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International Dyslexia Association
IDA Northern Ohio
IDA Central Ohio
IDA Ohio Valley

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New Requirements Regarding Screening and Intervention for Children with Dyslexia

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House Bill 436

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Purpose

Texas has a long history of supporting the fundamental skill of reading. This history includes a focus on early identification and intervention for students with dyslexia. This page includes resources to assist in identifying and providing services for students with dyslexia and related disorders in Texas schools. In addition to this page, information is available through the State Dyslexia Coordinator, ESC Dyslexia Network Coordinator, the dyslexia contacts at each of the 20 regional education service centers and the helpline. We welcome any suggestions you may have that will improve this page.

Please note: House Bill 3928 was passed by the 88th Texas Legislature (Regular Session) and impacts dyslexia evaluation, identification, and instruction. While the agency works to update the necessary materials, be aware that the law is effective immediately. The State Board of Education's proposed timeline for its required changes will be communicated as that timeline is determined and communicated to the agency.

The agency has created resources to assist with the implementation of HB 3928:

Dyslexia Handbook

The Texas Dyslexia Handbook is developed and adopted into administrative rule by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). The SBOE requires that each district and open-enrollment charter school implement the SBOE's strategies for screening, individualized evaluation, and techniques for treating dyslexia and related disorders through its approved "Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders" [ 19 Texas Administrative Code 74.28]

On September 3rd, 2021, the State Board of Education (SBOE) gave final approval for updates to the Dyslexia Handbook. Some of the updates to the Dyslexia Handbook may require LEAs to make policy, procedure, and practice changes. LEAs were informed of these changes in a To The Administrator Addressed letter in September, 2021 so that they could be well positioned to be in compliance once the changes went into effect.

The updated Texas Dyslexia Handbook, linked below, is in effect as of February 10th, 2022.

2021 Handbook Resources:

Dyslexia Resources

To The Administrator Addressed Correspondence (TAA):

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Texas has a long history of supporting the fundamental skill of reading. This history includes a focus on early identification and intervention for students with dyslexia. This page includes resources to assist in identifying and providing services for students with dyslexia and related disorders in Texas schools.

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You are here

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is committed to building upon the current framework of early literacy policy in Colorado, the Reading To Ensure Academic Development Act (READ Act), to support students in both general and special education to meet important reading outcomes.

CDE is committed to:

Bringing together stakeholders interested in supporting students who struggle with reading including those with dyslexia.

Educating stakeholders on reading difficulties including dyslexia.

Strengthening relationships with and among stakeholders interested in early literacy.

For the latest news join the Colorado Dyslexia Stakeholder email list. To sign-up email dyslexia@cde.state.co.us.

What's New

Dyslexia Handbook

The online Colorado Department of Education Dyslexia Handbook is currently under development. A PDF of the Colorado Dyslexia Handbook is available now!
Dyslexia Handbook

What is dyslexia?

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) along with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) adopted the following definition of dyslexia.
"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological 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."
In May 2019, Colorado adopted the definition above per HB 19-1134.

Dyslexia Fact Sheet

CDE's Literacy Office in partnership with the CO Dyslexia Focus Group has created a Dyslexia Fact Sheet that provides an overview of dyslexia for Colorado educators and parents focusing on what dyslexia is, how it impacts students and what to look for.
View Dyslexia Fact Sheet

Understanding Dyslexia Toolkit

The National Center for Improving Literacy has created a toolkit to help parents and educators learn about dyslexia and how to support the literacy development of students with dyslexia.
View Understanding Dyslexia Toolkit

Dyslexia Forum Presentations

2018
The Science of Reading: Evidence-Based Reading Instruction for Students with Dyslexia The Science of Reading Presentation Handout (PDF)
In December 2018, the department hosted the second forum with Margie Gillis, Ed.D. Dr. Gillis is President of Literacy How, Inc. and a Research Affiliate, Haskins Laboratories at Yale. Her presentation focused on effective intervention of reading difficulties including dyslexia.

2017
A Scientific Approach to Reading and Reading Disabilities Keynote presentation handout - (PDF)
In March of 2017, the department hosted a forum with Jack M. Fletcher, Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology University of Houston. His presentation is the foundation of messaging and work in educating stakeholders on reading difficulties including dyslexia.

