• Four Areas of Dyslexia Services

                              Four Core Areas of Dyslexia                           Screening, Support, Evaluation, Instruction

  • Screening

    TEC §38.003 requires:

    • Kindergarten students are screened at the end of the school year.

    • First-grade students are screened no later than January 31.  

    Dyslexia screening is a tool for identifying students who are at risk of a reading disability; this means that the screening does not “diagnose” dyslexia. Rather, it identifies “predictor variables” that raise red flags, so parents and teachers can intervene early and effectively.  

    criteria for screening

    Federal Requirements- Child Find

    In addition to state and local requirements to screen and identify students who may be at risk for dyslexia, there are also overarching federal laws and regulations to identify students with disabilities, commonly referred to as Child Find. Child Find is a provision in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that requires the state to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that every student in the state who needs special education and related services is located, identified, and evaluated. The purpose of the IDEA is to ensure that students with disabilities are offered a free and appropriate public education (20 U.S.C. §1400(d); 34 C.F.R. §300.1). Because a student suspected of having dyslexia may be a student with a disability under the IDEA, the Child Find mandate includes these students. Therefore, when referring and evaluating students suspected of having dyslexia, LEAs must follow procedures for conducting a full individual and initial evaluation (FIIE) under the IDEA.

    Another federal law that applies to students with disabilities in public school is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, commonly referred to as Section 504. Under Section 504, public schools must annually attempt to identify and locate every qualified student with a disability residing in its jurisdiction and notify them and/or their parents of the requirements of Section 504.

    Clues to Dyslexia: Early Childhood to Adulthood

    clues to dyslexia

    The Clues to Dyslexia: Early Childhood to Adulthood is an abbreviated version of Sally Shaywitz's Overcoming Dyslexia book in which she describes various clues to dyslexia based on the developmental age of the person. She also encourages the consideration of strengths!

  • Evaluation

    Procedures for Evaluation and Identification for Students with Dyslexia

    The evaluation and identification process for dyslexia can be multifaceted. The process involves both state and federal requirements that must be followed. The evaluation and identification process for students suspected of having dyslexia is guided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). A referral for evaluation must always be made on a case-by-case basis and must be driven by data-based decisions. 

    Parents/guardians always have the right to request a referral for a dyslexia evaluation at any time. Once a parent request for dyslexia evaluation has been made, the school district is obligated to review the student’s data history (both formal and informal data) to determine whether there is reason to suspect the student has a disability. If a disability is suspected, the student needs to be evaluated following the guidelines outlined in this chapter. Under the IDEA, if the school refuses the request to evaluate, it must give parents prior written notice of refusal to evaluate, including an explanation of why the school refuses to conduct an FIIE, the information that was used as the basis for the decision, and a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards. Should the parent disagree with the school's refusal to conduct an evaluation, the parent has the right to initiate dispute resolution options including; mediation, state complaints, and due process hearings. Additionally, the parent may request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense. Should the parent believe that their child is eligible for Section 504 aids, accommodations, and services, the parent may request an evaluation under Section 504.

    Data Gathering

    When evaluating a student for dyslexia, collecting various data will provide information regarding factors that may be contributing to or primary to the student's struggles with reading and spelling. This data ensures that underachievement is not due to a lack of appropriate instruction in reading and comes from various sources. 

    Click the Data Gathering link to review the various sources of data gathered for evaluation.

    Additional Considerations for English Learners

    Although data from previous formal testing of the student’s oral language proficiency may be available, as required by TEC §29.056, additional assessment of oral language proficiency should be completed for a dyslexia evaluation due to the importance of the information for:

    • consideration in relation to academic challenges
    • planning the evaluation
    • interpreting evaluation results

    Identification

    A determination must first be made regarding whether a student's difficulties in the areas of reading and spelling reflect a pattern of evidence for the primary characteristics of dyslexia with unexpectedly low performance for the student's age and education level in some or all of the following areas.

    • Reading words in isolation
    • Decoding unfamiliar words accurately and automatically
    • Reading fluency for connected text (rate and/or accuracy and/or prosody; more evident in Spanish)
    • Spelling (an isolated difficulty in spelling would not be sufficient to identify dyslexia, spelling errors in Spanish may not be as prevalent)

    Dyslexia in English

    The pattern of evidence for dyslexia in English is slightly different from Spanish due to the transparency of the language. 

    dyslexia in spanish

    Universal Characteristics of Dyslexia Across Languages

    • Slower than average reading speed
    • Slower performance on measures of Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN, Best predictor of reading fluency skills)
    • Deficiencies in phonemic awareness prior to reading instruction
    • Less accurate detection and production of rhymes
    • Initial difficulty with phonological processing (reading nonsense words, e.g., flib
    • Inaccurate spelling
    • Poor verbal memory

  • Instruction

    TEC §38.003 states the school district shall provide treatment to any student determined to have dyslexia or a related disorder. Plano ISD must provide an identified student with access at his/her campus to an instructional program that meets the requirements of the SBOE rule and to the services of a teacher trained in dyslexia and related disorders. While the components of instruction for students with dyslexia include good teaching principles for all teachers, the explicitness and intensity of the instruction, fidelity to program descriptors, grouping formats, and training and skill of the teachers are wholly different from core classroom instruction and must be considered when making individual placement decisions. 

