Dyslexia FAQ

During the 2018 legislative session the state, Washington passed bill SB6162. This law defined dyslexia as follows:

For the purposes of this act, "dyslexia" means a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin and that is characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities that are not consistent with the person's intelligence, motivation, and sensory capabilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological components of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities. In addition, the difficulties are not typically a result of ineffective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

More from the Yale Center.

Here is a great article on signs of dyslexia from the Yale Center. Dyslexia manifests itself in different ways in different students. Some difficulties that may be associated with dyslexia include the following:

When Reading

• Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters on the page—will say “puppy” instead of the written word “dog” on an illustrated page with a picture of a dog
• Does not understand that words come apart
• Complains about how hard reading is; “disappears” when it is time to read
• A history of reading problems in parents or siblings
• Cannot sound out even simple words like cat, map, nap
• Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound
• Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow and awkward
• Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild guesses because he cannot sound out the word
• Doesn’t seem to have a strategy for reading new words
• Avoids reading out loud

When Speaking

• Searches for a specific word and ends up using vague language, such as “stuff” or “thing,” without naming the object
• Pauses, hesitates, and/or uses lots of “um’s” when speaking
• Confuses words that sound alike, such as saying “tornado” for “volcano,” substituting “lotion” for “ocean”
• Mispronunciation of long, unfamiliar or complicated words
• Seems to need extra time to respond to questions

When writing

• Struggles to finish on time
• Significant spelling difficulties
• Messy, illegible handwriting

As with any other potential disability, if you believe you have a student who may have dyslexia, significantly impacting their ability to access learning, and who is not responding to classroom instruction, follow your school’s procedure for referring the student for consideration for further evaluation.

Start with our curriculum: Use F&P Phonics assessments and curriculum materials to ensure a systemic, sequential instruction. Use the program description above to get to small group instruction.

Additional common strategies that support students with dyslexia:

• Teach about and practice affixes that give meaning and Greek/Latin roots to help decode long words and understand their meaning
• Use manipulatives such as letter tiles and cards to build, sort and manipulate words
• Pre-teach key vocabulary for a particular text
• Include repeated oral readings to improve fluency and word recognition
• Teach students to find a personal spelling strategy that doesn’t depend on memorization of word lists
• Consider assistive technology tools to support writing
• Post and provide desk copies of frequently misspelled words
• Provide ongoing positive and corrective feedback
• Provide audiobooks for students to listen to as they read along with the text
• Offer extra time to finish reading and writing tasks

Also, don’t forget about common accommodations for students with dyslexia.

In addition:

• Consult with your instructional coach or other support staff such as your special education teacher.
• A great article from the Yale Center.

• Share what you have noticed about the student’s reading challenges. For example, “I have noticed that your student has delays in / difficulties with sounding out words…”
• Use assessments to determine the student’s specific reading or writing challenges. Then use available tools and instructional strategies to target the students need. Dyslexia and other reading difficulties can manifest itself in many areas. Not all students with dyslexia have the same needs or respond to the same strategy.
• Be ready to speak about instructional strategies you are using to address the needs you identify. Pay special attention to how you are providing explicit, sequential and multisensory instruction for phonics and decoding strategies.
• Listen. Often parents have valuable insights into their children’s challenges and needs.
• Schools and staff do not diagnose a specific disability such as dyslexia. We do however, use our knowledge of dyslexia and other reading challenges to inform our practice.
• Keep learning about dyslexia. Here are links to two sites where you can learn more about dyslexia: dyslexia.yale.edu; understood.org. Learning about dyslexia can provide strategies for struggling readers that can be embedded in your instruction. Even when a student with dyslexia is not showing delays in reading, they may still have challenges associated with dyslexia and could benefit from instructional strategies designed around the need of students with dyslexia. Students not diagnosed with dyslexia may also benefit from these same strategies.

A specific learning disability is a qualifying category under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). According to state guidance, dyslexia is one of the conditions considered to be a specific learning disability:

Directly from the OSPI Dear Colleague letter:

Under the IDEA and its implementing regulations “specific learning disability” is defined, in part, as

“a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.” See 20 U.S.C. §1401(30) and 34 CFR §300.8(c) (10) (emphasis added).

