"If a baby cries, we know they need help. When a child acts up, that's what they're doing-- they're crying for us to pay attention." When Jubilee's S3 (Specialized Student Support) Coordinator Ranita Dement met Maribel, she saw a crying child where others had seen a troublemaker.
A student participates in guided reading at Jubilee
Maribel was what some teachers might consider "difficult;” in one moment she was sweet and helpful and in the next, irate. Her behavior seemed to escalate when she had to sit down for a test or was asked to read aloud. Maribel was extremely task-avoidant, disrupting the class with jokes and antics, or insisting she needed to use the restroom at the moment she was called upon. Because Maribel had been attending Jubilee’s out-of-school-time program for two years, the afterschool teachers had noted that her behavioral problems had started when she entered the third grade, flagging her for evaluation by the S3 team.
Third grade is one of the most pivotal years in a student’s academic life, Ranita explains. It is the year that students transition from learning to read to reading to learn, and the jump in difficulty means that students with learning disabilities come to realize they are different from their peers, causing inner turmoil and confusion.
Because Maribel’s behavioral problems had so suddenly presented, Ranita knew the tantrums were likely a cover. After testing Maribel for dyslexia, it became clear that she had been using bad behavior to distract from the overwhelming confusion and frustration she felt every time she opened a book.
Jubilee OST students using Voyager, a reading and math intervention curriculum
Although Maribel’s two brothers had already been diagnosed as dyslexic by DISD, somehow Maribel slipped through the cracks. Luckily, Jubilee’s part-time S3 Interventionists also work in DISD schools as Dyslexia Interventionists and were able to expedite the process of receiving 504 accommodations. As part of the accommodation assessment, Maribel also received the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) and was referred to a pediatrician where she was diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive Type. Having the S3 program to advocate for Maribel meant that she not only received specialized support to help her thrive in the classroom, but also the mental health help she long needed.
The S3 Team focused on equipping Maribel with the skills she needed to engage in the classroom, including word attack strategies, using context clues, and developing abstract thinking. Unlike general education, Ranita explains, S3 interventions are highly tailored and move at the individual student’s pace: “A concept that will be covered in one day in general education, we might spend a week on. We don't stop until they can teach it to me.”
Jubilee afterschool students enjoying the Park at Jubilee
The S3 interventions were only thirty minutes long per day, but the individualized attention and benchmark-setting encouraged Maribel to become invested in her own progress. Because Maribel read at such a slow pace, she would often forget what she had read by the time she had moved to the next sentence. By giving her the tools she needed to break down words, she was able to increase words read per minute and began to understand the stories she was reading! Maribel used to avoid reading out loud at all costs. Ranita knew they had turned a real corner when Maribel bounded into the classroom one day and told her she wanted to pick out a story to read.
Maribel entered the S3 program reading well below grade level. Now, Maribel is making incredible strides and we have seen over a 200% increase in her reading skills score! The biggest change? "She’s always been strong, but strong in the sense of guarded, and now it’s strong in the sense of confident and brave."