August 12, 2016 Jarrell ISD

What should I learn from today’s presentation? Definitions and Characteristics of Dyslexia Procedures for the Assessment and Identification of Students with Dyslexia Instructional Implications for Students with Dyslexia GOAL: The goal is to help you identify potentially dyslexic students more efficiently, and understand how the information from the assessment helps the committee make instructional decisions regarding intervention and classroom accommodations.

“Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. “Constitutional origin” is a theoretical concept that some dyslexic individuals possess, or possessed at the time of onset, a "physical or genetic difference" or malfunctioning of the nervous system. Definitions and Characteristics of Dyslexia

The International Dyslexia Association defines “dyslexia” in the following way: Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

The following are the primary reading/spelling characteristics of dyslexia: Difficulty reading words in isolation x Difficulty accurately decoding unfamiliar words Difficulty with oral reading (slow, inaccurate, or labored) Difficulty spelling It is important to note that individuals demonstrate differences in degree of impairment The reading/spelling characteristics are most often associated with the following: Segmenting, blending, and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness) Learning the names of letters and their associated sounds Holding information about sounds and words in memory (phonological memory) Rapidly recalling the names of familiar objects, colors, or letters of the alphabet (rapid naming) Consequences of dyslexia may include the following: Variable difficulty with aspects of reading comprehension Variable difficulty with aspects of written language Limited vocabulary growth due to reduced reading experiences

Assessment & Identification “Research shows that children who read well in the early grades are far more successful in later years, and those who fall behind often stay behind when it comes to academic achievement.” —Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998 The early identification of students with dyslexia as well as the corresponding early intervention program for these students will have significant implications for their future academic success. In the book Straight Talk about Reading, Hall and Moats (1999) state the following: “Early identification is critical because the earlier the intervention, the easier it is to remediate. Inexpensive screening measures identify at-risk children in mid-kindergarten with 85 percent accuracy. If intervention is not provided before the age of eight, the probability of reading difficulties continuing into high school is 75 percent” (pp. 279–280).

Progression through tiered intervention is not required in order to begin the identification of dyslexia. Parents/guardians always have the right to request a referral for a dyslexia assessment at any time.

Questions to Be Considered When Making a Determination Does the data show a pattern of low reading and spelling skills that is unexpected for the student in relation to the student’s other cognitive abilities and provision of effective classroom instruction? Does this pattern indicate the student has dyslexia? Does the student have a disability under §504?

Direct Service Instructional Intervention Critical, Evidence-Based Components of Dyslexia Instruction Phonological awareness Sound-symbol association Syllabication Orthography Morphology Syntax Reading Comprehension Reading Fluency

Delivery of Dyslexia Instruction in the Classroom Principles of effective intervention for students with dyslexia include all of the following: Simultaneous, multisensory (VAKT)—“Multisensory instruction utilizes all learning pathways in the brain (visual, auditory, kinesthetic-tactile) simultaneously in order to enhance memory and learning” (Birsh, 2011, p. 19). “Children are actively engaged in learning language concepts and other information, often by using their hands, arms, mouths, eyes, and whole bodies while learning” (Moats & Dakin, 2008, p. 58). Systematic and cumulative—“Systematic and cumulative instruction requires the organization of material follow order of the language. The sequence must begin with the easiest concepts and progress methodically to more difficult concepts. Each step must also be based on elements previously learned. Concepts taught must be systematically reviewed to strengthen memory” (Birsh, 2011, p. 19). Explicit instruction—“Explicit instruction is explained and demonstrated by the teacher one language and print concept at a time, rather than left to discovery through incidental encounters with information. Poor readers do not learn that print represents speech simply from exposure to books or print” (Moats & Dakin, 2008, p. 58).

Diagnostic teaching to automaticity—“Diagnostic teaching is knowledge of prescriptive instruction that will meet individual student needs of language and print concepts. The teaching plan is based on continual assessment of the student’s retention and application of skills” (Birsh, 2011, p. 19.). “This teacher knowledge is essential for guiding the content and emphasis of instruction for the individual student”(Moats & Dakin, 2008, p. 58). “When a reading skill becomes automatic (direct access without conscious awareness), it is performed quickly in an efficient manner” (Berninger & Wolf, 2009, p. 70). Synthetic instruction—“Synthetic instruction presents the parts of any alphabetic language (morphemes) to teach how the word parts work together to form a whole (e.g., base word, derivative)” (Birsh, 2011, p. 19). Analytic instruction—“Analytic instruction presents the whole (e.g., base word, derivative) and teaches how the whole word can be broken into its component parts (e.g., base word, prefix, root, and suffix)” (Birsh, 2011, p. 19).