The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading has had a positive and life-changing impact on the students who I am tutoring—all of whom have increased their reading ability dramatically. The success that they have in the tutoring sessions has given them the skills they need to decode and read in the classroom. It has increased their confidence greatly. Before pursuing this certification, I had a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in curriculum and instruction. I taught language arts for seven years at the middle-school level. The reading instruction that I am learning now had never been taught or presented to me in either of these academic programs. Learning the Orton-Gillingham approach has changed the way I teach! I am actually learning the fundamentals of our language, and I am able to pass this on to my students. I will soon be teaching third graders. I will be able to instruct my students in reading with an approach that will have an unmistakably positive effect on their ability to read.
— Tonya Rouse, 2010-2011 Scholar