Disrupting dyslexia

One common myth about reading is that if kids don’t read fluently by the end of third grade, they never will. The truth is that these kids can learn to read, but the energy and time required to remediate poor reading skills goes up exponentially with every year. By the time they reach high school, it is hard to motivate these students who know they are so far behind their peers and have such uncomfortable memories related reading. It is also hard to find the time to do it.

New research is coming to the forefront to indicate how we can best intervene in dyslexia. Eleanor Chute’s brief article, "How Schools are Disrupting Dyslexia," found at https://www.districtadministration.com/article/how-schools-disrupting-dyslexia discusses some of this information. The key really is early intervention. Screening kids in kindergarten to assess their reading knowledge and skills and using that assessment to inform targeted instruction. Effective interventions at the kindergarten level might only need to be half an hour daily whereas at the high school level they might need to be two hours per day. Knowing the school system, finding a half hour for intervention is far easier than two hours, especially at the high school level. If you look at staffing needs, it is far more efficient to intervene at the elementary level. A kindergarten teacher working with daily half hour blocks might get 5 or 6 groups of five kids in a week and be able to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level.  A high school teacher working with two hour blocks might get three groups of 5 students to provide effective, evidence based instruction that will get those kids to reading at level.  That is 25 or 30 students per staff member compared with 15.

Kindergarten screening should include assessments in language, phonological awareness, and rapid naming. While many kindergarteners are screened on these skills, their ability to name a few letters or write their name may be seen as a sign that they are not at risk. Also knowing if there is a family history of reading challenges is important since dyslexia does have a genetic component. For student who struggle with these screening tasks, interventions may mean the difference between learning to read effectively and years of special education and frustration with reading. Details about screenings may be found here.
 
Response to intervention, RTI, programs are able to provide some interventions at this level without access the special education system. In fact, they might actually prevent the need for special education in the future. If we embrace the information we have access to, screen our kids early, provide daily rigorous intervention in small groups, we might be able to increase the number of readers we have dramatically.​ That is good for all.