Dyslexia Legislation UCONN Critical Issues in Dyslexia Conference Dr. Patricia Anderson CT State Department of Education Bureau of Special Education patricia.anderson@ct.gov

Public Act 14-39 An Act Establishing the Office of Early Childhood, Expanding Opportunities for Early Childhood Education and Concerning Dyslexia and Special Education

Legislative Language Not later than January 1, 2015, the Department of Education shall add "SLD - Dyslexia" under "Specific Learning Disabilities" in the "Primary Disability" section of the individualized education program form used by planning and placement teams for the provision of special education and related services to children requiring special education and related services.

Legislative Language On and after July 1, 2006, any program of teacher preparation leading to professional certification shall include, as part of the curriculum, instruction in literacy skills and processes that reflects current research and best practices in the field of literacy training. Such instruction shall (1) be incorporated into requirements of student major and concentration, and (2) on and after July 1, 2015, include the detection and recognition of, and evidence-based interventions for, students with dyslexia.

CSDE Actions Assembled an internal Specific Learning Disabilities/Dyslexia (SLD/Dyslexia) advisory group to address the requirements of the legislation and consider the needs of the field regarding the upcoming change in the “Primary Disability” section of the IEP document. Compiled an external SLD/Dyslexia Workgroup comprised of a wide range of stakeholders that met monthly for five meetings to develop statewide guidance and recommendations.

CSDE Actions Revised IEP document to include “SLD/Dyslexia” in the Primary Disability section on page one Revised IEP Manual Communicated changes to electronic IEP vendors Revised SEDAC data collection file layout

SLD/Dyslexia Workgroup Objectives Explored issues surrounding the identification and instruction of students with SLD/Dyslexia Reviewed and identified a shared understanding and definition of “dyslexia” Identified pertinent legislation and implementation practices from other states Discussed evidence-based practices for the screening, identification, and instruction of students with SLD/Dyslexia

Frequently Asked Questions – (FAQs) What is Dyslexia? Who can identify a child with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD)/Dyslexia? What is a comprehensive evaluation for a child suspected of having SLD/Dyslexia? Is a child identified with SLD/Dyslexia automatically qualified for special education services? What is appropriate specialized instruction for a student with SLD/Dyslexia?

Frequently Asked Questions – (FAQs) SLD/Dyslexia FAQs are located under “Eligibility Documents” following the Guidelines on Identifying Children with Learning Disabilities: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2626&q=32 2672#Elig The responses to the FAQs are based on information from the LD Guidelines and updated with new research and input from the SLD/Dyslexia Workgroup. The complete CSDE Working Definition of Dyslexia can be found as the response to the first FAQ - “What is Dyslexia.” The IEP Manual contains the IDEA definition of specific learning disabilities and the initial segment of the CSDE Working Definition of Dyslexia.

2015 - Substitute Bill No. 1054 Designation of a CSDE employee to provide information and assistance to LEAs and parents regarding dyslexia. On and after July 1, 2015 not fewer than 12 clock hours of instruction in the detection and recognition of, and evidence-based structured literacy interventions for students with dyslexia. Inservice training on the detection and recognition of and evidence-based structured literacy interventions for students with dyslexia.

2015 - Substitute Bill No. 1054 On or before January 1, 2016, CSDE shall develop or approve reading assessments . . . Commencing as of July 1, 2016 to identify students in K – 3 who are below proficiency in reading, provided any reading assessments developed or approved by the department include frequent screening and progress monitoring of students. Such reading assessments shall . . . 5) assist in identifying, in whole or in part, students at risk for dyslexia

Southern Connecticut State University Contributions of Speech-Language Pathologists to Reading Assessment and Intervention on Interdisciplinary Teams Richard P. Zipoli, Jr. Southern Connecticut State University zipoli1@southernct.edu

Language Foundations Five Domains of Language Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics sound system word structure and parts word order in sentences meaning social use and discourse skills

Simple View of Reading Gough & Tunmer, 1986 Reading Comprehension = Decoding x Linguistic Comprehension

Subgroups of Poor Readers Based on Catts & Kahmi, 2005 Poor Decoding and Poor Comprehension Poor Comprehension Poor Decoding

Subgroups of Poor Readers Catts, Hogan, & Adolf, 2005 Dyslexia Deficits in word recognition Spelling difficulties Relatively good listening comprehension Often present with underlying deficits in phonological awareness

Subgroups of Poor Readers Catts, Hogan, & Adolf, 2005 2. Specific Comprehension Deficit Deficits in listening comprehension Relatively good word recognition 3. Mixed Reading Disability Deficits in word recognition and listening comprehension

Example of a Comprehensive, Interdisciplinary Evaluation Roberts & Scott, 2006, p. 139 Area Component Measure Administrator* * varies based on team members, setting, etc. Reading Spelling Writing Phonological Processing Oral Language Single-word decoding Nonword reading Oral reading fluency Passage comprehension Product measures Process measures Phonological awareness Phonological memory Rapid naming Receptive language Expressive language Vocabulary Narrative discourse TOWRE WDRB: Word attack GORT WDRB: Passage CBM Portfolio CTOPP CELF-4 EVT SNAP Reading specialist Reading specialist Reading specialist Reading specialist Classroom teacher Classroom teacher Classroom teacher SLP NOT intended to be prescriptive

Transition services CT State Dept of Ed Secondary Transition Resource Page: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2626&q=322676 National Technical Assistance Center for Transtion http://www.nsttac.org/

Adolescents with Reading Difficulties Adolescents’ needs and pathways to literacy vary from their younger counterparts (O’Brien & Dillon, 2014) Developmental differences School histories – compromised assent to learn Reading histories – differential practice, confidence motivation & engagement Intervention histories –artifacts of learned approaches (unintended consequences)

Addressing Adolescent Difficulties Student-created and student-selected text (comprehensible input) Action-oriented reading and writing Support for discourse and sentence-level cues Meaning and syntactic cueing systems Social reasons for reading Opportunities for high-success experiences

A “first language” foundation for reading: engaged reading experiences Independent reading proficiency Engaged reading experiences Modified from Cummins’ iceberg model of interdependence)_,

The Engagement Model of Reading Development Guthrie, 2014 Motivation in Reading* Components: Intrinsic Efficacy Value Social Classroom Instruction & Teaching Reading Engagement Reading Achievement Components: Effort Enthusiasm Persistence Self-regulation Components: Reasoning Literal Fluency Vocabulary This is what it takes to be a reader. Most instruction focuses only on the black factors & ignores the others - we end up with students that have skills, but are not readers...with skill practice that has no purpose and therefore doesn't add up to anything The more readers struggle with the fundamentals, the less attention we generally pay to affective factors, though these may in fact become even more important for their success Components: Relevance/choice Success Importance Collaboration Volume Cognition in Reading Components: Word rec. Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension *Ongoing research suggests this is all true of writing as well!