Screening & Addressing Dyslexia
Importance of Early Screening
Ending the Dyslexia Paradox
Early Screening
Purpose: Identify at-risk students starting in Kindergarten to identify weaknesses in the sub-skills of reading that impact decoding and oral language skills.
Process: If students perform below the benchmark during screening, schools should then use diagnostic measures to identify underlying causes and provide students with immediate support.
Benefits: Screening is not a diagnosis, but an important process to get students the appropriate help they need to become fluent readers.
Suggested measures:
Phonemic awareness
Phonological awareness
Rapid automatic naming skills (objects)
Note, students with dyslexia may also have Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), so it is important to screen for both.
Core Instruction
Addressing dyslexia begins with core instruction (Tier 1). Dyslexia falls on a spectrum from mild to severe. To address the needs of all students, Tier 1 Instruction should use a Structured Literacy Approach to teach children the alphabetic code as a preventative approach for reading disabilities.
Students on the dyslexia spectrum will often need more intensity and repetition to help map words to their long-term memory for instant word recognition.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports
A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a framework for providing all students with the academic and behavioral support they need to succeed. MTSS is a three-tiered system, with each tier providing increasing levels of support.
Tier 1 is the foundation of MTSS and provides high-quality instruction to all students. Tier 1 instruction is designed to prevent learning difficulties from occurring in the first place. Tier 1 is the core instruction provided to all students.
Tier 2 provides additional support to students who are not responding to Tier 1 instruction. Tier 2 support may include small group instruction, tutoring, or other interventions.
Tier 3 provides the most intensive support to students who are struggling the most. Tier 3 support may include specialized instruction, one-on-one tutoring, or other interventions.
MTSS systems can support addressing dyslexia by:
Providing early screening and identification of students who are at risk for dyslexia.
Providing evidence-based instruction and interventions to students with dyslexia.
Monitoring student progress and adjusting interventions as needed.
Coordinating services between general education and special education teachers.
MTSS systems can also help to ensure that students with dyslexia receive the support they need to succeed in the general education classroom.
Here are some specific examples of how MTSS systems can support addressing dyslexia:
Tier 1: All students receive high-quality instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension.
Tier 2: Students who are struggling with reading receive additional support in small groups, such as explicit instruction in decoding skills (sounding out words), encoding (spelling words), and fluency practice.
Tier 3: Students with dyslexia receive intensive, individualized instruction in a reading intervention program. This should be diagnostic and prescriptive (data determines the area of need, frequency, and intensity).
MTSS systems can also provide support for parents and teachers. Parents can learn about dyslexia and how to support their child at home. Teachers can learn about effective strategies for teaching students with dyslexia.
Dyslexia Screening and the Use of Acadience Reading K-6
Fine Tuning Elementary Data Teaming to Improve Student Outcomes
Selecting and Evaluating Literacy Programs and Interventions
Addressing Dyslexia starts with core instruction!
Early Literacy Screeners
Comprehensive list of early literacy screeners compiled by Dr. Nadine Gaab. Excellent resource for schools.
Understanding Reading Challenges with the Simple View of Reading
Types of Reading Difficulties
Learn More: David A. Kilpatrick, Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (Essentials of Psychological Assessment)
Dyslexic
Students with unexpected word-level reading skills, but have adequate language comprehension skills.
Students have difficulty sounding out words and mapping words to their orthographic lexicon (long-term memory for stored words) for instant word recognition as a result of poor phonological awareness. Students also struggle with reading fluency and spelling. These students often have poor phonemic awareness. Learn more about orthographic mapping.
Compensator- The student displays a mild form of the dyslexic pattern but compensates to some degree with strong language skills, making decoding struggles difficult to recognize. As text complexity increases in the older grades, the needs of the students become more prevalent.
Dyslexia is part of a literacy continuum. Cut off percentages for diagnosis are arbitrary and vary from state to state. A child just above the cut-off will still struggle to read. Therefore, early screening and scientifically based reading instruction are very important to students who struggle with word-level reading. Poor phonemic awareness, a struggle to read non-words, and poor RAN should be considered a warning. "On the Reality of Dyslexia
Structured Literacy interventions should be diagnostic, explicit, and systematic. Guided reading and Three-Cueing do not address the core deficits for a dyslexic student (ex. LLI, Reading Recovery, Guided Reading).