    1. Instruction should continue until the student is functioning at a level of independence commensurate with age and cognitive ability.
    2. Programming decisions are always 504/ARD committee decisions.

    components of dyslexia instruction graphic

    • Phonological awareness is the internal sound structure of words. An important aspect of instruction enables students to detect, segment, blend, and manipulate sounds in spoken language. 

    • Sound-symbol association (phonics) instruction utilizes the letter-sound plan in which words that carry meaning are made of sounds, and the sounds are written with letters in the correct order. Students with this understanding can blend sounds associated with letters to decode words and can separate words into component sounds to spell and write effectively. 

    • Language structure encompasses syllabication (six syllable types), orthography  (written spelling patterns), morphology (the study of meaningful units of language such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots), semantics (ways that language conveys meaning), syntax (sentence structure), and pragmatics (how to use language in a  particular context). 

    • “Syllabication" must be directly taught in relation to word structure” (Birsh,  2018. P. 26). 

    • Orthography instruction should be integrated with phonology and sound-symbol knowledge. 

    • Morphology involves learning how morphemes combine to form words. 

    • Syntax includes a set of principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence, such as grammar, sentence variation, and mechanics of language  (Birsh, 2018, p. 26).  

    • Reading fluency incorporates directed proficiency in reading patterns of words accurately and with meaning to support comprehension. 

    • Comprehension instruction includes extracting and constructing meaning through the interaction of the reader with the text; process-oriented instruction involves the procedures of appropriate strategies for students to utilize when meaning in text breaks down.


    Plano ISD offers a "diversification of programming" for students with dyslexia to meet the various needs of students with dyslexia. 

    Per the Texas Dyslexia Handbook, "Differentiation that does not compromise the fidelity of a program may be necessary to address different learning styles and ability levels and to promote progress among students receiving dyslexia instruction. One may focus on components of the program that best meet the student’s needs."

    Reading Horizons: Sound City 

    The Reading Horizons Discovery Sound City Daily Phonemic Awareness Lessons are designed to support educators in helping their students reach a level of phonemic proficiency necessary for automatic word recognition. It includes 36 weeks of lessons and addresses the phonological awareness components of reading acquisition. The lessons are designed for K-2 students and can be used as a stand-alone intervention before phonics or a supplement to phonics instruction. 

    sound city

    Rite Flight: Rate 

    This program is based on current scientific research from the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and was designed to be a Tier II intervention for use by classroom teachers, reading specialists, and special education teachers with first through eighth-grade students. It can be used as supplemental or intervention instruction for individuals, small groups, or the whole classroom. Fluency instruction promotes the recognition of letter clusters within words where students follow a repeated reading schedule that introduces words in isolation, then phrases, and finally in stories. Instruction is sequential, based upon phonetic patterns from basic to more complex patterns, which enhances the efficient transfer of word recognition. 

    Rite Flight: Comprehension 

    Developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia, this program is implemented as the comprehension component of instruction that can be coupled with the Reading Horizons program. This program emphasizes building vocabulary, understanding word relationships, and figurative language in reading passages.  Students use graphic organizers, illustrated cards, and texts to distinguish facts from an author’s opinion, paraphrase and/or retell reading passages, make inferences, comparisons, and contrasts within texts. Achieving the goal of comprehension requires explicit instruction and direct teaching of comprehension strategies, modeling,  feedback, and practice with connected reading. 

    rite flight

       

    Fluency & Comprehension 2.0 

    This approach to fluency and comprehension is a myriad of effective instructional strategies to deepen and extend fluency and comprehension skills taught through Rite Flight.  Fluency is practiced through Reader’s Theater versions of connected text and frequent self-recording of reading through the Microsoft TEAMS Reading Progress application. Brain-based comprehension strategies are interwoven into lesson cycles, such as annotation and quick-writes. Quizlet is leveraged to build automaticity and vocabulary development, as well as oral language. 

