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Until very recently, the protocol for screening children and young people for dyslexia has varied between schools and districts in Massachusetts – but two college lecturers have made it their mission to make sure that there’s a fair system for all at the heart of K2 education.
The historic lack of standardised state-wide guidance on dyslexia screenings has been seen as a system defined by its flaws. Children who were lucky enough to live in affluent school districts or have parents with greater financial resources were much more likely to have been able access screening procedures, as were children who attended specialist or private schools. Children who were not from affluent areas and attended public schools, however, often missed out on screening and were at risk for never having their literacy differences or dyslexia identified- which means that it was unlikely that they were able to access the tools, the help and the resources that they required to go on to succeed academically.
The new Massachusetts Dyslexia Guidelines are the product of a collaboration between the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and two lecturers from Tufts University in Medford, MA. The change is a result of a 2018 law, which required evidence-based guidelines to be implemented across the state.
Melissa Orkin and Leandra Elion have partnered with the DESE in order to create a new system that’s simple to follow, simple to implement, and most importantly- it works for every child, rather than those lucky few who were previously able to access screening procedures. Speaking to Tufts Now, Leandra Elion outlined the ways that the system was changing, and why it was important that these changes were made: “The evidence-based guidelines were required by a 2018 law, which took a lot of lobbying from parents to help legislators understand the need so that dyslexia screenings wouldn't occur in pockets of isolated districts across the Commonwealth… One of the things we found is there are so many inconsistencies of practice. The benefit of guidance like this on a state-wide level is that we can ensure equitable practice.”
The new guidance is designed to provide direction and support for education professionals and parents to make sure that pupils with dyslexia or other neurodiversities and learning difficulties receive support that works – and before they’ve had time to fall behind substantially because of it. It’s not intended to diagnose dyslexia before formal reading instruction begins- although there are some softwares available that believe they’re able to highlight dyslexia cases in children well before they learn to read – but it is intended to give educators an idea of who in their class requires extra support to develop their reading skills.
It’s a powerful piece of positive change, and it’s likely to make a lot of difference to the approximately 184,000 children in Massachusetts who have dyslexia.
