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Presenter says vision-tracking screening could address reading decline; advocates urge classroom pilot
Summary
Mary Mahalka told the House Committee on Education that simple vision-tracking tests and low-cost in-class exercises can identify and improve reading difficulties she says are mistaken for dyslexia or attention disorders. She described small, low-cost interventions and urged pilots in Idaho schools.
Boise — Mary Mahalka, a former teacher, told the Idaho House Committee on Education that many students who struggle to read may have remediable vision-tracking problems that standard classroom practice and diagnoses overlook.
"We are failing to meet the needs of children to develop effective reading and comprehension skills," Mahalka told the committee as she opened a roughly 20-minute demonstration and presentation. She cited national fourth-grade reading data and said testing she described in other settings found a high rate of vision-tracking difficulties: "When she tested the inmates there, 70 plus percent of the inmates had vision tracking difficulties," Mahalka said…
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