ABSTRACT
In our university special education teacher preparation courses, we have frequently referred to the case of “Andrew.” Andrew was a third grader in a middle-class suburban school who had received the same instruction in school as his peers. It has been informative to note the expressions on the faces of the university students as they hear a tape of Andrew’s reading: presented with a familiar story in his middle third-grade-level text, this bright, articulate third-grader stumbles, repeats, hesitates, self-corrects, sighs, tries to sound out, and reveals himself to be completely inadequate to this task. His reading rate is an excruciating six words per minute, an average of one word every 10 seconds. Half of these words are read correctly only because of teacher prompting. He is next presented with a reading selection from a beginning second-grade-level reader, and reads this selection at eight words per minute. Throughout, Andrew’s demeanor is polite and cooperative, if somewhat resigned. His free writing sample includes a drawing of what appears to be a meteor falling from the sky, with a single sentence printed below: “It vush the oue wun.” While the university students cringe in empathy with Andrew’s unsuccessful efforts, they also feel the same fascination that brought many of us to the field of special education: What is the nature of Andrew’s failure to learn, and what can we do to help him?
