Dyslexia accomodations and Goals

[mlewis]

Hello, 

I need help with wording and suggestions for common dyslexia accommodations and goals, please. My child has an IEP already, but recently had been struggling with spelling tests and some reading. She is in 8th grade and has to memorize all 50 states and capitals and has to spell them correctly for full credit. We've asked for an emergency IEP meeting because my child can't do this assignment and it's causing incredible stress, but we don't have a dyslexia specific accommodation or goal. I feel that her dyslexia has not been addressed at all by the school, they keep saying she is doing well, but at home spelling is super hard, when she reads out loud she makes a lot of mistakes and reading comprehension is slow. 

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Hello!  This is my area of expertise!  I have lots of ideas, but wanted to respond now to let you know you'll be hearing back from me.  I need some time to pull some things together for you.  In the meantime, can you let me know what state you are in?

Thank you,

Carolyn Rowlett

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Let me preface that these suggestions for goals and accommodations are without knowing what your child's evaluation/present levels show and without seeing a copy of her IEP.  In other words, some may not be applicable and will need to be tweaked.  I suggest that if you do not have a recent school evaluation, that you request one (to confirm that she is "doing well," as they state.)  You can request a school evaluation once a year.  If you do not agree with the school's evaluation (you don't think she's doing as well as their evaluation shows), request an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation).  You do not have to give a reason other than "I do not agree with the school's evaluation," and the school must agree to the IEE at no expense to you or else must take you to due process.

I will first address the specific issue regarding the states and capitals.  You can ask for modifications to this assignment/assessment; for example, she is only responsible for 1/2 of the states (or more or less) and only the capital of the state she lives in (I would STRONGLY request she not be made to know the spelling of any other capitals - maybe just be given credit if she KNOWS it and can either state it in a verbal assessment or get close enough spelling-wise for it to be ascertained by the teacher).  The states chosen  could be based on those that follow spelling rules (which is a lot, because any vowel can make the schwa sound) - Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi (although in these last two the double consonants don't really follow a rule, so could be skipped), Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota (although the "k" is irregular), Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.  (This is assuming she has been taught all the spelling rules.)  The list should also include the state she lives in regardless of whether it follows the spelling rules.  An accommodation you could ask for is that she be allowed to take multiple assessments; in other words, she is tested over 1/3 of the states one day, 1/3 another day, and the remaining states on a different day.  (If they insist on capitals, as well, ask for the modification set forth earlier - either she be allowed to state the capitals verbally or get "close enough" on spelling.)

As for goals, again, without knowing her specific present levels, it is difficult to help you with exact wording, but what you want addressed for her reading is accuracy, fluency, and comprehension - in that order.  You need to start with the lowest grade level at which she is not yet at 95% accuracy (the recommended accuracy rate for an independent reading level).  If she has 95% accuracy at a fifth grade reading level but not sixth grade yet, make sure her fluency is at a fifth grade level (download the Hasbrouck & Tindal chart to see what this is), as well as comprehension (should be at least 90%).  If she has met all three for 5th grade, move on to a sixth grade level (if not, write goals for fluency and comprehension at a 5th grade level) - start with accuracy, then fluency, then comprehension - and then move on to 7th grade, etc.  Suggested wording below:

By the end of the IEP year, student will read a (5th grade?) passage at 95% accuracy on 4 out of 5  data collection days.

By the end of the IEP year, student will read a (5th grade?) passage at 119 words correct per minute (*this is the 25 percentile for end of 5th grade in the chart referenced above - team will decide actual number) on 4 out of 5 data collection days.

By the end of the IEP year, student will answer 4 out of 5 comprehension questions after reading a (5th grade?) passage on 4 out of 5 collection days.

Common accommodations for dyslexia include:  1) Do not require student to read aloud in class unless volunteers or is given passage ahead of time; 2) Do not require student to take notes or copy from the board - provide teacher notes before and/or after class (or allow to tape record lectures); 3) Allow speech-to-text and text-to-speech for assessments and assignments; 4) Allow extended time on class and standardized assessments; 5) Allow extended time on assignments (two days is common); 6) Do not require student to spend more than 1 and 1/2 times on homework that her peers do (one way to reduce homework is to state "once mastery is shown" - in other words, don't have her do extra problems when she has shown that she understands a concept); 6) Do not penalize for grammar, spelling, or punctuation, unless that area is being assessed.

Hope this helps!

Carolyn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mlewis]

Carolyn, thank you so much for this information. I'm in California, by the way. Memorizing and a spelling the states and capitals is not in the standards and it's so frustrating how much they push for the kids to accomplish this. 

[mlewis]

Carolyn, I don't know anything about my child's level of accuracy, fluency and comprehension. Where would i find this? she had an psychoeducational evaluation two years ago, but we didn't go over any of this, except that they said she was dyslexic. There were several other challenges that needed immediate attention and this fell by the wayside. 

[Carolyn Rowlett]

You would need something more recent, anyway.  When was the most recent school evaluation?  It may be time to ask for a new one (if it's been at least one year since the last one).  Ask for one in the area of academics.  If you don't like the results of the school evaluation, you can ask for an IEE (as referenced in my earlier response) in the area of academics.

It's also quite easy to determine all three of these.  (The school should be able to do this, but you might want to confirm it for yourself.)  Whatever reading level you think she's at, go back one level and print off a passage from the Internet for that grade level (so if you think she's reading at a 6th grade level, just to be sure, make sure she's good at a 5th grade level first).  For accuracy, have her read for 60 seconds, subtract the number of errors (do not count inserted words or the same word missed more than once) from words read, divide by the number of words read, and multiply by 100:

RAR = (WR - E)/WR x 100  [RAR is reading accuracy rate; WR is total number of words read; E it total number of errors]

As stated above, she should be reading at at least 95% accuracy to be considered reading at that grade level.

Fluency is "words correct per minute" or wcpm.  [Sometimes it may be written as just wpm (words per minute), but it is important to count errors and get the CORRECT words per minute.  If the school insists on wpm, just make sure the accuracy is also calculated and is at least 95%.]    To determine fluency, have her read the passage for 60 seconds and take the total number of words read minus the errors to get wcpm.

Comprehension is determined by having her read the grade level passage and asking 5 comprehension questions about it.  She should get 4 out of 5 before moving on to the next grade level.  (That's actually 80%, but I think I stated 90% above.)  A lot of times when you're searching the Internet for grade level passages, they will come with comprehension questions.  But you can make up your own.

[JSD24]

IMO, a verbal assessment when it comes to lists of things would make a great accommodation.  The ability to use talk to text AAC would be another way to show mastery of information w/o testing her spelling ability which tends to be poor with this disability.  Measurable IEP goals could measure accuracy, fluency and comprehension.  You might need to advocate for different, measurable goals so you can figure out what sort of progress is going on.