News

CO Dyslexia Handbook

February 2020

The online Colorado Department of Education Dyslexia Handbook is currently under development. A PDF of the Colorado Dyslexia Handbook is available now!
Dyslexia Handbook
Dyslexia Working Group

December 2010

Dyslexia Working Group submitted progress report to the Commissioner of Education to view, please visit the Dyslexia Working Group webpage.

August 2019

CDE has announced the Dyslexia Working Group membership. The first meeting will be on September 20th. All meetings of the Dyslexia Working Group will be open to the public; however, only working group members will have an active role in the meeting. All meeting agendas and summaries will be publicly available on the Dyslexia Working Group webpage.

For more information, please visit the Dyslexia Working Group webpage.

House Bill 19-1134 - new CO dyslexia legislation

May 2019

House Bill 19-1134, Identification And Interventions For Students With Dyslexia, was signed into law May 31st by Governor Jared Polis.

New Online Modules Released - Assessing, Preventing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties

Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties is an on-demand eLearning series that was developed by David Kilpatrick, Ph.D., in collaboration with the Specific Learning Disability Specialist in the Exceptional Student Services Unit of the Colorado Department of Education. Content of the webinar series was originally included in the book Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties by Dr. David Kilpatrick.

Additional Resources

The following are resources sorted by topic to assist educators and families in support of students with reading difficulties including dyslexia.

Colorado Department of Education - Exceptional Student Service Unit (ESSU)

Colorado Department of Education - Science of Reading

Legislation for at-risk readers, including those with dyslexia
State Legislation
Colorado passed House Bill 19-1134 (PDF), Identification And Interventions For Students With Dyslexia, was signed into law May 31, 2019 by Governor Jared Polis.

Colorado passed House Bill 08-1223 (PDF) (C.R.S.22-2-133) Concerning the Provision of Technical Assistance Pertaining to Colorado Public School Students with Literacy Challenges that Include Dyslexia, which encourages the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to provide support and training to educators in literacy. Specifically, the statute promotes technical assistance and training in the assessment and scientifically based interventions for students with literacy challenges, including dyslexia.

The Department of Education provides an annual report to the education committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Colorado passed House Bill 12-1238, The READ Act. The Colorado Reading To Ensure Academic Development Act (Colorado READ Act) was passed by the Colorado Legislature during the 2012 legislative session. The READ Act repeals the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) as of July 1, 2013, keeping many of the elements of CBLA such as a focus on K-3 literacy, assessment and individual plans for students reading below grade level. The READ Act differs from CBLA by focusing on students identified as having a significant reading deficiency, delineating requirements for parent communication and providing funding to support intervention. Other components of the Colorado READ Act include a competitive Early Literacy Grant and a resource bank of assessments, instructional programming, and professional development.
Federal Legislation
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees all children with identified educational disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education.

The Exceptional Children's Educational Act (ECEA) (PDF) provides Colorado more detail and added rights and protections to IDEA.

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The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is committed to building upon the current framework of early literacy policy in Colorado, the Reading To Ensure Academic Development Act (READ Act), to support students in both general and special education to meet important reading outcomes.

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On Jan. 9, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 436 of the 133 rd General Assembly for dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation. The following is a summary of the new law:

Requires the Ohio Department of Education to establish the Ohio Dyslexia Committee consisting of 11 members;

Requires the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to develop a dyslexia guidebook for screening, intervention and remediation for children with dyslexia or displaying dyslexic characteristics and tendencies;

Requires the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to prescribe the number of clock hours of dyslexia-related professional development required for teachers;

Permits the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to make recommendations regarding ratios of students to teachers who have received certification in identifying and addressing dyslexia, the school personnel who should receive the certification and whether professional development requirements should include completing a practicum;

Requires the Department, in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, to identify screening and intervention measures that evaluate the literacy skills of students using a multi-sensory structured literacy program;

Requires school districts and other public schools to administer annual dyslexia screenings beginning in the 2022-2023 school year;

Phases in over three years dyslexia-related professional development requirements for public school teachers;

Requires school districts and other public schools, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, to establish a multi-sensory structured literacy certification process for teachers.

More information about House Bill 436 will be available in the coming weeks. Please send questions to Dyslexia@education.ohio.gov.

