Copyright Futurity: Research News
A new study suggests mandated universal literacy screening programs aren’t translating into help for struggling young readers, including children with dyslexia. Reading is one of the fundamentals of early education, but it’s also something millions of American kids struggle with. Forty percent of fourth graders have “below basic” reading skills—the worst figure in two decades, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. To help get more kids on track for learning to read, most states now require universal literacy screening between kindergarten and third grade, aiming to spot problems early and direct resources to those needing extra help. But a new nationwide survey of educators, led by a Boston University education researcher, suggests the mandates are failing, with struggling readers paying the price. The study discovered a litany of barriers to successful screening implementation, from insufficient screener training to variation in scoring accuracy. Nearly half of the hundreds of educators surveyed across 39 states says their institutions had no systemic procedures in place for developing literacy programs. According to the researchers, that means schools could be missing opportunities for early intervention, including with kids who have a learning disorder like dyslexia. The study’s findings appear in the Annals of Dyslexia. “In practice, it seems like the screening is a compliance exercise, rather than a tool to actually drive instructional modification on the ground,” says Ola Ozernov-Palchik, a BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development research assistant professor of language and literacy education and expert on the cognitive neuroscience of language and literacy development. She helped lead the study, along with colleagues at MIT, Harvard University, and Florida State University. “While educators overwhelmingly value screening, they reported limited training, inconsistent administration practices, and uncertainty about interpreting results.” Here, Ozernov-Palchik explains what her team’s findings might mean for students, what needs to change, and how AI might help more kids learn to read:
