Baltimore's Project Read
For the dyslexic student, learning to read and write fluently requires special, research-based instruction. The reality is that most reading teachers aren't trained for the job.

Today, schools are under intense pressure to perform. As the bar is raised for everyone, students with dyslexia continue to fall behind.

At public schools across the United States almost 3 million students are in Special Education classrooms because they can't read. A lot of them are dyslexic.

Many dyslexics have an above average intelligence, yet still struggle with literacy.

In an attempt to help its neediest students, Baltimore City Public School System is implementing an instructional program called Project Read.

In select classrooms, reading specialists, like Maryann Povell, are showing Special Education teachers how to teach reading using multi-sensory methods.

In Demystifying Dyslexia we visit the Special Education classroom of Helena Ortiz-Smith at Edgewood Elementary in Baltimore. Over six months, Helena and other teachers were introduced to strategies that help their students break down words and decode language.

Project Read follows the method of instruction that is systematic, intense, and involves the whole body. This type of instruction is what reading specialists call an intervention.

For some, it could be the last chance to learn the fundamentals of

reading and writing.