Many very smart and talented students fail to reach their potential because of one problem that goes unrecognized throughout their academic careers— poor reading skills. Students and their parents often are in denial about this problem because students work hard and are getting excellent grades.
Signs That Your Reading Skills are Holding You Back
- You have trouble finishing the test, even though you know the material.
- You think of yourself as a poor test-taker.
- You must reread when the material is hard.
- You read well when the material is interesting to you, but struggle to comprehend boring information.
- You’re a great memorizer—but you don’t like reading.
- You need to study longer than most to get good grades.
If you’re experiencing even one of these signs, know that some of the brightest people face reading challenges. Research has shown that the smartest people don’t always have the strongest reading skills.
So, why do you feel not so smart when faced with reading material that you find dull? Why do you have to reread? Why do you perform well on assignments but not as well on tests? And where is your deep passion for reading? The straight answer is that you need to upgrade your reading skills.
Poor reading skills do not correlate with low intelligence. For instance, when educators believe that a student is smart (and they are not aware that the student struggles with reading), that student typically falls through the cracks. This is because he can quickly grasp information through class lecture, easy reading, PowerPoints, etc. He can easily memorize and recite the teacher’s information. And, because reading skills are never accessed, this highly intelligent person is left not fully grasping concepts. The wake-up call normally arrives during standardized testing.
Standardized testing assesses reading aptitude. This is when the student may realize that there is a correlation between strong reading and strong test taking. For this reason, smart students who are challenged by reading fall short on standardized tests.
Some students may be discouraged about their reading skills because they have received tutoring help in the past. But that is the problem—tutoring. Tutoring helps students get through classes, tests, etc., but they fail to improve a student’s ability to independently comprehend the material.
RTS Success® focuses on working with students who have discrepancies between academic ability and testing. Emphasis is on cognition, which is the key to comprehension. Unlike traditional tutoring, reading therapy analyzes the gaps in how each student learns printed information, and then helps students to re-pattern the brain for precise processing. When following the RTS Success® approach, students begin interpreting text accurately, reading proficiently, and producing the highest test scores.
The overall goal is to produce strong, self-sufficient readers and superior test takers. When areas of cognition are assessed and the brain is trained to process information, students become confident readers. RTS Success® helps students to expose their natural ability to read as they learn to think like a strong reader. Students discover their own power.
Do you have any questions or comments? Contact Cindy@rtssuccess.com