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New law addresses dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation

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On Jan. 9, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 436 of the 133 rd General Assembly for dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation.

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Our Dyslexic Children - 2020 World Premiere

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Here are some useful links for parents.

International Dyslexia Association
International organization that is dedicated to help people with dyslexia. Website full of information about dyslexia and resources.

IDA Central Ohio
International Dyslexia Association - Central Ohio Chapter

Understood.org
Dedicated to shaping a world where millions of people who learn and think differently can thrive at home, school, and work.

Wrightslaw.com
Resource to help people find information about learning disabilities.

University of Michigan's Dyslexia Center
Website full of resources for people with dyslexia.

University of Michigan's Dyslexia Center - Professional Development
Resources for the professional educator.

Oregon State University Toolkits
Oregon GEAR UP offers a variety of toolkits that help advance our mission of increasing the college attendance and success for low-income students. The toolkits are action-oriented with planning guides and customizable resources available for free download.

The Human Cost of Dyslexia
A British study explaining the human cost of dyslexia and how untreated can impacts people throughout their lives.

Benefits of Playing Music
From reducing stress to increasing your memory, learning to play an instrument can have many more benefits than just beautiful music. In the article, we will cover 16 of our favorite side benefits of deciding to invest a little time into your instrument of choice. We have also included some links to other great articles and scientific journals for further reading.

Life Insurance with Pre-existing Conditions
An in-depth article on how to choose life insurance.

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Here are some useful links for parents. International Dyslexia Association International organization that is dedicated to help people with dyslexia. Website full of information about dyslexia and resources. IDA Central Ohio International Dyslexia Association - Central Ohio Chapter Understood.org Dedicated to shaping a world where millions of people who learn and think differently can thrive at home, school, and work.

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The Office of Student Intervention Services coordinates and manages the review and award of student dyslexia scholarships, the RFP process for the award of the dyslexia grants to districts, as well as the selection process of a State Board of Education approved list of dyslexia screeners. In addition, the intervention staff provides professional development and technical assistance related to dyslexia to parents, teachers, and administrators on the following topics:

Understanding Dyslexia

Identification of Students with Dyslexia

Effective Instruction and Interventions for Dyslexic Students

Mississippi Dyslexia Handbook - Currently Under Revision

General Dyslexia FAQs

Answers to questions and concerns by phone and email

Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship

The Office of Intervention Services is responsible for assisting parents who are pursuing a scholarship or transfer under the dyslexia therapy scholarship program. Individuals with questions about this process may contact the staff at 601-359-2586.

The following MDE Special Purpose Non-Public Schools have been approved to accept students receiving a dyslexia therapy scholarship:

Magnolia Speech School: Jackson

3D School: Petal

2021-2024 Dyslexia Grant Recipients

Chickasaw County School District

George County School District

Jones County School District

Lauderdale County School District

Neshoba County School District

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The Office of Student Intervention Services coordinates and manages the review and award of student dyslexia scholarships, the RFP process for the award of the dyslexia grants to districts, as well as the selection process of a State Board of Education approved list of dyslexia screeners.

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Screening, Intervention, and Teacher Training Roadmap 1.0

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Screening, Intervention, and Teacher Training Roadmap 1.0

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Three Things Dyslexic Pupils Want from their Teacher

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Three Things Dyslexic Pupils Want from their Teacher

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If you could ask your teachers to do one thing to help you, what would it be?

This was my final question in a number of interviews with children and teenagers who had dyslexia.

What was cheering about their answers was that what they needed was simple to provide. What was very dispiriting was that these simple strategies were very often ignored, forgotten or not communicated to new and supply staff.

So, if we listened to what dyslexic pupils think they most need, what would be doing differently?

1. Give enough time

Enough time to think about the question you have asked. Enough time to read the text two or even three times (remembering that generally the first read-through will be to decode the words, the second time to retrieve information and the third time to support recall). And enough time for the writing task. If this is difficult, given the amount of information you want to impart to the whole class, try reading text out loud to the group or giving dyslexic pupils less to read or suggesting a shorter writing task. If you have time to create some simplified text, even better.

