In 2018 the Washington State Legislature passed E2SSB 6162, establishing a state definition of dyslexia and directing schools to develop and implement a plan for addressing the needs of students with dyslexia or reading challenges consistent with dyslexia. 

In the Spring of 2021, the Peninsula School District elementary principals and Kindergarten through 2nd grade teachers  engaged in a series of professional learning opportunities on the Science of Reading. District administrators also participated in the Dyslexia and Early Screening Professional Learning Community through the Puget Sound Educational Service District.

In addition to the Science of Reading training, PSD has implemented  a multi-tiered system of support for elementary students in the areas of reading and social emotional learning. The goal of this system is to remove academic, behavioral, and social-emotional barriers that impede students’ success in the classroom. We refer to this system as a Multi-Tiered System of Support. Read here for more information.

The Peninsula School District conducts a literacy screener for all K-2 students. A literacy screener is a short assessment given to all students to help us learn whether a student might have a reading difficulty associated with dyslexia, prompting additional assessment.

To learn more about our literacy screener please click here.

For information from the state of Washington (OSPI) on literacy screening please see the following Educational Information for Parents and Families, available in multiple languages here. 

Additional information is available through OSPI in a Dyslexia Fact Sheet and their dyslexia web page.

It is important for educators and families to be able to talk about early literacy difficulties.  

Identifying learning needs and working together to support and intervene early is the best way to prevent problems from becoming more severe over time. OSPI has provided two guides to help families and teachers have these discussions during conferences or other meetings.
 
The Family and Caregiver Discussion Guide is available here, and also available in multiple languages here.
 
The Educator Discussion Guide is available here.

ASSESSMENTS

For early identification of learning difficulties associated with dyslexia, PSD will use screening assessments and academic diagnostic/placement assessments three times per year.

Screening Assessments (Screeners)

Purpose: to quickly identify students that MAY have a significant difficulty in the area being assessed.

• DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (measures how students hear sounds).
• DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency (measures how efficiently students know the letter names).
• DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency (measures if the student knows the letter sounds and if they can blend the sounds to make words).
• DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (measures how fluently a student reads words in a passage).
• i-Ready Rapid Automatic Naming (assessed in winter of kindergarten and first grade).

DIBELS  is a state approved assessment in compliance with E2SSB 6162. 

If your child’s teacher shares your child's reading level and discusses that your child will be receiving additional support in reading, or information about dyslexia - please don't panic.

The Peninsula School District is following a new early literacy law designed to help students early on, before reading difficulties grow into bigger problems. Please read below to learn more and address frequently asked questions.

Understanding the Early Literacy Screening Process: Parents and Families

Since the 2021-22 school year, Washington State requires each school district to screen students in grades K-2 for weaknesses in literacy skill development that may be associated with dyslexia. PSD assesses all students grades K-5.

Click here for information on Literacy Screening and Dyslexia from OSPI
 
Click here for the OSPI Screening and Dyslexia Resources page with information for educators and for families, in multiple languages.

What is a screener?
An academic screener is:

A short, informal test that is given to all students to determine whether further testing is needed
Not a formal evaluation for learning difficulties or an evaluation for a learning disability

Why is my child being screened?
Proactive 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.

Does the screener diagnose dyslexia?
None of the PSD assessments diagnose dyslexia.

Our assessments are designed to identify what students know, and what they don't know in order to design instruction to meet student needs.

What does it mean to have "reading difficulties that may be associated with dyslexia"?
The screener assesses student ability to understand and distinguish sounds that make up a word (this is called phonological awareness) and the ability to connect the sounds that make up words with the letters in the word (this is called phonics).

Difficulties with these skills are areas associated with dyslexia.

Does difficulty in these areas mean my child has dyslexia?
Not necessarily. There are many reasons a student may have difficulty with these skills. Any of the following could be reasons:

• During remote learning it might have been difficult to fully develop these skills in class;
• Not enough time or attention was given to develop skills in these areas;
• When learning more than one language, it is possible what looks like a difficulty on a test is actually a result of the assessment being in English only. Using the World-class Instruction Design and Assessment (WIDA) assessment for multilingual learners helps ensure we know more about the student's abilities; and
• Other factors may interfere with students' ability to focus on developing these skills. (During times of trauma, attendance in class, attention challenges, etc.)

Dyslexia may be a cause, especially if the student has received and attended to specific instruction in these areas and continues to struggle.

What kind of help can my child get?
If a student has an identified weakness in phonics or phonological awareness, they will be provided instruction in these areas using a more explicit curriculum targeted to their skill needs.

These interventions may be delivered by an interventionist or a classroom teacher.

What assessments does PSD use as a literacy screener?
For the purposes of screening students for weaknesses in literacy skill development that many be associated with dyslexia, PSD is using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills Assessment (DIBELS).

DIBELS provides the following screening tools:

• DIBELS 
  • Phoneme Segmentation Fluency 
  • Letter Naming Fluency
  • Nonsense Word Fluency
• Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)
  • In the winter benchmark session, kindergarten and first grade students will participate in the i-Ready RAN assessments. A RAN is a task that involves quickly and accurately naming aloud a series of familiar items. This includes letters, numbers, colors, and objects found in a classroom.

When will students be assessed with the literacy screener?
The DIBELS Assessment, which includes the phonological awareness and phonics assessments, is administered in the first few weeks of school for first through fifth grade students, and then all kindergarten through fifth grade students in January and April.

The RAN will be administered in January to all kindergarten and first grade students. It may also be used for older students when reading difficulties are detected.