Hyperlexic
Typically have language-related deficits that keep students from comprehending what they read. These readers can decode words, but struggle with understanding meaning. This may be a sign of Developmental Language Disorder. Learn more:
The Language Basis of Reading: Assessment and Instruction for Language Comprehension
Developmental Language Disorder and the Simple View of Reading
Mixed-Type
Weaknesses in both language comprehension and word-level reading.
Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorders
Source: David A. Kilpatrick, Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (Essentials of Psychological Assessment)
Assessments and Decision Making
Use the tool from AIM Institute for a quick guide to assessments and a decision-making flowchart that will assist in using assessment data to accelerate learning and inform instruction. Decision Making Tool.
Watch this recording of RIDE's Webinar explaining the above tool and featuring AIM Institute for Learning and Research. The webinar also helps participants take a systematic look at interpreting both formal and informal assessment data to improve students' reading outcomes by understanding common reading profiles, grouping students based on areas of instructional need, and differentiating instructional practices to ensure that students continuously improve their reading skills.
Checklist: Use this checklist to track student mastery of Foundational Literacy Skills.
Source: RIDE Structured Literacy
Dyslexia and the RTI/MTSS Process
Comprehensive Guide from
Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia
Dyslexia_within_RTI.pdfWe recommend parents use these templates when discussing concerns or developing an IEP. We also recommend schools use these templates to guide MTSS discussions or IEP progress monitoring.
Testing and Evaluations
Diagnostic Testing and School Evaluation
Schools will not diagnose dyslexia, but they CAN identify characteristics of dyslexia to determine if a student qualifies for an IEP or 504 for a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in basic reading and/or fluency.
The article, "Testing and Evaluation" from the International Dyslexia Association website is a comprehensive guide on testing and evaluations to help identify dyslexic students. (Click on title to redirect to article).
SLD/Dyslexia Assessment Resource Guide from the CT Department of Education. Describes testing and evaluations to help identify dyslexic students. These tests help identify core deficits, so appropriate evidence-based interventions can be used for students with dyslexia.
Neuropsychological Evaluations and Dyslexia - What families need to know.
"There is general agreement that specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, are heterogeneous disorders that impact skill acquisition and performance in reading, writing, and mathematics. SLDs may coexist with other conditions, including but not limited to communication disorders, disorders of attention, or giftedness."
Important Considerations
Addressing reading difficulties begins with Tier 1 instruction. Early literacy should include structured literacy as defined by the IDA. Learn more about structured literacy programs.
Early screening is the best predictor of students who will go on to have reading disabilities.
Teacher training, continuous professional development, and coaching will lead to sustainable implementation.
Address school-based biases associated with assessments and interventions for black, brown, and multilingual students. If a child has the makers of dyslexia do not make assumptions, these students deserve to be evaluated.
Consider the family history of struggling students. Dyslexia runs in families.
Use the recommended diagnostic tests to identify characteristics of dyslexia (Note: there is no single dyslexic test! Evaluations should include testing, classroom observations, and curriculum-based classwork. They all play an important part in identifying a dyslexic student).
Evaluations for Dyslexia should include-oral language skills, word identification, decoding, spelling/encoding, phonological processing, automaticity/fluency skills, reading comprehension, and vocabulary (reading and listening task). (Source: IDA),
Teachers can work with literacy interventionists, speech-language pathologists and instructional coaches to meet the needs of their dyslexic students in the general education setting.
Writing and Encoding Struggles
Intervention Resources
The greatest tool a struggling student can have is a highly qualified and trained teacher in structured literacy. "A box" is not an appropriate plan without training and coaching support.
(Note: We do not officially endorse programs. We endorse evidence-based practices).
The IDA Handbook on Dyslexia
This handbook created by the International Dyslexia Association is a great tool to empower teachers and staff about dyslexia. Please share with your child's school. (Click the title to be redirected to PDF).