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Associate Professor Melissa Stormont, third from left, and
MU special education students discuss ways to prevent at-risk
children from failing in school. Rob Hill photo
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Young Children at Risk for Failure in School Need Early Intervention
By Jennifer Faddis
School reforms and the No
Child Left Behind Act have made it more important than ever
to take a preventative approach to young children at risk for
failure, according to a new book released by a researcher at the
University of Missouri-Columbia.
“Young children are resilient, and
general education teachers can make a difference with children
who have unique needs for social, emotional and academic support,”
said Melissa Stormont, associate professor of special education
in the MU College of
Education.
Stormont's book — Fostering
Resilience in Young Children at Risk for Failure —
details intervention strategies and provides tools and authentic
examples to facilitate success in school settings for children
in kindergarten through third grade.
“You can't ignore the data that shows children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder are two years behind in at least one area by grade five,” Stormont said. “We need to give children individualized academic and behavioral support before we just push them through to the next grade.”
Stormont said the purpose of her research has been to prepare general educators to be more understanding of children's differences and be more willing and able to accommodate for such differences in the classroom.
“My research has not focused on children with identified disabilities; rather I am passionate about trying to prevent children from developing more serious problems wherever possible,” Stormont said. “This book is about the children who are vulnerable, who have specific characteristics that have been associated with risk for failure, and who often fall between the cracks.”
Stormont encourages teachers to recognize characteristics instead of waiting for children to fail over and over again. She said by the third grade is it already obvious who will not be successful academically and/or socially in future grades, which makes early intervention so important.
“The window of opportunity is in the
primary grades. Where children are by age eight is very predictive
of where they will be in their future education endeavors,”
Stormont said. “Teachers can have such a significant influence
on students. Teachers do know that, but it is often hard to remember
this when they get bogged down with everything else.”
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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