1. Going Deeper with Dyslexia Identification
Ruth Ann Beagle, M. Ed., CALT
Emily Rivera, M. Ed., CALT
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board, I am pleased to present our report on Summer Professional Development.

2. Make Sure You Get Credit!
To Get Credit for each session you must do 2 things!
Sign-up for the course through Eduphoria.
Sign-in on the Sign-in sheet.
NO EXCEPTIONS!!

4. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

5. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

6. Overview of Dyslexia
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.
Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, This Definition is also used by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

7. “Dyslexia is… neurological in origin.”
Predisposition for dyslexia
Often inherited
Persists across the life-span
Going back to the definition: “Dyslexia is… neurological in origin.”
Children are born with dyslexia because their brains are wired differently.
Dyslexia cannot be cured and it will not go away. Using appropriate instruction, students are taught to be successful by training their brain to retrieve the phonological processing skills differently than non-dyslexic children.
For students with dyslexia, it is important to identify their strengths and help them to realize that they can be successful – even if it’s in areas other than academic pursuits. They usually have a talent in an area such as music, art, mathematics, athletics etc. Their strengths may be in those areas and it is important to build and develop those strengths or talents to help them feel successful.

8. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

9. “…characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.”
Accurate, rapid word recognition  fluency
WRMT III
Accuracy & fluency  comprehension
GORT 5
Spelling
TWS 5
Clarify that “up to 1 in 5” is a liberal estimate; some research begins at around 5-7%.
A student needs to be able to recognize words accurately and rapidly in order to be a fluent reader.
Comprehension is enhanced when a student can read accurately and fluently.
There is a varying degree of difficulty for students with dyslexia. They many only have difficulties in writing or spelling. Some are more severe than others.

10. “These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language”
Elision, blending words, phoneme isolation
CTOPP 2
Rapid Naming
Letter Knowledge
WRMT III
DRA 2
Phonological Memory
The difficulties are often unexplained.
The difficulties are unexpected for their age and cognitive ability. They are not in relation their other academic strengths.

11. Classroom instruction
“…that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.”
Cognitive abilities
KBIT 2
CoGAT/ITBS
WRMT III (listening comp.)
Parent/Teacher input
Math reasoning abilities
Classroom instruction
RtI data (if available)
DRA 2—consider tasks in PA

12. “Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension…”
Oral reading comprehension
GORT 5
Teacher input
Passage comprehension
WRMT III

13. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

14. Profile Analysis #1 “Peeta” 7 years, 10 months, 2nd grade
Teacher referral
Fell below level in DRA starting in 1st grade
K EOY level 4, 1st EOY level 14, 2nd BOY level 12
Weakness in spelling
Hearing & Recording Sounds EOY K 32 (of 37)
EOY 1st DRA task 27 (16 = “some”)
ADHD diagnosis, inconsistent medication
High CoGAT and ITBS scores
Strong vocabulary and math reasoning skills
“unexpected” for student to have such difficulties

15. Profile Analysis #1 Characteristics? Underlying Causes?
Secondary Consequences?
Unexpected?

16. Profile Analysis #1
Characteristics?

17. YES! Profile Analysis #1 Characteristics? Decoding (WRMT III)
Spelling (TWS 5, writing samples, student history)
Accuracy & fluency (GORT 5)

18. Profile Analysis #1
Underlying Causes?

19. YES! Profile Analysis #1 Underlying Causes?
Phonological Awareness (CTOPP 2)
Phonological memory (CTOPP 2)

20. Profile Analysis #1
Secondary Consequences?

21. YES! Profile Analysis #1 Secondary Consequences?
Oral Reading Comprehension (GORT 5)
Passage Comprehension (WRMT III)
DRA 2
Parent/Teacher input

22. Profile Analysis #1
Unexpected?

23. YES! Profile Analysis #1 Unexpected? KBIT 2 Teacher/Parent input
CoGAT and ITBS scores

24. Profile Analysis #1
And the verdict is……

26. Profile Analysis #2 “Kolton” 8 years, 7 months; 2nd grade
EOY TPRI deficient
Receives Tier 2 intervention
Emphasized phonological awareness, letter sound knowledge, decoding, and sight word recognition
ADHD diagnosis; medicinal intervention with successful results

27. Profile Analysis #2 Characteristics? Underlying Causes?
Secondary Consequences?
Unexpected?

29. Profile Analysis #2
Characteristics?

30. Profile Analysis #2

32. Profile Analysis #2

34. Profile Analysis #2

36. Profile Analysis #2

37. Profile Analysis #2
Underlying Causes?

39. Profile Analysis #2
Secondary Consequences?

41. Profile Analysis #2
Unexpected?

42. Profile Analysis #2
And the verdict is……

44. Profile Analysis #2 Lessons from Kolton
What do you do when a student has the characteristics of dyslexia, but phonological awareness scores are average?
Analyze the student’s phonological awareness further!
Consider individual subtests—Phonological awareness is only as strong as the weakest skill! If key subsets are low, there is a deficit even if the composite score is average.
Look at historical measures of phonological awareness. If there was a weakness, consider how much intervention has taken place to bring up those scores.

