Orton-Gillingham Methodology for Students With Reading Disabilities

As the number of special education cases continues to rise (Zirkel & D’Angelo, 2002), so does the need to investigate the causes and nature of such increases. Litigation can be extremely costly and can create undue stress for students, districts, and parents. For example, in several reading methodology cases (e.g., Bd. of Educ. of the New Paltz Cent. Sch. Dist., 1997; Sch. Admin. Dist. #22, 2006), the courts ordered the school district to provide private school placement or tuition reimbursement. Tuition costs can be as high as $38,000 to $48,000 per year for many preferred private schools (Petersons.com, n.d.). Many of these specialized private school programs—Gow School, Landmark School, and Kildonan—use Orton-Gillingham approaches to mediate student reading difficulties. Orton-Gillingham (O-G) methodology uses a systematic, multisensory approach to teach students basic reading, spelling, and writing. Advocacy groups and parents of children with reading disabilities often highly recommend O-G instruction. Public general education and special education programs, however, do not always share in such enthusiasm, and many have not adopted O-G as a primary reading methodology. One reason may be that many O-G programs require intensive oneto-one instruction, sometimes several hours a day, which may not be feasible systemwide due to budgetary and personnel restraints (Torgesen et al., 2001). The discrepancy between Orton-Gillingham Methodology for Students With Reading Disabilities