2. Give visual support

Every single interviewee smiled enthusiastically and agreed strongly when I asked if they found diagrams, mind maps, pictures and so on helpful. Include them whenever you can - even if it means drawing stick men on the board to illustrate your teaching. Supporting learning visually can be as simple as making sure that they have a textbook of their own and are not trying to peer across to the far side of a double-page spread. If you produce worksheets, make sure the font is big enough (size 12-14). All the young people spoke warmly of teachers who printed off Powerpoint slides so they could follow the words with their finger, take as long as they needed to read them and could focus on something on their desk rather than trying to locate text on the screen.

3. Arrange for discreet help

Most of the children and young people disliked constantly putting up their hand to ask for help to understand the task instructions or the meaning of a word. Several said they would rather sit quietly and pretend to work rather than experience the embarrassment of constantly asking for help. Some pupils really liked having a prearranged learning buddy next to them. Others liked the system of red and green cards on the desk to let the teacher know whether they needed help or not. All of them liked it when an adult briefly checked with them at the beginning of a task - this could be as simple as a questioning look across the room and a thumb up or down in response. I asked one girl what would be the one thing she would like teachers to do to help her. Her answer was simple. "I would love a two-minute conversation where someone asked me what I would find helpful in this lesson." Listening to the learner - let's do it.

Ann Clucas taught for nearly 40 years as a class teacher, head of department and Sendco. She is the author of How to Teach Everybody: strategies for effective differentiation

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The three things dyslexic pupils want from their teacher

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If you could ask your teachers to do one thing to help you, what would it be? This was my final question in a number of interviews with children and teenagers who had dyslexia. What was cheering about their answers was that what they needed was simple to provide.

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These five easy-to-implement accommodations can make class less stressful and more manageable for students with dyslexia.

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For many of us, reading is as automatic as breathing. But for the millions of students with dyslexia, reading is a difficult task that poses constant academic and emotional challenges. To simulate the experience of reading with dyslexia, try using this key to decipher the coded statement below.

What you have just done is relearn to read. You've taken symbols and connected them with new speech sounds. Until those connections are automatic, the reading process will be laborious and draining. Now imagine reading like this-every word you encounter all day long. This is how it can feel for students with dyslexia.

Although awareness of dyslexia is steadily growing due to campaigns by grassroots movements like Decoding Dyslexia and national organizations like the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and the National Center on Learning Disabilities (NCLD), many educators are still unfamiliar with what dyslexia is and how to accommodate it in the classroom.

Here's what we know: Dyslexia is common, affecting 5 to 17 percent of students. It is the result of one or more brain-based language processing challenges in the area of rapid automatized naming (RAN), working memory, and phonological and/or auditory processing. Dyslexia is hereditary, often passed down from a parent or grandparent who has struggled with it. Dyslexia occurs on a spectrum, so some students may fly under the radar with a mild case while others are profoundly impacted.

Dyslexia can occur comorbidly with other learning difficulties like dysgraphia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia, and/or dyscalculia.

Dyslexia is not linked to intelligence, a finding supported by research from Yale University and demonstrated by the long list of successful innovators with dyslexia-including Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs, and Albert Einstein-proving that the dyslexic mind can indeed be highly intelligent.

Students with dyslexia can be remediated with evidence-based, Structured Literacy programs delivered by teachers trained in reading instruction to increase accuracy, reading fluency, and text comprehension.

In addition to quality intervention, students with dyslexia benefit from classroom accommodations that take into account their unique processing challenges and allow them to demonstrate their content understanding and access the curriculum with more ease.

Easy-to-Implement Accommodations

Here are five easy-to-implement accommodations to support students with dyslexia in the classroom:

1. Provide access to audiobooks: Students with dyslexia often have an intellectual ability that is well above their academic reading level. Strengthen critical thinking, vocabulary skills, and background knowledge by allowing students to listen to audiobooks during classroom reading time.

Some great options for classroom audiobook access can be found at Learning Ally, a nonprofit provider of human-read audiobooks; OverDrive Education, another provider of human-read audiobooks; and Bookshare, a provider of computerized audiobooks (free for qualified U.S. students and schools). Another free option is to upload an e-book on a Kindle app and ask Amazon's Alexa to "read my latest Kindle book."

You can take away the stigma of "ear reading" by offering audiobooks as a reading option for the whole class.

2. Allow students to use note-taking apps: Students with dyslexia can struggle with everyday tasks like note taking, transcribing from lectures, and writing down spoken directions. Allow students to skip the arduous task of transcribing notes from the board by using assistive-technology apps like Notability or Evernote to take pictures of lecture notes to review and study later.

