extra tutoring with Connie would help him.  

She said yes, she wanted to help him, but she had a problem. His teachers had used what was regarded as the gold standard interventions with this student. One-on-one Orton-Gillingham instruction four times a week and Balanced Literacy in the classroom. And it wasn't working.

This was the best available. And it didn't work for him.

Beliefs about Dyslexia

Connie was taught that dyslexia is a life-long condition, and that there were some students that would never become fluent readers. However, she had read anecdotal accounts of people with dyslexia becoming readers, and decided that if some people with dyslexia can learn to read, everyone with dyslexia should be able to learn to read, and that she would find a way that worked.

Searching for a Solution

She began to read all the research she could find in the areas of reading, neurology, educational psychology, and motivation to see if she could find information that would help her help this student.

Some of the studies provided specific procedures and strategies. 

Other studies described neurological differences between typical and dyslexic readers and provided her with insight into the needs of students with reading difficulties.

Still other studies she read provided information on the psychology of how people learn best, why mindset is important, how a positive mindset can be encouraged, and how motivation, a critical element for student success, can be cultivated.

Each time she read a study, she would figure out a way to incorporate the strategy or insight into her lesson plan for the next day. She then closely monitored the changes to see if they made a positive difference for her students.

Most of these additions added incremental improvement to student progress, and these were kept. A few did not, and those were discarded.

The Results

Month by month, she layered research-based materials and strategies into her teaching. As the benefits mounted up, her student started to make meaningful progress. As his skills grew, he no longer shut down when he made an error or when something was difficult. He began to see reading as a problem that he could to solve! The lessons were fun and interesting, and his reading skills grew. He gained confidence and began to enjoy school, and most importantly, his reading reached grade level. The student, his classroom teachers and Connie were all thrilled!

Since then, Connie has continually made the program better and better, and has seen student after student grow as a reader and learner and close the reading gap with their classmates. She has had the privilege of watching the effect that gaining reading skills has had on her students' lives. She loves doing this work because she gets to see students regain hope and develop both skills and confidence, and see the word open up for them.

In 2017, she left her teaching job, and began working with schools and families as a private reading tutor. McGrath Reading specializes in working with students who are older (third grade and up) who continue to struggle and continue to read below grade level. 

To reach all of the students who have not responded to traditional intervention and need another approach, she has started training others in the program - parents, teachers and tutors - to use this method. 

The Purpose and Goal of McGrath Reading:

1. To bring students' reading to grade level, and to give them the tools they need to ‘self teach’ and continue to grow as readers once they get there.

2. To change the trajectory of the lives of students who need a different approach to gain reading skills. 

 3. To reach more students than I can reach by myself through training and supporting teachers in using this program to teach reading.  

 

We would love to work with you if you decide you need a tutor for your child or that you would like to learn this approach.

In any case, we wish you success on your journey to closing the reading gap!