Preface

Connecticut’s Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)/Dyslexia Assessment Resource Guide was created in response to requests from educators and administrators from local education agencies (LEAs) and families seeking information about appropriate assessment options for the identification of SLD/Dyslexia and other reading-related learning disabilities. The Guide was prepared by the State Education Resource Center (SERC) in 2016 in collaboration with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) and Connecticut experts in reading disabilities. The content in the Guide evolved from Dr. Louise Spear-Swerling’s publication, The Power of RTI and Reading Profiles: A Blueprint for Solving Reading Problems (2015), which identifies research-based reading-related abilities and assessments appropriate for evaluating reading component skills. Analysis of reading component skills is critical when a student is struggling to learn to read and/or when SLD or SLD/Dyslexia is suspected. Dr. Spear-Swerling’s original content (p. 92) is reprinted on SERC’s website with permission of the author and the publisher.

The Guide enhances Dr. Spear-Swerling’s work in several ways. It includes assessment options for written expression, an integral component of literacy; updates tests and subtests to reflect the most recently revised versions; and expands the assessment options for each reading-related component skill. Revisions to the Guide made in 2017 included additional assessment options.

Connecticut’s SLD/Dyslexia Assessment Resource Guide supports the integration of K-12 general education and special education systems for the benefit of all students who are below proficiency in reading. LEAs are encouraged to use the Guide as a resource to explore their district’s capacity to screen for students at risk for SLD/Dyslexia as well as other reading-related learning disabilities, monitor the progress of students receiving reading intervention, and conduct a comprehensive evaluation when SLD/Dyslexia is suspected.