Session a

Identifying Dyslexia within the Education System

IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act affords parents with the parental right to FAPE, a Free and Appropriate Public Education. This includes the right to request an evaluation for a suspected disability. Alex Fender Ed. S and Thomas Hurford Ed. S both school psychologists will discuss what parents should look for in an evaluation for a student with dyslexia and how parents can use the information in the evaluation to advocate for effective support in an IEP or 504.

Session B

Ask the School Psychologist

What questions do you have for the school psychologist? Universal Screening, Assessment, Progress Monitoring, MTSS, IDEA, IEP, 504… so many terms and processes, what do they all mean for my struggling reader? Thomas Hurford Ed. S and Alex Fender Ed. S will take time to answer your questions.

Resources:

Academic Screening Tools Chart Selector https://www.improvingliteracy.org/screening-selector/index.html

Best Practices in Universal Screening https://www.improvingliteracy.org/brief/best-practices-universal-screening/

Alex Fender is the director of evaluation at the Center for Reading at Pittsburg State University. She is a nationally certified school psychologist who has worked for more than 12 years in the fields of psychology and education. She has served as a school psychologist, psychological associate, and researcher and has worked in various settings including public schools, clinics, and hospital

Thomas Hurford, Ed.S. is the Director of Intervention and Professional Development at the Center for Reading at Pittsburg State University. As the Director of Intervention and Professional Development, he has trained individuals to use the Secret Codes which is a Structured Literacy curriculum. Before working with the Center for Reading, Thomas was a School Psychologist for over a decade working in central Kansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma.