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1. Identifying students who struggle (I): Diagnostic Test.

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1. Identifying students who struggle (I): Diagnostic Test.

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When thinking about identifying students who struggle, I'd like to start by quoting Soraya Z., a math and science teacher in public schools in Ho Chi Minh City: “I want to make sure I have as much information about the students available to me as possible, and previous knowledge is a reliable piece of information, even if it doesn’t provide me with the whole picture”.

I agree with Soraya that having as much academic information about the students as possible may help us identify who is struggling with what. Having our students complete a diagnostic test at the beginning of the school year can be a quick and effective way to gauge their previous knowledge.

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2. Identifying students who struggle (II): Survey.

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2. Identifying students who struggle (II): Survey.

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Once we have a better idea of our students' previous academic knowledge, it would be good to dig deeper into their background, family situation, special abilities, interpersonal skills, interests, potential impairments, and/or any other circumstances that may have an impact on their achievements.

One effective way to gather this information would be to hand out a survey to each one of the students and ensure they know and understand that their answers will not be shared with anyone. This would 1) give an opportunity to those students who would like to share some information about themselves and their circumstances to do so, and 2) give the teacher an opportunity to learn more about every one of their students.

I would even consider having parents fill out a short survey as well - this would give us two different but crucial points of view of the situation for every student.

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If after Step 1 and Step 2 (Identifying students who struggle I & II), a student with a speech impairment is identified, we would have to start thinking about what kind of differentiation techniques or approaches we would want to put in place, and how to do it.

Let's say that one of our students has a stutter.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, "although not considered a cause of stuttering, environmental factors may exacerbate disfluency"

This is something that we, teachers, can play an important role in trying to minimize. Making sure that our classroom is a safe space for students with a stutter or other speech impediments is crucial.

Based on Prasse and Kikano’s research (Stuttering, an overview, 2008) "parents play an important role in the management of stuttering in children by providing an environment that encourages slow speech and by modeling slow, relaxed speech to help reduce stuttering events".

Again, this is something that teachers, who often spend several hours a week with our students, can definitely try to provide in the classroom as well. Being inconsistent (i.e. relaxed speech at home VS rushed speech in the classroom) can impact our student with a speech impairment negatively.

When communicating with someone who stutters, we may sometimes be tempted to finish sentences or fill in words. According to the Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY), completing another person's sentences may feel demeaning.

Making sure everyone in class (both teachers and students) is aware of this circumstance can help.

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4. Taking further steps (I): Home & School Support. 

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4. Taking further steps (I): Home & School Support. 

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If the student has not overcome the barrier to learning after using differentiation strategies mentioned in Step 3 and/or others, it may be time to think of taking further steps.

Having an open channel of communication with other students, teachers, and the struggling student's parents is crucial.

Discuss the issue with them and create a comprehensive plan that will help provide a better environment that encourages slow, relaxed speech at home and in the classroom (not just in our class and subject, but in all of them) as much as possible.

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4. Taking further steps (II): External Support.

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4. Taking further steps (II): External Support.

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If the student is still struggling after Step 4 and their stutter is still impeding his learning, seek external support.

Speech therapy may be available (for free, depending on where the student is from), and expert speech therapists may be able to provide better support.

The nonprofit organization The Stuttering Foundation of America offers a detailed Checklist for Referral that can be of great help when creating a referral system within a school/classroom environment.