Procedures for evaluating and identifying students with dyslexia are outlined in detail in Chapter III of The Dyslexia Handbook. These procedures guide districts on how the process should work.

Prior to a formal assessment for dyslexia, federal and state laws emphasize early identification and intervention for students who may be at risk for reading disabilities, such as dyslexia. The section, "Defining Dyslexia and Its Characteristics," covers a general overview of dyslexia. Familiarity with dyslexia and its related disorders may help us collect the information needed to make a recommendation for dyslexia assessment. 

The Dyslexia Handbook specifies that schools must recommend assessment for dyslexia if the student demonstrates the following:

• Poor performance in one or more areas of reading and spelling that is unexpected for the student’s age/grade.
• Characteristics and risk factors of dyslexia indicated in Chapter I: Definitions and Characteristics of Dyslexia in The Dyslexia Handbook.

Take a moment to review parts of State and Federal Laws below which support screening and early intervention to any student who may have, or may be at-risk of having, difficulty with learning. 

State legislation states that school boards MUST ensure the following:

• Procedures for identifying a student with dyslexia or a related disorder are implemented in the district (TAC §74.28(b)).
• Procedures for providing appropriate instructional services to the student are implemented in the district (TAC §74.28(b)).
• The district or school complies with all applicable requirements of state educational programs (TEC §7.028).

School districts MUST do the following:

• Administer kindergarten and grade 1 dyslexia screening (TEC §38.003(a))
• Administer K–2 early reading instruments and grade 7 reading instrument (TEC §28.006(c)-(c-1))
• Provide early identification, intervention, and support (TEC §28.006(g)-(g-1))
• Apply results of early reading instruments to instruction and report to the commissioner of education (TEC §28.006(d))
• Implement SBOE-approved procedures for screening, individualized evaluation, and techniques for treating students with dyslexia and related disorders (Dyslexia Handbook and TAC §74.28(c))
• Provide training about dyslexia to educators and ensure that campus planning and decision-making committee addresses dyslexia instructional strategies in professional development activities (TAC §74.28(e) and TAC §232.11)
• Ensure that the procedures for identification and instruction are in place (TAC §74.28)
• Notify parents in writing at least five school days before an evaluation or identification procedure is used with an individual student (TAC §74.28(f))
• Screen or test for dyslexia at appropriate times (TEC §38.003)
• Ensure that rescreening or re-evaluating for the purposes of accommodations does not occur until after current testing has been reviewed (TEC 38.003(b-1))
• Meet the requirements of IDEA or Section 504, as applicable, when evaluation for dyslexia or related disorders is recommended (Dyslexia Handbook)
• Provide treatment (instruction) for students with dyslexia or related disorders (TEC §38.003 and TAC 74.28(i))
• Purchase or develop programs that include descriptors listed in the Dyslexia Handbook (TAC §74.28(e))
• Inform parents of all services and options available to students eligible under IDEA or Section 504 (TAC §74.28(h))
• Provide students with services of a teacher trained in dyslexia and related disorders (TAC §74.28(i))
• Provide parents of children suspected to have dyslexia or a related disorder a copy or link to the Dyslexia Handbook (TAC §74.28(j))
• Provide a parent education program (TAC §74.28(k))
• Report through PEIMS information regarding the number of students enrolled in the district or school who are identified as having dyslexia (TEC §42.006(a-1))

“Early identification is critical because the earlier the intervention, the easier it is to remediate.”

Hall and Moats (1999)

Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.006, Reading Diagnosis, requires assessment of reading development and comprehension for all students in kindergarten, first grade, second grade and, as appropriate, seventh grade.

The Dyslexia Handbook, p.25

Question 33 in The Dyslexia Handbook asks, “What factors must the ARD or Section 504 committee consider before providing a student dyslexia services?”

The IDEA evaluation requirements for eligibility in 34 C.F.R. §300.309(a)(1) specifically designate the following areas for a learning disability in reading: basic reading skills (dyslexia), reading fluency skills, and/or reading comprehension. 

If the student with dyslexia is found eligible for special education, the student’s individualized education program (IEP) must include appropriate reading instruction. Appropriate reading instruction includes the components and delivery of dyslexia instruction listed in Chapter IV: Critical, Evidence-based Components of Dyslexia Instruction.

Based on the data, if the Section 504 committee determines that weaknesses are indicated in reading and spelling, the committee, based on the student’s pattern of performance over time, test profile, and response to instruction, will determine the intervention plan. Refinement of that plan will occur as the student’s response to instruction is observed. If the student with dyslexia is found eligible for Section 504, the student’s Section 504 Plan must include appropriate reading instruction. Appropriate reading instruction includes the components and delivery of dyslexia instruction listed in Chapter IV: Critical, Evidence-based Components of Dyslexia Instruction.

