Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, Indiana’s public and charter schools must meet added requirements to identify, as early as possible, struggling readers who show risk factors for dyslexia. Schools must provide systematic, sequential, and multisensory instruction to meet these students’ needs. All students in grades kindergarten through second grade will undergo universal screeners to check their skills in six different areas:
- Phonemic awareness (ability to separate and change sounds in words)
- Alphabet knowledge (name different letters)
- Sound symbol relationship (phonics)
- Decoding (reading)
- Rapid naming (quickly name common objects)
- Encoding (spelling)
Students who fall below a set score or benchmark on the universal screener will be considered by their school to be “at risk” or “at some risk” for the characteristics of dyslexia. Students who are considered “at risk” or “at some risk” will receive targeted, intensive instruction to grow their foundational literacy skills. It is important to note: SCHOOLS CANNOT DIAGNOSE DYSLEXIA. Schools can only screen for risk and provide intervention for reading. Only a private, licensed clinical psychologist with an HSPP can diagnose dyslexia. It is a medical diagnosis, not an educational eligibility.
WHAT INTERVENTION PROGRAMS ARE USED TO ASSIST STUDENTS WHO SHOW RISK FACTORS FOR DYSLEXIA?
Students in Muncie Community Schools who need intervention in foundational literacy skills receive additional direct, explicit and multisensory instruction utilizing the following programs:
- Spire
- Orton-Gillingham
- Heggerty
- PHonics and Spelling through Phoneme-Grapheme mapping
HOW MANY STUDENTS WHO WERE AT RISK FOR DYSLEXIA RECEIVED A READING INTERVENTION DURING THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR?
109 Muncie Community Schools students received reading intervention after being found at-risk by a dyslexia screener.
HOW MANY STUDENTS WERE OFFICIALLY DIAGNOSED WITH DYSLEXIA BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL?
0 Students
