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prehension and oral expression. Unfortu- nately for many families and educators, this can be a vague label for something more speci c. Sometimes, this leaves families and educators with more ques- tions than answers about how to move forward. Some of these students coded with SLD continue with outside or addi- tional testing in the hopes of a more con- crete answer. In the end, a percentage of these students - approximately 10% of the population as a whole - experience dyslexia (NCES, 2015).
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a neurobiological learn- ing disability. Individuals with dyslexia may have di culties with recognizing words accurately and uently, decoding (sounding out novel words e ectively and e ciently) and encoding (spelling) in the absence of a cognitive or intellectual disability. Individuals who have di culty with lower order skills, such as decoding and encoding, may also experience chal- lenges with higher order skills, such as reading comprehension and vocabulary growth due to less e ective and e cient basic reading skills (IDA, 2002).
Multiple di culties with lower order reading skills have led researchers to consider a single, double or triple de cit hypothesis to better understand dyslexia and its impact on individuals who strug- gle to read. Three main areas have been found challenging for individuals with dyslexia: (1) phonological processing (manipulating sounds in words), (2) rapid naming (how quickly an individuals can name aloud items such as pictures, colors, letters and numbers) and (3) orthograph- ic processing (e cient sound/symbol un- derstanding with which individuals rely on to spell accurately). Although these areas may be impacted, there is a lack of clarity, due to limited research, regarding whether or not these three distinct de - cits occur separately as a “type” of dyslex- ia or in combination with one another as one “dyslexia” diagnosis (Vukovic and Sie- gel, 2006).
Regardless of this debate, the eval-
Five Pillars
uation process is meant to provide an understanding of an individual’s area(s) of need. This, in turn, aids in establishing a roadmap to addressing these de cits with targeted literacy instruction. In 2000, the National Reading Panel reported on pertinent information speci c to targeted literacy instruction, which is still relevant in classrooms today.
the NatioNal ReaDiNg PaNel RePoRt
The National Reading Panel (2000) de- veloped a comprehensive report outlin- ing the need for explicit, systematic and multisensory instruction when providing reading intervention. This report focused on reading instruction for all learners, not just speci cally learners with learning dis-
abilities, such as dyslexia. Five areas were identi ed as crucial to beginning reading: 1. Phonemic Awareness: The ability
to manipulate phonemes (smallest units of spoken language) in words directly correlates with success in reading and spelling.
2. Phonics Instruction: Early systematic instruction in connecting sounds to letters (phonics) has strong positive correlations in an individual’s ability to accurately and e ciently decode, spell and comprehend text.
3. Fluency Instruction: Fluid and e - cient oral reading has a signi cant and positive impact on word recog- nition and comprehension.
4. Vocabulary Instruction: With appro- priate and varied instructional meth-
24 www.closingthegap.com/solutions/articles | April / May, 2017 ClosingTheGap © 2017 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.
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