• The observations of the teacher, district or charter school staff, and/or parents/guardians
• Data gathered from the classroom, including student work and the results of classroom measures, and information found in the student’s cumulative folder (including the developmental and academic history of the student)
• Data-based documentation of student progress during instruction/intervention
• The results of administered assessments
• Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) documentation, when applicable
• All other accumulated data regarding the development of the student’s learning

“Districts or charter schools must establish written procedures for assessing students for dyslexia. The first step in the evaluation process, data gathering, should be an integral part of the district’s or charter school’s process for any student exhibiting learning difficulties” (The Dyslexia Handbook, 2018, 25).

The whole picture of the student is important. The collection of data from multiple sources will assist with determining reading and spelling abilities and difficulties.

Environmental and Socioeconomic Factors

Language and literacy experiences may be affected by socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural factors. Just as it is important to determine that a student’s reading difficulties are not due to a lack of appropriate instruction, it is also important to determine that reading difficulties are not due to the student’s environmental and/or socioeconomic background. For example, the Dyslexia Handbook (26) explores the Hart and Risley (1995) study that found that three-year-old children from different socioeconomic backgrounds had varied cumulative vocabulary development.

Children from professional families had 1,100 words compared to children from lower socioeconomic levels who had as few as 500 words indicating home vocabulary experiences have an effect on young children’s language acquisition. Collecting data about environmental and socioeconomic factors helps determine whether a student’s reading struggles are due to dyslexia or a lack of opportunity.

(Hart and Risley, 1995)

As stated in the The Dyslexia Handbook, Procedures for Assessment, “the first step in the evaluation process, data gathering, should be an integral part of the district’s or charter school’s process for any student exhibiting learning difficulties” (p. 25). Information for the dyslexia evaluation process will include the academic history of the student and other cumulative data demonstrating that the reading difficulties are not a result of a lack of appropriate reading instruction. Regardless, the data collected should include progress monitoring during appropriate reading instruction.

Figure 3.2 on page 26 in The Dyslexia Handbook lists various sources and examples of both informal and formal data that school districts and charter schools should collect. The cumulative folder should have data documenting instruction for a student who continues to struggle with reading. This information should include data that demonstrates that the student was provided appropriate instruction and include data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals (progress monitoring), reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction. This cumulative data also includes information from teachers and parents/guardians.

Formal evaluation is an individualized examination of formal and informal data about the student who is recommended for a dyslexia evaluation. Both formal (quantitative) and informal (qualitative) data are important to the dyslexia evaluation. Formal data may come from the standardized (i.e., norm-referenced or criterion-referenced) tests associated with quantitative data. Quantitative data may include normative scores such as standard scores and percentiles that compare the student’s performance to the norming sample. Quantitative data may also include test results that are expressed in the number correct out of the total number presented to the student. Criterion-referenced tests do not compare a student’s performance to a norming sample.

Informal data (qualitative) may come from observing the student’s reading performance and behaviors during testing, error analysis, or task demand analysis. Qualitative data may also include teacher checklists, classroom samples, and parent interviews.

Page 31 and 32 in The Dyslexia Handbook detail the review and interpretation of data and evaluations. Information about the student’s educational history, linguistic background, socioeconomic status, and other pertinent factors that may affect the student’s learning should all be considered by the Section 504 or ARD committee members.

The Section 504 or ARD committee must first determine if a student's difficulties in the areas of reading and spelling reflect a pattern of evidence for the primary characteristics of dyslexia with unexpectedly low performance for the student's age and educational level in some or all of the following areas:

• Reading words in isolation
• Decoding unfamiliar words accurately and automatically
• Reading fluency for connected text (rate and/or accuracy and/or prosody)
• Spelling (an isolated difficulty in spelling would not be sufficient to identify dyslexia)

The evaluation data collected may also include information on reading comprehension, mathematics, and written expression. Dyslexia often coexists with learning difficulties in these related areas.

Additional factors to be considered by the Section 504 or ARD committee include:

• the student’s linguistic background,
• previous effective instruction, and
• unexpected difficulties in relation to other abilities.

An additional factor the Section 504 or ARD committee will want to take into consideration when interpreting data and evaluations is the student's linguistic background. The nature of the writing system in a student's native language impacts the reading process. For example, Figure 3.5 on page 31 of the Dyslexia Handbook (2018) compares word level reading, fluency, and comprehension between a transparent and opaque language and Figure 3.6 compares the languages of English (opaque) and Spanish (transparent). Section 504 or ARD committees will want to keep in mind the identification guideposts of dyslexia in languages other than English may differ (Dyslexia Handbook, 2018, 31).

The evaluation process includes collecting a preponderance of data, both qualitative (informal) and quantitative (formal). All the data is then interpreted by the Section 504 or ARD committee to determine if the student demonstrates a pattern of evidence for dyslexia and whether the pattern of evidence is unexpected for the student. 

On your own, locate key sentences in the Dyslexia Handbook that support how a preponderance of data can demonstrate a pattern of evidence for dyslexia.