Over the past few years, Spring ISD has had one of the lowest rates of dyslexic children in the state, which could leave hundreds of students without the support they need to overcome their learning condition.
According to state data, 2 percent of the pupils at Spring, which educates over 34,000 students in northern Harris County, have dyslexia and require special education assistance for their reading difficulties. Approximately 1,360 additional children in the district would receive support if Spring were to identify students with dyslexia at the statewide rate of 6%.
kids with dyslexia struggle to decode written words and connect letters to sounds, and there is no state or national standard to assess if a district has enough dyslexic kids.
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However, Spring’s dyslexia identification pattern lags far behind both state and national trends. In 2023–2024, it had the third-lowest spring rate among the 50 largest districts in Texas, only surpassed by the charter network IDEA Public Schools and Socorro ISD in El Paso. Although figures vary depending on the criteria used to diagnose dyslexia, most experts believe that roughly 10% of people nationwide have the disorder.
In the meantime, a large number of Spring students—roughly 85% of whom the state considers to be economically disadvantaged—have difficulty reading in class. Less than one-third of third graders in 2023–2024 read at grade level, according to state standardized test results. This is a significant indicator of whether or not kids will graduate and enroll in college. In both the state and the region, half of the pupils achieved the standard.
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An interview request for this piece was turned down by Spring authorities. Ayana Lebron, the executive director of special services at Spring, said in a statement that the district anticipates seeing a rise in the number of pupils diagnosed with dyslexia after a state law was passed in 2023 that reclassified dyslexia as a learning condition under special education law.
In an email, Lebron stated, “We expect a rise in dyslexia-related identifications as we strive to align our evaluation practices with the state of Texas updated requirements.” However, compared to state trends, our current data indicates that the district’s representation of pupils with dyslexia is lower than anticipated.
Cost of missed diagnosis
Students with dyslexia struggled with reading for decades since they were frequently misdiagnosed. Students with dyslexia may also suffer from anxiety, rage, sadness, low self-esteem, or lack of motivation, according to the state-approved Texas Dyslexia Handbook.
All kindergarteners and first graders must have their dyslexia evaluated by qualified professionals, according to a 2017 law passed by the Texas Legislature. After dyslexia was reclassified as a learning impairment in 2023, schools were required to create a documented plan and increase the resources available to pupils with the diagnosis.
The percentage of Texas students diagnosed with dyslexia has risen from 3 to 6 percent since the first statute was passed. During that time, the dyslexia rate in Spring has fluctuated between 1 and 2 percent.
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According to Ola Ozernov-Palchik, a developmental dyslexia research scientist at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reading difficulties in pupils can worsen if dyslexia is not identified early in life.
According to her, students who receive an incorrect diagnosis are more likely to struggle with anxiety, drop out of school, never go to college, and deal with the criminal justice system. According to a 2000 research referenced by Ozernov-Palchik, almost one in two Texas prisoners had dyslexia-related reading impairments.
There won’t be any improvement. According to Ozernov-Palchik, things will only get worse. The more you read, the more proficient you become as a reader and the more words you can use. You will not be able to access any other subjects if you do not learn to read.
Minimal district oversight
There aren’t many ways to verify that school districts in Texas are correctly identifying pupils with impairments. Though it rarely carries out in-depth examinations to ascertain if districts are abiding by state special education rules, the Texas Education Agency examines a significant amount of academic data pertaining to students with disabilities. Few districts are also looked at by the US Department of Education for breaking federal law.
Families are therefore disproportionately responsible for advocating for children with impairments. Although it’s a drawn-out process and only addresses their child’s problem, parents and guardians can protest to the state about their child’s school district.
According to Steve Aleman, a policy specialist for Disability Rights Texas and the supervising attorney for the group’s education team, that is a flaw in the system.
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As the district adjusts to the new state rules, spring kids who have previously been diagnosed with dyslexia continue to get additional reading instruction, according to a statement from Lebron. Before the end of the school year, district officials will provide parents of dyslexic students the chance to reassess their children for further support, she noted.
According to a statement from Lebron, the diagnosis of dyslexia is greatly aided by parental input as well as the knowledge of teachers, counselors, and support personnel who work directly with pupils.
As the initial point of contact, these people play a crucial role in tracking students’ development, analyzing data, and pinpointing problem areas. Since special education personnel frequently do not deal with students prior to identification, it is crucial to note that identification is no longer exclusively their job.
According to Ozernov-Palchik, even when employing top-notch assessment instruments, many districts nationwide have trouble accurately screening pupils for dyslexia.
According to Ozernov-Palchik, districts frequently employ the appropriate language, but it all comes down to execution. How are the screeners put into practice? Is the training adequate? Do the educators understand how to react to and analyze the data? These are the inquiries that are made, and this is frequently where districts diverge.
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Only 2% of Spring ISD students are diagnosed with dyslexia. Is the district missing kids?
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