literacy & dyslexia

Screening for Reading Disabilities and Dyslexia

The Case for Universal Screening

• Screening nearly all students for dyslexia (universal screening) in kindergarten and early grades is critical for preventing the “dyslexia paradox,” where students are commonly diagnosed later in the school years despite the fact that early intervention is known to be most effective (Ozernov-Palchik & Gaab, 2016).
• Early screening for dyslexia can be preventative. For example, the findings are best when linked to targeted reading interventions that can support their reading performance and thus ameliorate some of the struggles related to dyslexia, including social-emotional (Catts & Hogan, 2020).
• Importantly, screening can reduce or eliminate bias when referring students for intervention or assessment of dyslexia. This, in turn, could reduce disproportionality in special education identification based on race/ethnicity, language, and socio-economic factors.

Our Research

Our studies on screening, including research funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, focus on the following research questions:

• What skills should be captured on a screener, and how do these skills vary by age/grade? (research in partnership with Multitudes)
• What forms of instruction and interventions should be linked to the assessment results?

Research and Resources

Catts, H. W., & Hogan, T. P. (2020). Dyslexia: An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of diagnosis and treatment.

Gotlieb, R., Rhinehart, L., Wolf, M., Gorno-Tempini, M.L., Silverman, R., Robertson, C., Christie, C., & Brennan, P. (2022). The case for wide-spread, early assessment for risk of dyslexia or reading challenges to serve all students. White paper available through the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice.

Ozernov-Palchik, O., & Gaab, N. (2016). Tackling the “dyslexia paradox”: Reading brain and behavior for early markers of developmental dyslexia. WIREs Cognitive Science, 7: 156-176. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1383