    teamsannotationsquizlet

    Lenguaje y Lectura 

    The Lenguaje y Lectura program is a multisensory structured language approach for preschool and Kindergarten students that focuses on early literacy skills.  Its components include phonological awareness, the alphabetic principle, phonics, early writing skills, oral language, and comprehension. 

    esperanza

    Esperanza 

    The Esperanza program is a Spanish multisensory structured language approach for reading, writing, and spelling authored by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan. It was first developed in 1996 to provide systematic, sequential, and explicit instruction to Spanish-speaking students who need intervention in Spanish literacy. The goal of this level is to systematically and cumulatively develop a strong knowledge of the structure of the Spanish language so that the student can read, write, and spell in their primary language. The program includes critical evidence-based components of dyslexia instruction and is provided to bilingual students who are identified with dyslexia. This program can also be used as an early reading intervention program for Spanish-speaking students. 

    esperanza

    Wells WOW 

    The WELLS program is a transition to an English program. It can help teachers, dyslexia specialists, special educators, and speech and language therapists to provide a systematic and explicit approach to teaching English language and literacy skills to Spanish-speaking English language learners. The program addresses an evidence-based approach to literacy by including the 5 components of literacy.  Wells WOW helps students apply their knowledge of phonology, phonics, vocabulary, and the rules of one language for the acquisition of a second language. 

    wells


    Take Flight Comprehensive Dyslexia Program 

    Developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, it incorporates the five components of multisensory reading instruction:  phonological/phonemic with strategy-oriented instruction for decoding, encoding, and word recognition. Emphasis on the alphabetic principle helps students develop an understanding of word/letter associations, sequencing and manipulating of letters, and discovering relations between vowels and consonants, which in turn, provide tools for decoding and analyzing words. Take Flight integrates morphology, syntax, and semantics with intensive, highly concentrated instruction that maximizes student engagement, uses specialized methods and materials, and produces substantial gains in reading.

    take flight

      

    Reading Horizons 

    Plano ISD aims to provide an effective multisensory instructional program that fits the varying needs of students with dyslexia. Small-group settings within Take Flight may not meet the needs of students with working memory deficits. This instruction includes heavy memorization of formulas, lip pictures, and syllabication rules.  Reading Horizons provides explicit, systematic phonics instruction through a multisensory approach based on Orton-Gillingham principles. Sequences are organized to enhance learning and simplify teaching while focusing on each sound of the English language. The unique method, or marking system, allows students to learn the features and patterns of English with visual cues for pronunciation without memorization. The sequence of instruction and coding of words is simplified while the perceived difficulty for students is dropped, increasing self-efficacy. The individualized kit for grades 1-3 is called Discovery, and Elevate is for grades 4-12. 

    discoveryelevate

    Cursivelogic 

    For students with dysgraphia, Cursivelogic teaches the essential structure of the cursive alphabet instead of relying on rote memorization.  The instructional method presents four basic shapes that make up the entire lowercase alphabet. These shapes are categorized by their similar features, color-coded, and include a catchphrase for verbal cueing. Letters are essentially taught by shape and by commonly connected letter strings. 

    cursivelogic

    Reading Horizons: Spelling Supplement

    For students with dysgraphia and spelling deficits, students merge Cursivelogic with spelling patterns through Reading Horizons Spelling Supplement. These are 15-20 minutes of daily, explicit, systematic, and sequential spelling instruction and assessment and using those patterns within letter formation. 

    spelling supplement




  • Support

    Technology Integration Plan

    The Plano ISD Technology Department has created a tech plan on its website that includes the following:

    • website decluttering
    • extensions, audiobooks
    • text to speech
    • digital annotation
    • oral administration of tests
    • dyslexia-friendly gaming tools

    Progress Monitoring  

    Specialists routinely monitor all students who are currently in the multi-sensory program. After completing the multisensory dyslexia program, campus specialists monitor the progress of dyslexia students through eighth grade to ensure student achievement growth and success.  Campus academic specialists continue to conduct progress monitoring for students who are not reading at grade level instructionally and require ongoing accommodation through high school as needed. 

    GENERAL ACCOMMODATIONS 

    Accommodations, provided for both testing and instruction, change the way students access information and demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities; they do not change academic standards or expectations. Accommodations should be matched to the individual student’s educational needs and be incorporated into classroom practice routinely before using in assessment situations (IDA, 2017). 

    Click HERE for more information about accommodations for students with disabilities.

    Types of Accommodations 

    The following are four basic types of accommodation suggested by the International Dyslexia Association to use during instruction and assessment:

    • Presentation
    • Response
    • Setting
    • Timing/Scheduling

    Click HERE for a PDF printout of accommodations. 

Plano ISD Dyslexia. Changing the world one phoneme at a time.
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    Vanessa Conatser
    Academic Services