Dyslexia Assessment: Looking at all the Angles

1. Dyslexia Assessment:Looking at all the Angles Region 2 Education Service Center November 1, 2005 Brenda Taylor State Dyslexia Consultant

2. Why Evaluate for Dyslexia?

3. Dyslexia Handbook Procedures: Students enrolling in public schools in Texas shall be assessed for dyslexia and related disorders at appropriate times (TEC §38.003(a)).

4. Dyslexia Handbook Procedures: Appropriate time depends upon multiple factors including: • Student’s reading performance • Reading difficulties • Poor response to additional reading instruction (if placed in additional reading instruction) • Teachers’ input • Parents’ input Appropriate time is early – The earlier the better

5. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 Proposed §300.304(c)(6): In evaluating each child with a disability under §§300.304 – 300.306 (Evaluation Procedures), the evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child’s special education and related services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the child has been classified.

6. Comment section: Thus, proposed §300.304(c)(6) would emphasize the direct link between the evaluation and the IEP processes and should ensure that the evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to inform the development of the child’s IEP.

7. Diagnosis of Dyslexia by Regina Cicci, IDA Journal PERSPECTIVES, Fall, 1989, Vol. 15 No. 4 “A good diagnosis is essential for a child with dyslexia or any other kind of learning disability. …a diagnosis leads to a treatment plan or an evaluation leads to recommendations for teaching intervention.”

8. Defining Dyslexia: • Texas Education Code §38.003: A disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. (pg. 1, 44)

9. 2003 Definition 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.

10. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability • In contrast to the more general term learning disabilities • More defined in terms of cognitive characteristics • Reading disabilities affect at least 80% of the LD population – most prevalent type of learning disability

11. …..that is neurological in origin. • Converging evidence using functional brain imaging in adult dyslexic readers show a failure of left hemisphere posterior brain systems to function properly during reading

12. Broca’s area Inferior frontal gyrus (articulation/word analysis) Parieto-temporal (word analysis) Occipito-temporal (word form) Brain Systems for Reading Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003

13. A neural signature for dyslexia: Underactivation of neural systems in the back of the brain Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003

14. Dyslexic readers use compensatory systems to read Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003

15. Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003 Effective reading interventions result in brain repair

16. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language..... In order to read, a child has to: • develop the insight that spoken words can be pulled apart into phonemes and • that the letters in a written word represent these sounds.

17. Language Ladder Discourse – language that goes beyond the sentence level (i.e., passages and paragraphs) Syntax – methodology of joining words to form meaningful sentences, incorporating the rules of grammar Semantics – knowledge of specific words and their meanings Phonology – refers to the sounds and sound sequences that we process and/or produce

18. READING Decoding Comprehension Word Identification Meaning DYSLEXIA Language System Reading ] Discourse Syntax Comprehension Semantics Phonology Decoding

19. ....that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

20. Characteristics It is characterized by: • Difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition • Poor spelling • Poor decoding abilities

21. Outcomes Secondary consequences may include: • Problems in reading comprehension • Reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

22. Research: The Connecticut Longitudinal Study • Drs. Bennett and Sally Shaywitz • 24 randomly chosen Connecticut public schools during 1983-1984 school year • 445 children enrolled in study who have been regularly monitored

23. Findings: • There is an unbroken continuum of reading ability and reading disability – referred to as a dimensional model. • Reading difficulties affect approximately one child in five. • No significant difference in prevalence of reading disabilities for boys and girls

24. Dyslexia is not only common, but it is persistent – it does not represent a temporary lag in reading development. • If a child is dyslexic early in school, that child will continue to experience reading problems unless he is provided with a scientifically based, proven intervention. • Phonemic awareness is the best predictor of the ability to read words accurately and quickly.

25. Assessment: Understanding the Process • Districts must establish written procedures • Procedures begin when students continue to struggle with one or more components or reading

26. Data Gathering • Must collect additional information about the student • Information used to: • Evaluate the student’s academic progress • Determine actions needed for student’s improved academic performance

27. Vision/hearing Teacher reports Basal series reading assessments Accommodations/ Modifications (classroom teacher) Academic progress reports Samples of school work Parent conferences Testing for LEP Speech/language (referral process) K-2 reading instrument State assessment results Data Gathering

28. Data Gathering • Information: • About the student • From student’s cumulative folder • Teacher’s observations/accommodations • Parent

29. Data Gathering • Example: Alice/5th grade student • Attended a transitional program between kindergarten and first grade • First grade: parent conference documentation indicating difficulties with phonics and reading; TPRI - SD in 3 out of 4 phonemic awareness skills • Second grade: TPRI indicates SD in the majority of areas assessed

