This toolkit helps educators understand what universal screening for dyslexia risk is, how it works, and what to consider when choosing a dyslexia risk screener.

You will learn:

  • What school-based universal screening is and why it’s important
  • How universal screening for dyslexia risk works
  • Important considerations for choosing a dyslexia risk screener

This toolkit includes:

  • Online tutorial
  • Downloadable research briefs and infographics
  • Supporting videos, resources, and tools

Online Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn about what school-based universal screening is and why it’s important. The difference between universal screening for risk of dyslexia and identifying students with dyslexia will be discussed. You will also learn how universal screening for dyslexia risk works, and important considerations for choosing a dyslexia risk screener.

School-based Universal Screening

Explore these resources to learn more about the school-based universal screening concepts mentioned in the online tutorial.

Understanding Screening: Overall Screening and Assessment

Assessment is a process of collecting information. Screening is an assessment process that helps teachers identify students who are at risk for not meeting grade-level learning goals.

Audience: 
Parents & Families, Schools & Districts
Topic: 
Screening
Texas Center for Learning Disabilities

This report summarizes research on the identification of Specific Learning Disabilities and makes recommendations for practice.

Topic: Dyslexia, Screening, Identification

Reading Rockets


This article offers a 5-step framework for identifying reading difficulties and determining if a student is eligible for special education services under IDEA, including the role of RTI, cognitive processing tests, and other statewide assessments and curriculum-based measures.

Topic: Dyslexia, Screening, Identification

Understood

Read this webpage to learn about Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) measures.

Topic: Assessments, Screening, Dyslexia

National Center for Learning Disabilities

Here are questions parents and educators can ask to clarify the terms: dyslexia, learning disabilities, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia.

Topic: Dyslexia, Reading Disabilities

Screening for Dyslexia Risk

Use this collection of resources to build your knowledge about screening for dyslexia risk.

Watch this short video, featuring John Gabrieli, Ph.D., on the importance of early screening.

Screening assessments can help capture each child’s reading and language strengths and weaknesses in key early stages of development.

Audience: 
Schools & Districts
Topic: 
Screening
Colorín Colorado

This article explores the current trends and implications in assessment for young English Language Learners.

Topic: English Learners, Assessments

Selecting a Screener

Learn more about the key qualities of a screener with these resources.

Watch this short video, featuring Jack Fletcher, Ph.D., about how screening help teachers.

Understanding Screening: Reliability

Reliability is the consistency of a set of scores that are designed to measure the same thing. Reliability is a statistical property of scores that must be demonstrated rather than assumed.

Audience: 
Schools & Districts
Topic: 
Screening
Understanding Screening: Validity

Validity is broadly defined as how well something measures what it’s supposed to measure. The reliability and validity of scores from assessments are two concepts that are closely knit together and feed into each other.

Audience: 
Schools & Districts
Topic: 
Screening
Understanding Screening: Classification Accuracy

Classification accuracy is a key characteristic of screening tools. A goal in classification accuracy is to correctly identify issues that result in a later problem and situations in which the scores identify issues that do not result in a later problem.

Audience: 
Schools & Districts
Topic: 
Screening

Watch this short video, featuring Jack Fletcher, Ph.D., about the importance of an accurate screening tool.

Three Tools for Your School

Use our state map to check state screening recommendations or requirements, review the screening tools chart for comparisons of screening tools, and find more in-depth information in our white paper.

Building

Explore dyslexia legislation and related initiatives in your state with this interactive map. Read an overview of legislation, requirements, and initiatives that discus dyslexia in K-12 settings.

 This chart, by the National Center on Intensive Interventions, identifies screening tools by content area and rates each tool based on classification accuracy, generalizability, reliability, validity, disaggregated data for diverse populations, and efficiency.

White Paper Cover Page

This paper aims to provide an overview and some insight into what is known about screening for dyslexia.

Topic: 
Dyslexia, Screening
Audience: 
Schools & Districts, State Agencies

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Class of students with hands up.

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