‘Classwork is always outstanding, but exam grades don’t reflect this!’ ‘We need to do some work on exam technique and perhaps do more revision!’
These are standard teacher comments in so many end of year reports for so many children and young people, and maybe even adults, with a diagnosis of dyslexia. When do you think the government will get the memo that exams are NOT conducive to any dyslexic showing their best work or measuring what they can do or know?
I can guarantee most dyslexics work at 110% capacity in exams but their effort NEVER equals their outcome because:
- Dyslexics have crap memory
- Dyslexics can’t think quickly
- Dyslexics reading and writing speeds are slower
- Dyslexics processing speed affects timed performance
This isn’t me making excuses or lowering expectations, it’s an evidence based fact and reality. Dyslexics THRIVE in class and in real life because:
- They use their enquiring minds to ask questions that maybe others have not thought of.
- They learn by making mistakes and adjusting their if thinking accordingly.
- They generate discussion that moves their own and others thinking forward.
- They can read and reread until they understand!
- They can write done key info leaving the unnecessary stuff out!
So a dyslexic will NEVER do their best work in an exam, their grade will always be lower than their potential. Hence why dyslexics thrive in real life environments. If they have any confidence and self esteem left, this is after they have been forced through the one size fits all system that are GCSES! All an exam measures is what you can recall and are able to write down in a specific time. An exam doesn’t take account of the critical skills and verbal intelligence, conversation skill or ability to problem solve in real life a dyslexic possess. Yet a dyslexics future and success is often reliant on the grades they receive in the exam rather than the process or effort it took them to get there!
So, if you have a dyslexic child, don’t focus on the grade in the exam, focus on their effort and accept that their exam grade will never be as high as their class grade! This is NOT lowering expectations, it’s accepting and helping them come to terms with who they are. There are way more opportunities in life to show their brilliance and measure their success that isn’t exam based! Focus on that and make that the bit that matters.