State debates dyslexia screening

BY ISABEL LIU

Copy Editor

On ursday, Feb. 16, Senator Anthony J. Portantino introduced Senate Bill 691 to the California State Senate, which would require students from kindergarten to second grade to be annually screened for risk of dyslexia, a learning di culty that a ects reading and spelling.

For the past eight years, the State Senate has unsuccessfully attempted to pass similar legislation. At the moment, California is one of 10 states that don’t have universal mandated dyslexia screening. e California Teachers Union (CTA) repeatedly blocked this legislation, claiming screening takes too much time and over-identi es English learners.

Even so, reading is involved in all learning, putting dyslexic students at a long-lasting achievement gap which could be solved with early intervention, the Journal of Pediatrics found.

e Journal of Educational Psychology reported that students at risk for reading disabilities who received intervention before third grade made gains twice that of children who received intervention during third grade.

“[If] the state has the resources, I think all students should be screened,” senior Sam Storey said. Storey recently published a research paper on low-cost things elementary schools can do to support dyslexic learners, inspired by her younger brother’s experience. “In mainstream schools, I don’t feel like there’s many resources on dyslexia.”

Unlike many school districts in California, Burlingame School District (BSD) has im- plemented universal dyslexia screening and literacy tests in elementary schools. BSD’s early literacy program is relatively extensive: besides the assessments, it includes a dyslexia committee, an updated English curriculum and training on the science of reading for kindergarten through third graders for teachers.

Still, BSD’s program highlights the CTA’s concerns with dyslexia screening, speci cally about how much time it requires. For example, teachers need training to di erentiate reading di culties and language learning. BSD also does literacy assessments three times a year.

“We do a lot of assessments. People argue it’s bad, but… it doesn’t take that long for us to do and then we can really target where we need to be,” BSD Response to Intervention specialist Tara Cook said. Response to Intervention (RTI) specialists lead BSD’s literacy program and are trained to provide early identication and support of students with learning or behavior needs.

RTI specialists cannot diagnose dyslexia, but they work in multi-tiered intervention responses designed to get students to the right place if they need more support. For example, the specialist may start working with whole classes, then slowly narrow down the group and increase support until there is a sign that further action is needed.

“We meet with the teachers… and decide what we’re gonna be doing in class with [struggling students],” Cook said. “If kids aren’t making progress, then we look into whether they might have a learning disability.”

However, the lack of a diag- nosis means students can’t receive accommodations or support, like 504 plans. Some are calling for schools to employ more individualized support or personnel that can diagnose dyslexia. But dyslexia is a spectrum that impacts 20% of the population, making it di cult to nd a one-size- ts-all solution.

“[ e school said,] ‘We’re just gonna say it’s challenges but I’m not authorized to say dyslexia,’… ey don’t teach you how to deal with it,” English teacher C. Marina Junqueira said, describing her dyslexic daughter’s experience. “It’d be great if there could be a side class where they say, ‘Here’s some tips and tricks.’ But I think in the mainstream classroom with 35 students, it’s almost impossible.”

Additionally, getting a diagnosis and school accommodations costs time or money, something not every family has. “ ere needs to be a more accessible way to get a dyslexia diagnosis,” Storey said. “My brother and I are fortunate enough that our parents were able to get us tested; it’s expensive to get tested.”

Storey also pointed out that stigma and ignorance makes receiving help di cult.

“I’ve been in class [with students] who are dyslexic, and I see them get cold called to read and put in uncomfortable positions. I feel like there’s a lack of understanding of dyslexia among teachers, parents, fellow students,” Storey said. “Dyslexia is a superpower…I wish I could just tell all these kids, ‘It’s gonna be a challenge, but there’s so much good that could come from it.’”

AI art poses challenge for creative careers

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Wolf-Noyes agreed.

“If you’re feeding other people’s artwork into a computer and having it spit something out, that becomes less about your experience as a human,” Wolf-Noyes said. “You could make the case that humans should not be able to make pro t o of the work when they’re not the actual artists themselves.”

And there’s where the greatest controversy lies — AI art and tech companies could eat away at artists’ jobs.

Edmondson believes that AI art poses a threat to aspiring artists’ career options. She raised the example of her uncle, who makes his livelihood as a font designer. ough Net ix claimed it was due to the labor shortage in the anime industry, Twitter users contended that it was an issue of livable working conditions: in 2019, top anime talent had annual earnings of just $36,000.

“[My uncle] has a very solid lifestyle, and it made me feel like that would be something that I could do… But with AI, it could take over his job and now I’m like, ‘Probably shouldn’t do that,’” Edmondson said.

In February, Net ix used AI to generate backgrounds for the animation e Dog & e Boy.

“AI does pose issues for artists who already have trouble making money right with their art. But that’s more of a society bias… ere’s always been an issue,” Wolf-Noyes said. “Ideally society would say, ‘We have to do something to support this group of people who’s disenfranchised.’”