Although identification can happen at any point in a student’s educational career, early identification of dyslexia is critical to a student’s success. If despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity, a student still struggles to read, the student’s RTI committee will review interventions that have been tried. The RTI committee may request a dyslexia evaluation through IDEA and Special Education. A parent may also request an evaluation at any time.
Parents are advised of their rights under IDEA and must give consent to test. Background data is then gathered including vision and hearing screenings, teacher reports, interventions attempted, academic progress reports, progress monitoring reports, samples of school work, state and standardized testing scores, and attendance records. Parents are asked to provide information about their child and their concerns. A diagnostician then conducts a Full and Individual Initial Evaluation (FIIE). There is not one specific test to diagnose dyslexia or a reading disability, so a battery of tests will be administered.
Once the dyslexia evaluation is completed, the ARD committee will meet to determine if the student should be identified as dyslexic and if interventions and accommodations are needed. Parents are a part of this committee and help make educational decisions for their child.