3. Permit students to record assignment instructions and lectures for playback: At the root of dyslexia is a language processing issue, so students with dyslexia sometimes struggle with multistep verbal instructions and paying attention through long lectures. Allow students to record important assignment instructions and lectures for playback with voice notes using Siri from Apple or Read&Write, a free Google Chrome extension from TextHelp.

4. Offer reduced homework problems: Students with dyslexia need the practice that comes with homework, but because of their processing difficulties, homework can take three to five times longer for these students than it does for their peers. Allow students with dyslexia to do every other problem or only half the problems to keep the focus of homework on demonstrating and practicing content knowledge as opposed to making it an exercise in endurance.

5. Encourage use of text-to-speech: In later grades, students with dyslexia will need to access text that is above their academic ability in order to complete class assignments, and text-to-speech can be a real game changer. Students can look for the BrowseAloud logo to find websites that are speech-to-text enabled or download the Read&Write Google Chrome extension to translate all web text into spoken words.

Dealing with dyslexia is difficult in today's text-heavy education system. These accommodations are just the tip of the iceberg for making students feel supported and accepted in the classroom.

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These five easy-to-implement accommodations can make class less stressful and more manageable for students with dyslexia.

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Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties

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Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties

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Structured literacy (SL) teaching is the most effective approach for students who experience unusual difficulty learning to read and spell printed words. The term refers to both the content and methods or principles of instruction. It means the same kind of instruction as the terms multisensory structured language education and structured language and literacy.

Structured literacy teaching stands in contrast with approaches that are popular in many schools but that do not teach oral and written language skills in an explicit, systematic manner. Evidence is strong that the majority of students learn to read better with structured teaching of basic language skills, and that the components and methods of Structured Literacy are critical for students with reading disabilities including dyslexia.
Content of SL Instruction: Language
Dyslexia and most reading disorders originate with language processing weaknesses. Consequently, the content of instruction is analysis and production of language at all levels: sounds, spellings for sounds and syllables, patterns and conventions of the writing system, meaningful parts of words, sentences, paragraphs, and discourse within longer texts.

Phoneme awareness. Becoming consciously aware of the individual speech sounds (phonemes) that make up words is a critical foundation for learning to read and spell. A phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that can change the meaning of a word. For example, the different vowel phonemes in mist, mast, must, and most create different words. Although linguists do not agree on the list of phonemes in English, it has approximately 43 phonemes-25 consonants and 18 vowels.

In preschool and early kindergarten, children typically learn the underpinnings for phoneme awareness, including rhyming, counting spoken syllables, and reciting phrases beginning with the same sound. By the end of kindergarten, children should identify each speech sound by ear and be able to take apart and say the separate sounds of simple words with two and three sounds. More advanced phoneme awareness skills, especially important for spelling and reading fluency, include rapidly and accurately taking apart the sounds in spoken words (segmentation), putting together (blending) speech sound sequences, and leaving out (deleting) or substituting one sound for another to make a new word. These exercises are done orally, without print, and should be part of instruction until students are proficient readers. A large proportion of individuals with dyslexia has difficulty with this level of language analysis and needs prolonged practice to grasp it.

Phoneme awareness is an essential foundation for reading and writing with an alphabet. In an alphabetic writing system like English, letters and letter combinations represent phonemes. Decoding print is possible only if the reader can map print to speech efficiently; therefore, the elements of speech must be clearly and consciously identified in the reader's mind.

Sound-Symbol (phoneme-grapheme) correspondences. An alphabetic writing system like English represents phonemes with graphemes. Graphemes are letters (a, s, t, etc.) and letter combinations (th, ng, oa, ew, igh, etc.) that represent phonemes in print. The basic code for written words is the system of correspondences between phonemes and graphemes. This system is often referred to as the phonics code, the alphabetic code, or the written symbol system.

The correspondences between letters and speech sounds in English are more complex and variable than some languages such as Spanish or Italian. Nevertheless, the correspondences can be explained and taught through systematic, explicit, cumulative instruction that may take several years to complete.

