445. Expert Interview: Success by Third Grade
Mark Halpert
Mark Halpert and his wife Mira are committed to helping children achieve success in reading and learning by third grade, or sooner. Mark has worked at the district, state and national levels to focus policy priorities to emphasize student success by third grade. He believes parents must be informed, empowered and proactive, and he focuses on specific strategies parents can use to help their child achieve success by third grade—or sooner.
Success by Third Grade
“There is a theory, which is true, that up until third grade, students are learning to read, then from fourth grade on, they are reading to learn. So, it’s crucial for a student to be reading at grade level by the third grade. In fact, this is now the law in 16 states, adopted to end the practice of social promotion, moving kids to the next level, even though they may not have mastered the skills taught at their current grade level. Unfortunately, the interventions being used to address this situation are not meeting the needs of the kids who are struggling. Through 3dlearner.com, we work with “GOLD students: Gifted, Operating with a Learning Difference. That’s a totally different concept than the label dyslexic or learning disabled.”
Why Is This Important?
A crucial issue Mark and Mira are tackling is the fact that the dominant way of teaching, often called left-brain learning, is not the way 65 percent of students learn. There are 40 million kids who learn differently than the left-brain teaching model which dominates education. There is no socioeconomic bias in this learning difference. Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Charles Schwab and Sir Richard Branson all have or had these same kinds of differences in their way of learning. “Here’s a classic example from our 19 years of experience: two kids came to us nine years ago who had been told they would be in a learning disability school for the rest of their school years. Now, one is at Harvard and the other is at MIT.”
What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?
“We look at things from a very different perspective. Sometimes people think a kid with learning disabilities or dyslexia is a 60-watt bulb with a problem. We often see kids that are smart and gifted, who are 300-watt bulbs, but they are not being taught the way they learn. They may have a problem with attention, vision or anxiety, and they don’t see themselves as being successful. Those kids are the kinds of rocket ships where you can see dramatic change in one to four months.”
Connecting With Mark Halpert
Website: www.3dlearner.com/success-by-3rd-grade
Twitter: @3dlearner
Facebook: www.facebook.com/3dlearner
LinkedIn: 3D Learner
Free Gift
At Mark’s website www.3dlearner.com/success-by-3rd-grade:
1) Free downloadable copy of Mark and Mira Halpert’s book, “Success by 3rd Grade.”
2) A success assessment parents can do with their child that provides feedback on whether their child learns differently and/or has an attention, eye-teaming or related challenge. (Type “talent” in comment area or sign in.)
3) A no-cost debriefing following the assessment.
