Many states have enacted laws to ensure schools screen for dyslexia, particularly in early grades. These laws aim to identigy students at risk for reading difficulties early, enabling timely interventions and support. For Multilingual learners (MLs) these present both opportunities and challenges. Early identification of reading challenges is essential, but when screening tools and processes are not designed with language diversity in mind, they can do more harm than good.
Done correctly, however, dyslexia screening can serve as a powerful tool for equity and support.
The Benefits
Effective dyslexia screening can help distinguish between typical second-language learning and actual reading disabilities. English learners (ELs) often face challenges as they acquire English, but that doesn't mean that they all have dyslexia. Thus, screening for them requires thoughtful implementation that helps to identigy who truly needs specialized instruction. Historically, MLs have been both over-identified and under-identified for special education services. Without appropriate screening, some students simply struggle in silence, while others are mislabeled. Thus, in order to promote educational equity, it is important to implement culturally and linguistically responsive screening that helps every learner to get that support they need. Screening results ought to provide critical insights into students' specific literacy needs. They must be part of a comprehensive assessment process that help teachers design interventions supporting language and reading skills development.
The Pitfalls
As these screening tools are implemented, it's important to take into consideration that many widely used dyslexia screeners have been developed and normed on monolingual English speakers; as a result, they may not account for how students acquire a second language, potentially leading to false positives (i.e. mistaking language barriers for dyslexia) or false negatives (i.e. overlooking actual learning difficulties). Another important consideration is the need for proper training to screeners and teachers, often second-language learners may show particular reading patterns -such as difficulty with phonics or vocabulary- that can look like dyslexia, but in fact they reflect normal language acquistion. Most dyslexia screening tools are only available in English, which makes it difficult to accurately asses students that are not proficient in the language of instruction. This lack of linguistic access can produce skewed results leaving some needs identified.
To Consider
Dyslexia screening can be a vital tool for supporting multilingual learners -when done right. To serve students fairly and effectively, schools must use screening tools and practices that reglect the linguistic and cultural diversity of their communities. With appropriate screening, multilingual learners with dyslexia can be identified early and given the interventions they need to succeed- ensruign every student has the opportunity to thrive in literacy and beyond.
