Poudre School District outlines multi-year plan to screen and support students with dyslexia

Poudre School District R-1 officials on Feb. 11 presented a multi-year plan to identify and support students with dyslexia that emphasizes universal, classroom-based instruction paired with targeted diagnostics and frequent progress monitoring.

District presenters said the plan centers on structured literacy grounded in the science of reading and uses Colorado’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). "Dyslexia impacts people on a continuum from more mild to more profound impacts. And to some degree dyslexia impacts about 20 percent of the students sitting in our classrooms," said Nora Love, integrated services assistant director of teaching and learning.

District staff said universal instruction now uses newly adopted elementary materials designed to embed structured literacy — the "what" and the "how" of reading instruction — so that students receive high-quality core instruction in their classrooms rather than only in separate intervention settings. Students in kindergarten through third grade receive the state-approved DIBELS screener three times a year; staff then add targeted diagnostics and 4–6 week…