“Say Dyslexia” law (T.C.A. § 49-1-229) is a law that requires school districts to implement a screening process for identifying characteristics of dyslexia.
You may have received a letter from your child’s school identifying that your child has reading difficulties based on the performance data from the universal screening. These difficulties may be shown in one or more of the following areas and may appear similar to Dyslexia
To identify more accurately if your child is at risk of reading difficulties, the school will use multiple brief assessments to assess your child on skills or abilities to perform specific skills at the appropriate grade level.
Phonological Awareness means the child is having difficulties understanding the sounds of words and word parts.
Phonemic Awareness means the child is having difficulties with the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words.
Alphabet Knowledge means the child is having difficulties understanding that letters represent sounds which form words.
Sound/Symbol Recognition means the child is having difficulties understanding that there is a connection between Phonemes (sounds in spoken language) and Graphemes (the letters that represent those sounds).
Decoding Skills means the child is having difficulties using knowledge of letters and sounds to recognize and analyze a printed word then connecting it to the spoken word it represents.
Encoding Skills means the child is having difficulties translating speech into writing also known as spelling.
Rapid Naming means the child is having difficulties with the ability to connect visual and verbal information such as quickly giving the appropriate names to common objects, colors, letters, and digits when seen.
Universal Screening
The school district will first determine how the screener will be administered to the students and who will administer the screener. The school may want to administer the universal screener on the same day to all students or stagger the administration.
Universal Screener Quick Reference
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Dyslexia Universal Screener
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Purpose of test
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Determine students who are at risk and in need of general education remediation
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Administered to whom?
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All students
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Administered when?
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As early as preschool, but no later than kindergarten
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How often?
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Brief, quick, 3 times per year
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Administration given?
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Individually or in group
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Administrator performing test?
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Teacher
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Focus of test?
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Assess Specific skills area
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How many tests?
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Multiple brief assessments
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Characteristics of test
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Criterion Referenced
Curriculum based measures
Arbitrary cut-off points
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Screening assessment tools examples
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DIBELS Next
Aimsweb
Predictive Assessment of Reading (PAR)
Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI)
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