Patterns and conventions of print (orthography). Through explicit instruction and practice, students with dyslexia can be taught to understand and remember patterns of letter use in the writing system. For example, some spellings for consonant sounds, such as -ck, -tch, and -dge, are used only after short vowels. Some letters, like v and j, cannot be used at the ends of words. Only some letters are doubled. Some letters work to signal the sounds of other letters. These conventions can all be taught as part of the print system or orthography.

Print patterns and conventions exist as well for representing the vowel sounds in written syllables. It is a convention that almost every written syllable in English has a vowel grapheme. Structured Literacy programs usually teach six basic types of written syllables: closed (com, mand), open (me, no), vowel-consonant-e (take, plete), vowel team (vow, mean), vowel-r combinations (car, port), and the final consonant-le pattern (lit-tle, hum-ble). Recognizing written syllable patterns helps a reader divide longer words into readable chunks, and helps in understanding spelling conventions such as doubling of consonant letters (little vs. title).

Morphology. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. Morphemes include prefixes, roots, base words, and suffixes. These meaningful units are often spelled consistently even though pronunciation changes as they are combined into words (define, definition; nation, national; restore, restoration). Recognizing morphemes helps students figure out and remember the meanings of new words. In addition, knowledge of morphology is an aid for remembering spellings such as at-tract-ive and ex-press-ion.

Syntax. Syntax is the system for ordering words in sentences so that meaning can be communicated. The study of syntax includes understanding parts of speech and conventions of grammar and word use in sentences. Lessons include interpretation and formulation of simple, compound, and complex sentences, and work with both phrases and clauses in sentence construction.

Semantics. Semantics is the aspect of language concerned with meaning. Meaning is conveyed both by single words and by phrases and sentences. Comprehension of both oral and written language is developed by teaching word meanings (vocabulary), interpretation of phrases and sentences, and understanding of text organization.

Reading comprehension is a product of both word recognition and language comprehension. Throughout structured literacy instruction, students should be supported as they work with many kinds of texts-stories, informational text, poetry, drama, and so forth, even if that text is read aloud to students who cannot yet read it independently. Reading worthwhile texts that stimulate deep thinking is a critical component of Structured Literacy.
Principles and Methods of SL Instruction
Explicit. In SL instruction, the teacher explains each concept directly and clearly, providing guided practice. Lessons embody instructional routines, for example, quick practice drills to build fluency, or the use of fingers to tap out sounds before spelling words. The student applies each new concept to reading and writing words and text, under direct supervision of the teacher who gives immediate feedback and guidance. Students are not expected to discover or intuit language concepts simply from exposure to language or reading.

Systematic and cumulative. In an SL approach, the teacher teaches language concepts systematically, explaining how each element fits into the whole. Instruction follows a planned scope and sequence of skills that progresses from easier to more difficult. One concept builds on another. The goal of systematic teaching is automatic and fluent application of language knowledge to reading for meaning.

Hands-on, engaging, and multimodal. Methods often include hands-on learning such as moving tiles into sound boxes as words are analyzed, using hand gestures to support memory for associations, building words with letter tiles, assembling sentences with words on cards, color-coding sentences in paragraphs, and so forth. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are often paired with one another to foster multimodal language learning.

Diagnostic and responsive. The teacher uses student response patterns to adjust pacing, presentation, and amount of practice given within the lesson framework. The teacher monitors progress through observation and brief quizzes that measure retention of what has been taught.
References
Birsh, J., & Carreker, S. (2019). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills, 4th ed. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Brady, S. (2011). Efficacy of phonics teaching for reading outcomes: Implications from Post-NRP research. In S. Brady, D. Braze, & C. Fowler (Eds.), Explaining individual differences in reading (pp. 69-96), London, UK: Psychology Press.

Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M., Taylor, W. P., Barth, A. E., & Vaughn, S. (2014). An experimental evaluation of Guided Reading and explicit interventions for primary-grade students at-risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 7(3), 268-293.

Ehri, L., Nunes, S. R., Stahl, S., & Willows, D. (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71, 393-447.

Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., Furgeson, J., Hayes, L., Henke, J., Justice, L., Keating, B., Lewis, W., Sattar, S., Streke, A., Wagner, R., & Wissel, S. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 2016-4008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: http://whatworks.ed.gov

International Dyslexia Association. Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading. https://dyslexiaida.org/knowledge-and-practices/

Kilpatrick, D. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

McCardle, P., & Chhabra, V. (Eds.). (2004). The voice of evidence in reading research. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Moats, L. C. (2010). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers, 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

National Early Literacy Panel (NELP). (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child and Human Development.

