Understanding Literacy Screening

• Puyallup School District screens students using DIBELS-8 assessment in grade K-1. DIBELS 8th edition assessments provides universal screening, dyslexia screening and, progress monitoring to assess students on their reading trajectory and what skills they need to develop.
   
• Not a formal evaluation for learning difficulties.

• Early and intense intervention to address reading difficulties is the best way to prevent early problems from becoming more severe over time.
• With early identification and early intervention, students at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, can succeed in school and graduate ready for college, career, and civic life.

• Students are screened by their classroom teachers. Children do their best work when they are comfortable and feel safe with familiar adults.
   
• The information that teachers learn through screening will help them plan instruction and determine when additional help is needed.

Dyslexia looks different for each child and across ages and stages. It is common for people with dyslexia to struggle pronouncing words with two or more syllables, as well as:

• Phonemic Awareness: the ability to hear, identify, delete, and change the sounds of spoken words
   
• Phonological Awareness: knowledge of speech sounds, such as rhyme, alliteration (words that start with the same sound), the number of words in a sentence, and syllables with in words.
   
• Letter Sound Knowledge: knowledge of the sounds represented by the letters in the alphabet. This also includes combinations of letters that represent speech sounds.
   
• Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN): the ability to quickly name aloud a series of familiar items. This includes letters, numbers, colors, and objects found in a classroom.

A family/school partnership is essential for student success.

• K-2 students are screened for Phonemic Awareness, Phonological Awareness, and Letter Sounds Knowledge in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.
   
• Rapid Automatized Naming assessment is done in January for K-1 students.
   
• Students who demonstrate deficit areas on the initial screener will receive additional interventions and their progress will be monitored. 
   
• Teachers administering the screener will be trained to use the screening tools according to the publishers’ recommendations. 
   
• Families will be engaged in decision making and updated on student performance.

• A difference that makes processing speech sounds difficult, specifically the ability to hear, substitute, and change individual sounds in words.
   
• Characterized by challenges with reading and spelling, particularly with the connections between letters and sounds.
   
• Likely to lead to problems learning and remembering vocabulary, understanding what is read, getting thoughts on paper.
   
• Not related to overall intelligence.
   
• Not a visual problem or caused by lack of motivation, interest, or exposure to rich literature.

Video

What is Dyslexia/Dyslexia Explained by Margie Gillis with Understood.org.