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District assessment lead outlines dyslexia screening, early interventions and training expansion
Summary
Assessment TOSA Angie Gourley presented the districts dyslexia screening process, screening windows, adoption of the RAN/RAS measure, and plans to expand IMSE training and aligned interventions for K2 and beyond.
Angie Gourley, the districts assessment TOSA, briefed the board on dyslexia screening practices, results from the current year and next steps to expand early reading supports.
Gourley said the district screens students for phonological and phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming (RAN). The district moved from RAN in I-Ready to the RAN/RAS instrument to gather more usable family-reportable data, she said, and she described a standard screening cadence: K2 students during the winter window, new K5 students within their first four weeks, and grades 35 on request.
Gourley told the board that about 27% of screened students are in a "watching" category and about 9% show significant reading challenges (figures exclude students already in special education or multilingual students). She described intensive, evidence-based responses in the district: teachers and paras have received Institute for Multisensory Education (IMSE) training (30 hours for teachers, 18 hours for paraprofessionals), daily targeted interventions, double-dip interventions for some students, progress monitoring, and use of district short-cycle assessment protocols.
As an example of impact, Gourley described a first-grade PLC that set a phoneme-segmentation goal, moved from 31% meeting the benchmark to 91% after targeted intervention and partnership with the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). She said next steps include training additional K2 teachers in IMSE, offering IMSE morphology to grades 35, aligning intervention materials with the science of reading, and refining tier 2/3 interventions.
Gourley also noted the district follows state RCW guidance for screening, intervention and family notification but did not quote a numeric RCW citation in the presentation. Board members asked for a numerical count for one small cohort referenced; Gourley estimated the group in question comprised "between 5 and 8" students.
The district plans to continue expanding teacher training and to align materials and protocols across elementary grades to improve early literacy outcomes.