Seidenberg, M. (2017). Language at the speed of sight: How we read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it. New York, NY: Basic Books.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) thanks Louisa Moats, Ed.D., for her assistance in the preparation of this fact sheet.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA). IDA encourages the reproduction and distribution of this fact sheet.
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Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties - International Dyslexia Association

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Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading

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Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading

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FINAL KPS FOR PUBLICATION_May2018.pdf | Powered by Box

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For a downloadable PDF in Spanish, click here.
The most difficult problem for students with dyslexia is learning to read. Unfortunately, popularly employed reading approaches, such as Guided Reading or Balanced Literacy, are not effective for struggling readers. These approaches are especially ineffective for students with dyslexia because they do not focus on the decoding skills these students need to succeed in reading.

What does work is Structured Literacy, which prepares students to decode words in an explicit and systematic manner. This approach not only helps students with dyslexia, but there is substantial evidence that it is more effective for all readers.

Structured Literacy instruction is marked by several elements:

Phonology. Phonology is the study of sound structure of spoken words and is a critical element of Structured Language instruction. Phonological awareness includes rhyming, counting words in spoken sentence, and clapping syllables in spoken words. An important aspect of phonological awareness is phonemic awareness or the ability to segment words into their component sounds, which are called phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a given language that can be recognized as being distinct from other sounds in the language. For example, the word cap has three phonemes (/k/, /ă/, /p/), and the word clasp has five phonemes (/k/, /l/, /ă/, /s/, /p/).

Sound-Symbol Association. Once students have developed the awareness of phonemes of spoken language, they must learn how to map the phonemes to symbols or printed letters. Sound-symbol association must be taught and mastered in two directions: visual to auditory (reading) and auditory to visual (spelling). Additionally, students must master the blending of sounds and letters into words as well as the segmenting of whole words into the individual sounds. The instruction of sound-symbol associations is often referred to as phonics. Although phonics is a component of Structured Literacy, it is embedded within a rich and deep language context.

Syllable Instruction. A syllable is a unit of oral or written language with one vowel sound. Instruction includes teaching of the six basic syllable types in the English language: closed, vowel-consonant- e, open, consonant- le, r-controlled, and vowel pair. Knowledge of syllable types is an important organizing idea. By knowing the syllable type, the reader can better determine the sound of the vowel in the syllable. Syllable division rules heighten the reader's awareness of where a long, unfamiliar word may be divided for great accuracy in reading the word.

Morphology. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in the language. The Structured Literacy curriculum includes the study of base words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes. The word instructor, for example, contains the root struct, which means to build, the prefix in, which means in or into, and the suffix or, which means one who. An instructor is one who builds knowledge in his or her students.

Syntax. Syntax is the set of principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence in order to convey meaning. This includes grammar, sentence variation, and the mechanics of language.

Semantics. Semantics is that aspect of language concerned with meaning. The curriculum (from the beginning) must include instruction in the comprehension of written language.

Structured Literacy is distinctive in the principles that guide how critical elements are taught:

Systematic and Cumulative. Structured Literacy instruction is systematic and cumulative. Systematic means that the organization of material follows the logical order of the language. The sequence must begin with the easiest and most basic concepts and elements and progress methodically to more difficult concepts and elements. Cumulative means each step must be based on concepts previously learned.

Explicit Instruction. Structured Literacy instruction requires the deliberate teaching of all concepts with continuous student-teacher interaction. It is not assumed that students will naturally deduce these concepts on their own.

Diagnostic Teaching. The teacher must be adept at individualized instruction. That is instruction that meets a student's needs. The instruction is based on careful and continuous assessment, both informally (for example, observation) and formally (for example, with standardized measures. The content presented must be mastered to the degree of automaticity. Automaticity is critical to freeing all the student's attention and cognitive resources for comprehension and expression.

References

Brady, S. (2011). Efficacy of phonics teaching for reading outcomes: Implications from Post-NRP research. In S. Brady, D. Braze, & C. Fowler (Eds.), Explaining individual differences in reading (pp. 69-96), London: Psychology Press.