45. Profile Analysis #2 Lessons from Kolton
From the Dyslexia Handbook (2014, pg. 22): “Because previous effective instruction in phonological/phonemic awareness may remediate phonological awareness skills in isolation, average phonological awareness scores alone do not rule out dyslexia. Ongoing phonological processing deficits can be exhibited in word reading and/or written spelling.”

46. Profile Analysis #2 Lessons from Kolton
Analyze types of spelling errors, looking for evidence of some phonological errors (when spoken sound is not represented by a phonologically acceptable letter in spelling, i.e. “kist” for “kissed” is phonologically OK, but “kit” reflects the omission of the sound /s/)
Administer an alternate phonological awareness measure such as a supplemental subtest from the CTOPP or the Phonological Awareness Test 2 (PAT 2)

47. Profile Analysis #2 Lessons from Kolton
It is not enough to consider your test results alone. You must also consider:
Historical skill measurements
Historical instruction and interventions
Observations from parents and teachers regarding the same skills measured in the assessment

48. Intermission

49. Profile Analysis #3 “Katniss” 11 years, 0 months; 5th grade
Transferred from a different district mid-year; received accommodations under Section 504 for “reading difficulty”; no cognitive assessment from prior school
Low in all areas, no personal strengths evident
No growth in DRA during year at current school despite intervention

50. Profile Analysis #3 Characteristics? Underlying Causes?
Secondary Consequences?
Unexpected?

51. Profile Analysis #3
Characteristics?

52. YES!* Profile Analysis #3 Characteristics? Word reading (WRMT III)
Rate and fluency (GORT 5)
*…but what’s intact???

53. Profile Analysis #3
Underlying Causes?

54. YES!* Profile Analysis #3 Underlying Causes?
Phonological awareness (CTOPP)
Rapid naming (CTOPP)
*…but, with weak PA, how are this student’s decoding and spelling skills in the average range? (see page 2 of profile)

55. Profile Analysis #3
Secondary Consequences?

56. YES! Profile Analysis #3 Secondary Consequences?
Oral reading comprehension (GORT 5)
Passage Comprehension (WRMT III)

57. Profile Analysis #3
Unexpected?

58. NO! Profile Analysis #3 Unexpected? Teacher Input
Cognitive abilities (KBIT)
Listening comprehension (WRMT III)

59. Profile Analysis #3
And the verdict is……

61. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

62. Things to Consider
Consider the skill, not the score

63. Things to Consider Consider the skill, not the score
Phonological Awareness is only as strong as its weakest subtest—be sure to plot these separately!

64. Things to Consider Consider the skill, not the score
Phonological Awareness is only as strong as its weakest subtest—be sure to plot these separately!
The role cognitive ability plays in identification

65. Things to Consider Consider the skill, not the score
Phonological Awareness is only as strong as its weakest subtest—be sure to plot these separately!
The role cognitive ability plays in identification
Analyze student’s spelling errors for phonological weaknesses and/or errors

66. Things to Consider Consider the skill, not the score
Phonological Awareness is only as strong as its weakest subtest—be sure to plot these separately!
The role cognitive ability plays in identification
Analyze student’s spelling errors for phonological weaknesses and/or errors
The effect targeted intervention can have on skills

67. Things to Consider Consider the skill, not the score
Phonological Awareness is only as strong as its weakest subtest—be sure to plot these separately!
The role cognitive ability plays in identification
Analyze student’s spelling errors for phonological weaknesses and/or errors
The effect targeted intervention can have on skills
Profile should reflect data over time, not just one day’s worth

68. Learning Targets Brief overview of Dyslexia Components of assessment
Profile analysis
Things to consider
Q & A

70. #1 Take Away
What one thing can you take away from today that will directly impact your identification process on your campus?

71. Credits Texas Dyslexia Handbook, 2014
The Very Basics: School-Based Identification of Dyslexia in Texas, presented by Gladys Kolenovsky, Administrative Director at The Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders
Beyond the Basics: School-Based Identification of Dyslexia in Texas, presented by Gladys Kolenovsky, Administrative Director at The Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders
Multisensory Instruction of Basic Language Skills, 3rd. Edition by Judith R. Birch, 2011

73. We Want Your Feedback
Please take a few minutes to fill out the feedback form. It is just a few clicks!
In the Sched App, click on the session you are in.
Click the Feedback button. This will take you to a Google Form.
Please complete the form.