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District Dyslexia Team

District Dyslexia Team

We believe that every Oak Harbor student has the potential to learn and grow to high standards. Our goal is to create an intervention pathway specifically designed to support students exhibiting signs of dyslexia.

Oak Harbor Public Schools is building a district-wide Dyslexia Team open to current district parents, school staff, adults and students with dyslexia, and community members with interest in supporting literacy.  If the Dyslexia Team sounds like a good match for you, please send an email to Liz Ritz, Director of Teaching and Learning, indicating your interest and why you would like to join this team. 

To better understand dyslexia and the laws about it, we have provided the following materials. 

  • What is Dyslexia?

    Dyslexia is a difference in the way the brain processes information. Students with dyslexia often display many strengths, including creativity, the ability to see the bigger picture, and spatial knowledge. These real strengths can be leveraged to help them learn because students with dyslexic tendencies can have a more challenging time learning to read, write, and spell.

    What approaches help students with dyslexia learn to read?

    With a multisensory approach to learning, kids with dyslexia don’t just learn to read, write, and spell–but thrive and build confidence in their literacy skills. A multi-sensory approach includes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile modalities, and connects reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Instructional support for students includes explicit and systematic instruction of phonics and skills during universal reading instruction.

    What assessments and literacy screeners are used?

    Our current reading assessment administered in K-2 is DIBELS 8th Edition. DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) includes literacy measures in the following areas:

    • Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, identify, move, or change the smallest units of sound in spoken words.
    • Phonological Awareness uses speech sounds like rhyming, alliteration, the number of words in a sentence, and syllables within words.
    • Letter-Sound Knowledge is the sounds represented by letters of the alphabet and combinations of letters that make speech sounds.

    DIBELS is currently validating new assessment measures to support K-2 readers in the above areas of early literacy, plus the addition of an assessment for:

    • Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is the ability to quickly name aloud a series of everyday items, including letters, numbers, colors, and objects found in a classroom.

    How will these assessments fulfill the Washington State requirements for K-2 literacy screening tools?

    Incorporating assessments in all four areas (Phonemic Awareness, Phonological Awareness, Letter Sound Knowledge, and Rapid Automatized Naming) will fulfill state requirements for K-2 literacy screening tools and provide valuable information for supporting students. The timeline for full implementation of the K-2 literacy screening tools is the 2021-22 school year.

  • Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction About Dyslexia

    Video: What is dyslexia? from TED-Ed

    Video: Dyslexic Strengths from Made By Dyslexia