Denton, C. A., Fletcher, J. M., Taylor, W. P., Barth, A. E., & Vaughn, S. (2014). An experimental evaluation of Guided Reading and explicit interventions for primary-grade students at-risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 7(3), 268-293.

Ehri, L., Nunes, R. S., Stahl, S., & Willows, D. (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71, 393-447.

Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., Furgeson, J., Hayes, L., Henke, J., Justice, L., Keating, B., Lewis, W., Sattar, S., Streke, A., Wagner, R., & Wissel, S. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 2016-4008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: http://whatworks.ed.gov

Kilpatrick, D. (2015). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

McCardle, P., & Chhabra, V. (Eds.). (2004). The voice of evidence in reading research. Baltimore, MD, Paul H. Brookes.

National Early Literacy Panel (NELP). (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child and Human Development.

Seidenberg, M. (2017). Language at the speed of sight: How we read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it. New York: Basic Books.

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Effective Reading Instruction - International Dyslexia Association

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Research done by Dr. Shaywitz and others has concluded that implementing effective reading programs as early as kindergarten or even pre-K offers the potential to close the reading gap.

Mounting evidence shows there is a specific approach to reading intervention that helps struggling students become successful - both those who have been diagnosed with a specific reading disability like dyslexia and those who have not.

For many of the city's centrally funded IEP teachers, who are often called upon to work with at-risk readers, that intervention is SPIRE, an evidence-based, intensive program that is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction.

"The aim is to activate the parts of the brain that these students aren't using," says Elena Behar Lazarova, an IEP teacher who does reading intervention with at-risk students at PS 148 in East Elmhurst, Queens. "There are lots of components so that students use tactile and visual processing at the same time."

SPIRE lessons are always 10 steps and include the same sequence of activities. In each lesson, students review phonograms, or the sounds that certain combinations of letters make; build words using letter tiles; mark the letter patterns they see in words; read for comprehension; practice writing dictated words; spell; and write sentences.

"The language is clearly scripted, which allows students to get used to the routine and know exactly what they're being asked to do," says Lazarova.

Teachers in the early grades of many of the city's schools may already be familiar with the Orton-Gillingham approach thanks to Fundations, a popular phonics program. Students learn to drill individual phonemes (the smallest units of sound) by chanting: "A, apple, /a/. B, bat, /b/." They "tap out" words by touching their thumbs to their forefingers to represent phonemes, and they use magnetic letters to build and break apart words.

But Fundations is meant to be used with young children, and it's rare to encounter a classroom in the upper grades where phonics is part of the daily routine.

"When I meet with a struggling reader, the first thing I pick up on is difficulty decoding," says Helen Amsterdam, a 40-year veteran teacher who now works as an IEP teacher at PS 86 in Bushwick, Brooklyn. "The advantage I have over classroom teachers is that I can teach a concept and do the activities over and over again until students get it."

Students begin the first level of SPIRE by practicing short vowel sounds, digraphs (like sh, ch and th) and welded sounds (-nk and -ng). By the end of the program, in Level 8, they will master r-controlled vowels, prefixes and suffixes, and other unusual sounds.

Experts on dyslexia suggest that the best reading instruction for struggling readers should be explicit, be delivered in small groups and allow students to be active participants in learning.

"We're not only teaching skills but trying to undo the emo- tional damage of being unsuccessful with something for a long time," Lazarova notes. "Year after year, these children sitting in classrooms with traditional curriculum were taught, 'Reading is not accessible to me. Reading is hard for me.' They were taught to dislike reading. But kids experience success very fast with SPIRE. It removes that barrier and it opens them up."

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Research done by Dr. Shaywitz and others has concluded that implementing effective reading programs as early as kindergarten or even pre-K offers the potential to close the reading gap. Mounting evidence shows there is a specific approach to reading intervention that helps struggling students become successful - both those who have been diagnosed with a specific reading disability like dyslexia and those who have not.

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Resources What is dyslexia? The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators: ortonacademy.org The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/About_ShaywitzBios.html# National Center for Learning Disabilities: http://www.ncld.org/action-center Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan: dyslexiahelp.umich.edu International Dyslexia Association: http://eida.org International Dyslexia Association Fact Sheets: http://eida.org/fact-sheets/ Legal: U.S.