The Reading Specialist’s Side of Instructional Effectiveness for Students with Dyslexia

1. The Reading Specialist’s Side of Instructional Effectiveness for Students with Dyslexia Barbara Bayless, M.Ed. Reading Specialist Doctoral Candidate

2. What Has Been Presented • What Dyslexia Is and What It’s Not • Statistics Representing the Prevalence of Dyslexia • Perspectives from Families & Children with Dyslexia • The Science of Reading • Effective Reading Instruction and Strategies • Department of Education • Effective Interventions for Children with Dyslexia

3. Reading Acquisition Reading Comprehension Fluency Word Automaticity Word Identification Decoding Accuracy

4. Cognitive Skills Applied for Reading Acquisition Oral Comprehension Orthographic Memory Rapid Visual-Responding Sound-Symbol Correspondence Phonological Memory Phonological/Phonemic Awareness

5. Poor Environmental Conditions Effecting Reading Acquisition • Limited exposure to oral language • Limited exposure to life experiences • Poor reading comprehension instruction • Limited exposure to print • Limited practice applying word skills • Limited instruction in letter/syllable patterns & high frequency words • Limited phonological awareness instruction • Non-mastery instruction/pacing

6. Struggling Readers vs. Dyslexic Readers • Intensity of Instruction • Time Required for Mastery

7. Double Deficits Predominant in Children with Dyslexia • ADHD • Working Memory • Dyscalculia • Dysgraphia

8. Secondary Symptoms in Children with Dyslexia • Self-Esteem • Literate Identity • Bullying • Motivation • Behavioral Issues • Frustration • Depression • Feelings of “Being Different”

9. A One-Size Fits-All Intervention Doesn’t Work • Leveled Literacy Intervention Program • The phonological awareness component outlines skills to be taught which are not sequenced in a systematic approach to achieve mastery • Learning isolated phonics lessons does not mean that knowledge can be applied to uncontrolled/connected text • Result: Students memorized words, gained some fluency, but could not spell, decode, or write well

10. Structured Literacy Instruction • We have known for years how to teach children with dyslexia to be able to read, spell, and write. • These students require an explicit and systematic instructional approach, called Structured Literacy (SL) by the (IDA, 2014). • It systematically guides students to integrate newly learned skills into automatic reading to facilitate comprehension. • Solidify the basics while incorporating advanced word study with enriched and non-controlled text

11. Structured Literacy Programs • Background Knowledge with Enriched Text • Language Instruction: Vocabulary and Syntax • Reading Comprehension Instruction (Visualization) • Repeated Oral Reading Practice • Systematic Word Structure Instruction • Direct Phonological/Phonemic Awareness Instruction • Direct and Systematic Letter/Sound Instruction • Cumulative Instruction Based on Mastery Learning

12. Structured Literacy Program: Year 1 3rd Grade 2018-2019

13. Where The Journey Started • Could not teach some children to read & spell • Began with a special education group of students • Results led to creating 2-year model focused on a structured literacy approach to intervention • Results led to fewer students requiring special education services • Site results led to a district Instructional Coach position to train reading specialists & special education teachers using a structured literacy program

14. What Didn’t Work • Implementing structured literacy program requires buy-in from site administrators and educators • Teaching with fidelity (45 min 5x a week) • Resistance to the 2-year time frame requirement • Some students that received this intervention still needed services in math • Successful through intermediate school, but challenged in middle school because students with dyslexia still needed an IEP or 504 for extra time

15. What I Learned • Lack of instructional fidelity gives slow & ineffective results • Concern that general education students are being left behind when structured literacy instruction is conducted by the reading specialist • Resistance to believing dyslexia is real • Resistance in using several diagnostic pieces to qualify students for appropriate interventions, verses a computerized generated measure (STAR) • Challenge with Special Education teachers and their scheduling for structured literacy instruction to occur effectively • Huge turn-over with special education teachers

16. Why Are Reading Interventions So Complicated for Children with Dyslexia? The interventions are not complicated…it is all the surrounding factors that create the complications.

17. A One-Size Fits-All Intervention Doesn’t Work • My district has supported two educators in becoming certified as dyslexia practitioners/therapists • My principal works tirelessly to create scheduling to ensure children receive the interventions that meet their needs • The Pre-K through 2nd grade school that feeds into ours has a reading specialist using the same structured literacy program we use at our school and the same diagnostics to identify children with reading & writing deficits • Teachers at our site now have awareness of dyslexia due to our site’s professional development • We have over 100 families in our community that have received services in our schools for children that were on a trajectory of reading failure

18. Structured Literacy Learning For All Students Structured Literacy Classroom Instruction • Whole Class Daily Direct Instruction (20 minutes) • Small-Group Classroom Instruction (3-4x a week) (Guided Reading is not an intervention for dyslexic children) Structured Literacy Intervention for Dyslexic Children • Pull-Out Intervention (45 minutes 5x a week) Literacy Intervention • Pull-Out Intervention (45 minutes 5x a week) focused on the five pillars of literacy to attain reading comprehension (National Reading Panel)

19. The Cost For Structured Literacy There are two: • The monetary amount is approximately $2,500-$5,000 for a fully-certified trained teacher. • The second cost is the mental drain on the child, the lack of confidence, the worry and stress on the parents, and the toll it takes on the family.

20. Successful Reading Interventions • Structured multisensory literacy programs in Pre-K through 3rd grade classrooms and intensified interventions that build on existing instruction • Importance of screening and comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for appropriate placement • Interventions need to begin in kindergarten rather than waiting for students to fail

21. Purpose Diminishes Distractions • 1:5 children have characteristics of dyslexia and exist on a continuum of severity • Children with dyslexia suffer from secondary symptoms of low self-esteem and depression • Children with dyslexia need to understand they have a learning difference • Children with dyslexia can be taught to read, write, and spell • We know too much to allow this group or any group of struggling readers to continue to fail