30. Data Gathering: Example • Teacher information: • Difficulty with aspects of reading comprehension • Listening comprehension stronger than reading comprehension • Difficulty with spelling

31. Data Gathering: Example • Parent information: • Family history for reading difficulties • Student has received private tutoring during the summers

32. Data Gathering • District may recommend for assessment for dyslexia IF: • Poor performance in reading UNEXPECTED for student’s age/grade • Characteristics of dyslexia

33. Procedures for Assessment • Notify parents or guardians of proposal to assess student for dyslexia (§504) • Inform parents or guardians of their rights under §504 • Obtain parent permission to assess the student for dyslexia; and • Administer measures only by individuals /professionals who are trained in assessment to evaluate students for dyslexia and related disorders (19 TAC §74.28)

34. Dyslexia Handbook: Characteristics • Difficulty reading single words in isolation; • Difficulty accurately decoding nonsense or unfamiliar words; • Slow, inaccurate, or labored oral reading (lack of reading fluency); and/or • Difficulty with learning to spell

35. Difficulties are the result of: • Difficulty with the development of phonological awareness • Difficulty learning the names of letters and their associated sounds • Difficulty with phonological memory • Difficulty with rapid naming

36. Phonological Awareness Rhyming/alliteration Words in a sentence Syllable Onset-Rime Phonemes Isolation Blending Segmentation Deletion Addition Substitution

37. Rapid Naming • Effective retrieval of phonological information from memory • Has been found as another core deficit in development dyslexia • Predictive of reading fluency and rate • Tested on timed tasks

38. Sample of a rapid naming task: • 7 5 8 4 3 7 5 8 • 9 8 4 3 5 9 8 4 • 4 9 5 3 7 4 9 5 • 4 5 3 9 7 4 5 3 9

39. Students who have double deficits – that is, deficits in both rapid naming and phonological awareness – have the most pronounced reading impairments and are the most resistant to intervention.

40. Phonological Memory • Refers to coding information phonologically for temporary storage in working or short-term memory • Phonological coding in working memory is potentially more useful when attempting to decode new words, particularly words that are long enough to decode bit by bit, as a means of storing intermediate sounds • Phonological memory deficits can constrain the ability to learn new written and spoken vocabulary

41. Domains to Assess • Reading single words in isolation • Word decoding (real and nonwords) • Phonological awareness • Letter knowledge (name and associated sound) • Rapid naming • Fluency/rate and accuracy • Reading comprehension • spelling

42. Assessment: Instruments • Validated for specific purpose for which they are used • Tailored to assess specific areas of educational need; not to provide a single general intelligence quotient • Selected and administered so results accurately reflect student’s aptitude or achievement level

43. Assessment: Instruments • Include multiple measures of a student’s reading abilities • Be administered by trained personnel and in conformance with the instructions provided by the producer of the evaluation materials (§504)

44. Possible Instruments • Reading single words in isolation • Wide Range Achievement Test 3 (WRAT-3) • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – 2nd Edition (WIAT-II)Word Reading • Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III)Letter-Word Identification • Woodcock Reading Mastery Test – Revised (WRMT-R) Letter-Word Identification • Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement-2nd Edition (KTEA-II) Letter and Word Reading • Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities – 3rd Edition (ITPA-3) Sight Decoding NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

45. Possible Instruments • Word Decoding • WIAT-IIPseudoword Decoding • WJ-III & WRMT-R Word Attack • KTEA-II Nonsense Word Decoding • Phonological Awareness Test (PAT) • Decoding Skills Test • (ITPA-3) Sound Decoding NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

46. Possible Instruments • Phonological Awareness • Phonological Awareness Test (PAT) • Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) • Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test – 3rd Edition (LAC-3) • ITPA-3 Sound Deletion/Phonology Composite • Test of Auditory Analysis Skills NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

47. Possible Instruments • Letter Knowledge • Informal: alphabet; identify letter names and associated sound • WRMT-RLetter Identification and Supplementary Letter Checklist • PATGraphemes Subtest NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

48. Possible Instruments • Rapid Naming • CTOPP • KTEA-IIRapid Automatized Naming • Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus Tests (RAN/RAS) • WJ-III Rapid Picture Naming NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

49. Possible Instruments • Fluency/Rate and Accuracy: • Gray Oral Reading Test – 4th Edition (GORT-4) • WJ-III Reading Fluency • Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) • KTEA-II Timed Word Recognition and Timed Nonsense Word Decoding NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list

50. Possible Instruments • Reading Comprehension: • WIAT-IIReading Comprehension • WJ-III & WRMT-RPassage Comprehension • KTEA-IIReading Comprehension • GORT-4 Comprehension • Gray Silent Reading Test (GSRT) • ITPA-3 Sentence Sequencing NOTE: This is not an all inclusive, approved or recommended list