While our implementing regulations contain a list of conditions under the definition “specific learning disability,” which includes dyslexia, the list is not exhaustive. However, regardless of whether a child has dyslexia or any other condition explicitly included in this definition of “specific learning disability,” or has a condition such as dyscalculia or dysgraphia not listed expressly in the definition, the LEA must conduct an evaluation in accordance with 34 CFR §§300.304-300.311 to determine whether that child meets the criteria for specific learning disability or any of the other disabilities listed in 34 CFR §300.8, which implements IDEA’s definition of “child with a disability.”

During the 2018 legislative session the state, Washington passed bill SB6162; setting a course for school districts to (1) identify students who may have dyslexia and/or reading difficulties associated with dyslexia; and (2) provide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for students identified as having reading difficulties associated with dyslexia, by the fall of 2021. The areas identified in the law as associated with dyslexia are largely described in the Reading Foundational Skills Common Core State Standards.

Current Status (Nov 2019 Update). ISD has an ongoing commitment to developing curricular resources, promoting instructional practices and supporting systems that identify and address the needs of students not meeting reading standards.

Current efforts related to SB6162 include the following:

1. Providing resources and professional development for staff to the following ends:
   • Including training about dyslexia within our professional development and instructional coaching.
   • How to use current district provided curriculum to address the learning needs of students, including students with dyslexia.
     
     

     These resources include the following within our general education program:

     • Assessments of phonemic awareness and reading fluency.
     • Structured learning of phonics skills.
     • Explicit instruction on reading fluency.
     More information about our current literacy curriculum is available at our district website.
2. Initiating a general education literacy adoption (see below for more information) that will start with review and selection of new research-based instructional materials and assessments to support instruction of reading foundational skills addressed in SB6162.
3. Formation of an MTSS leadership team to develop a plan for integrating multi-tiered systems of support, starting with K-2 literacy. ISD is contracting with Collaborative Learning Solutions, a technical support organization recommended by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide support in aligning our plan to both best-practices and legal requirements.

The next elementary literacy adoption will begin in December 2019 and will be completed in phases. During this literacy adoption, teams of teachers and staff will review evidence- based practices and instructional materials to make recommendations for integrating new instructional materials into a balanced literacy program.

The timing and sequence of this adoption cycle has been adjusted due to teacher feedback and changes in state law, particularly E2SSB 6162, the law regarding Dyslexia and MTSS. Phase 1 will focus on Reading Foundational Skills such as phonics, decoding and fluency. In Phase 2 of this adoption, a second adoption team will review and make decisions about reading and writing curriculum together. This will not necessarily change the planned dates for implementing new reading and writing curriculum (see timeline below).

Goals: The literacy adoption will accomplish the following: (the following was revised for clarification on Nov 18, 2019)

1. Provide quality instructional materials. Review and select Reading and Writing instructional materials to support a comprehensive, standards-based literacy program. Materials will be vetted for alignment to standards, our district mission and evidence that the materials effectively support student learning.
2. Provide instructional materials for tiered supports in Literacy. Provide literacy materials that support multi-tiered systems of support for learning in the general education program with additional structured supports for students with reading difficulties.
3. Provide evidence-based resources to teach Common Core Standards for Reading Foundational Skills. Information on these standards that focus on decoding, fluency and phonemic awareness.
4. Comply with current legislation requiring the use of evidence-based assessments and instructional materials to provide tiered support in the general education classroom for students with decoding and reading fluency challenges by the fall of 2021. (Information about the dyslexia law)

The Literacy Adoption will be broken into 3 phases:

Phase 1: Review, select and implement tiered instructional materials for Reading Foundational Skills standards.

• Select assessments and instructional materials to support instruction and tiered supports in phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency and spelling/word work. (Currently approx. 15 min/day of dedicated instruction with additional resources available for guided reading groups.)

Phase 2: Review and selection of instructional materials for remaining Reading standards and Writing / Language standards.

• Review and select reading and writing instructional materials together to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive literacy program and explore opportunities for integration of reading and writing instruction. This does not preclude selection of separate reading and writing programs.
• Propose an implementation plan. The current default plan would be to implement reading first in the fall of 2022, then writing two years later in the fall of 2024. 

Phase 3: Implementation of Reading and Writing instructional materials.

DRAFT Timeline: Adoption teams may recommend adjustment of the timeline for decisions and/or implementation.