Fort Worth summer screenings identify more than 100 kids at risk for dyslexia
More than 100 Fort Worth students were identified as being at risk for dyslexia during a citywide screening program, the project’s organizer says.
The city of Fort Worth, in partnership with the Sid W. Richardson Foundation and the Go Beyond Grades campaign, held a series of dyslexia screenings at summer day camp locations across the city. Organizers hoped to identify students who could be at risk for the reading disorder and connect their parents with information and resources about what services they might need.
Researchers say that early identification of students with dyslexia is critical because, with the right kinds of support, those students can be taught to read. But if students don’t get that support until later on, they’re more likely to suffer academically.
Caroline James, the project’s organizer, said 355 students went through the screening during Camp Fort Worth summer programs at six of the city’s community centers. Another 30 students signed up for screening through the project’s website. Of the students who were screened at community centers, 129 were identified as being at risk for dyslexia. Nineteen kids who signed up online were at risk.
James, a Fort Worth educator and mother of a teenager with dyslexia, noted that not all of those kids actually have dyslexia. But a positive screening means those students are dealing with reading challenges of some kind, and teachers need to take a closer look to see what’s going on. Often, that will include an evaluation that can provide a formal diagnosis.
This summer’s round of screenings amounted to a pilot project. James said she hopes to see the community centers continue to offer dyslexia screenings at summer camp sessions in the future. Those community centers already have literacy support specialists who work with kids on reading, so it could be a natural fit, she said.
When students were identified as being at risk for dyslexia, James and others talked with them about what to do next. Among other things, organizers connected parents with volunteers from the Rotary Club of Fort Worth who could help them navigate the process of getting their kids connected with support at school.
Parents had a broad range of reactions when their kids screened as being at risk, James said. One mom seemed almost jubilant, she said, because she knew what was wrong and felt better equipped to get help. But other parents felt upset or defensive, she said, because they worried about how a dyslexia diagnosis reflected on their kids.
One fact that James tried to emphasize with families is that a dyslexia diagnosis isn’t a sign of a lack of intelligence. Often, she said, the opposite is true — if a student with dyslexia is keeping up in school, it’s because they’ve come up with dozens of strategies to help them manage the effects of their disability.
“These are kids that are pretty clever. They are work-around artists,” she said.
Fort Worth ISD adopts new training for teachers
The screenings come at a time when Fort Worth leaders are making a top priority of improving literacy. The Fort Worth City Council, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court and Fort Worth ISD’s school board have all approved resolutions committing themselves to helping boost reading scores.
During a board meeting last month, Fort Worth ISD’s board approved a new training program for elementary school teachers who work with students who have dyslexia.
Karen Molinar, the district’s superintendent, told the board that the district has used the same intervention model for dyslexia for years, and students haven’t benefited. Even students who finish the program struggle to decode text, she said.
The district’s new strategy includes two training programs, called Bridges and Take Flight. Both programs were developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at the Dallas-based pediatric hospital Scottish Rite for Children.
As a part of Take Flight, teachers will go through a two-year training program to become dyslexia therapists, allowing them to work with students with the lowest reading skills. In the meantime, the Bridges program pairs teachers with a digital co-teaching avatar named Miss Hallie, who works with students on the more complex aspects of dyslexia intervention. Bridges is built on the same principles as Take Flight, but is intended to give districts a way to give students the support they need while teachers are going through Take Flight training.
Molinar said Fort Worth ISD has a responsibility to give students with dyslexia the best curriculum available, and trained teachers to deliver it. Up to now, she said, the district hasn’t done so.
“It’s time to do something differently,” she said. “There’s no reason to keep doing the same model, using the same curriculum, and not getting the results that we want.”
