For Teachers: Supporting a Struggling Learner in Your Classroom
A student who is not keeping up can look slow, lost or stuck. Each of those can have more than one cause. Write down what you see, and when. Some changes cost nothing: a printed copy, one step at a time, fewer problems. Describe what you see to the parent. Do not name a condition or hint at one.
TL;DR
- The behavior you see in class often has a cause you cannot see. Slow, unfinished or not listening can each have more than one cause.
- Several first changes cost nothing and need no meeting. Try a printed copy, one step at a time, or fewer problems. Wait a few seconds after a question.
- Do not name a condition. Do not hint at one either. A hint is often heard as a diagnosis.
- Write down what you see and when it happens. That answers a different question from an evaluation.
- Nothing here tells you what a student has. No page in this section will.
Who this section is for
This page draws on the same material as our parent guides. Here, "you" is the teacher. It is in plain words, like the parent guides. In our view, clinical words do not make a suggestion more useful.
What a student has is not yours to say, and it is not ours. This page gives no legal advice about what your district owes a family. Rules can vary by state and change. Check your state's parent-rights notice.
What a struggling learner can look like in class
These patterns are worth noticing and writing down. None of them tells you what a student has.
Reads correctly and slowly. The words are right, and the work is not finished. Teachers reason that attention spent on the words leaves less for the meaning.
Reads aloud well, remembers little. Sounds like a strong reader in a read-aloud. Cannot tell you what happened.
Guesses at words. Uses the first letter and the picture. To us, that is not cheating or laziness. In our experience, children often guess when sounding out is too slow and too hard.
Tells you far more than they write. A rich answer out loud, and four flat sentences on paper. For that student, the ideas are there. Getting them onto paper is the hard part. That gap is about getting words onto paper, not about the student.
Does not follow instructions. Follows them one-to-one, in a quiet room. Loses them in a busy one.
Knows it and cannot start. Can tell you the task, the steps and the deadline. Then sits in front of a blank page.
Is fine until it is hard, then is not fine at all. Head down, work torn, out of the room. To us, this is often shame, not defiance. Seeing it that way changes what you do next.
What to change on Monday
None of this needs a meeting, money or a plan. Many US schools call this layer Tier 1: the help every student gets.
- Give a printed copy instead of copying from the board. It costs nothing. It shows you quickly how much of the problem was the copying.
- Give one step at a time, written as well as said. When an instruction has two parts, check that both were heard.
- Cut the number, not the level. Set ten problems instead of thirty, at the same level. In our view, ten show whether a student can do the work. Thirty also test how long they can keep going.
- Wait a few seconds after you ask a question. That changes who answers.
- Grade the ideas apart from the spelling and handwriting. Say which one you are grading. In our view, one mark for both blames a student's ideas for their spelling or handwriting.
- Do not ask for public reading without warning. Offer the passage the day before, or take volunteers.
Raising a concern with a parent
Describe what you see, when you see it, and what you have tried. Do not offer a name for it. Do not hint at one either. A hint is often heard as a diagnosis. But no evaluation stands behind it.
A shape that works: "Here is what I am noticing. Here is when it happens, and when it does not. Here is what I changed, and what happened. I think someone should look at this properly. Here is how that starts at our school."
A parent may ask you if their child is dyslexic. Say that you cannot make that call. Then say what you can do. Describe the pattern clearly. Say that you think it is worth looking into. Point to how an evaluation starts at your school. Stopping after the first part sounds like a refusal.
Terms you will hear at meetings
MTSS stands for multi-tiered system of supports. Many US schools use it to organize help. Tier 1 is what every student gets. Tier 2 adds small-group help. Tier 3 is more intensive and more individual. RTI stands for response to intervention. It is an older name for a similar idea. People often use the two names for the same thing.
An accommodation changes how a student gets at the work. A modification changes the work itself. In our experience, mixing the two up often starts a disagreement at a meeting. Some parents ask for one and get the other. In our view, they have a fair point. In our experience, they often lack the word for it.
Universal screening is a short check given to every student. Then a closer look depends less on who happens to be noticed.
What your observations are worth
More than you think.
You see a student for hours, beside thirty others, across many kinds of work. A formal evaluation answers a different question, in a different setting. A parent sees one child at home. What you can add is the pattern across your lessons. Note what happens, when, and what changes it. Write it down, and keep it a description.
In the classroom
Change one thing at a time, for at least a week. Write down what happened. If you change several things at once, you cannot tell which one worked.
Note the setting as well as the behavior. Quiet or noisy? First period or last? Written or spoken? Alone or in a group?
A short email home: "I want to share something I am seeing in class. Do you see it at home too? I have no conclusions. I would like us to look at the same thing."
Key Takeaways
The behavior you see often has a cause you cannot see. Note when it happens, and when it does not.
Several first changes cost nothing. Try a printed copy, one step at a time, fewer problems, and a pause.
Describe what you see. Do not name a condition, and do not hint at one.
You see a student in many settings, beside thirty others. Your notes answer a different question from an evaluation. Write down what you see.
Pick the student you are worried about. Write three sentences. What do you see? When does it happen? When does it not happen? In our experience, that last sentence is often left out. To us, it is the one that shows everyone else where to look.
”What to do tonightWhat to use next
Common questions from parents
A parent asked me if their child is dyslexic. What do I say?
Say that you cannot make that call. Then say what you can do. Describe the pattern clearly. Say that you think it is worth looking into. Point to how an evaluation starts at your school. Stopping after the first part sounds like a refusal.
Is it my place to raise a concern at all?
Yes. A written description of what you see is worth sharing. What is not yours is the conclusion. "Here is what I am seeing, and when" is always fine to say. "I think she has X" is not, however sure you are.
The parent says there is no problem at home. Who is right?
In our experience, often both. Home is often one-to-one, quiet and familiar. Often an adult there fills gaps without noticing. In class, it is noisy and public, and the work may be new. So the difference between the two tells you about the setting. It is not a disagreement about the child.
Should I recommend a screener to a parent?
Tell the parent what you see. Let them decide what to do with it. If they ask, there are free screeners on this site. Each asks a parent questions about what they see at home. Our rule is to say this wherever we name a screener. It is worth passing on: "A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too — that's the only route to those supports."