Layered EducationWhat it looks like
- Reads slowly and with effort, even when understanding is strong
- Spells the same word several different ways
- Avoids reading aloud or goes quiet when asked
Specific Learning Disabilities
Dyslexia
What dyslexia looks like in middle and high school, and how to give access to content.
Why it happens
Dyslexia is a language-based difference in how the brain connects sounds to print. It is not about intelligence, effort, or vision. Students with dyslexia often think and speak far above their reading level.
Try this tomorrow
- Offer audiobooks or text-to-speech for every assigned text
- Ask for volunteers or give notice. Do not cold-call reading aloud
- Share notes and slides ahead of time
- Grade the ideas. Mark spelling separately, or not at all
- Allow extra time for reading-heavy tasks
If two of you are in the room
Co-teaching pairs can split this between them, and swap who takes which part so both teachers work with every student.
One teacher
Leads the lesson and reads key directions and passages aloud.
The other teacher
Sets up audio versions and notes before class and checks in privately.
What the research can and cannot tell us
Structured literacy is the instructional approach with the strongest research support. Most studies involve younger students, but older students also make gains. Accommodations give access. They do not replace reading instruction.
Keep in mind
Teachers do not diagnose. Describe what you see, and take any evaluation question to the case manager or student support team. Accommodations on tests come from the student's IEP or 504 plan.
Resources
10 resources for this topic, drawn from 6 organizations. Everything opens free, and the ones from other organizations open on their own sites.
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Classroom Accommodations for Dyslexia
A printable list sorted by materials, new concepts, directions, and tests. Circle two to try this week.
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Dyslexia in the Classroom: What Every Teacher Needs to Know
A free handbook covering signs, classroom strategies, the parts of effective reading instruction, and screening.
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Accommodations for Students with Dyslexia
Sort supports into four types: presentation, response, setting, and timing. Explains why accommodations do not lower the standard.
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Signs of Dyslexia
Lists of signs and strengths by age, including high school and young adults. Helpful for describing what you see.
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California Dyslexia Guidelines
State guidance. See the high school section of Chapter 4 and the assistive technology chapter.
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Bookshare for Educators and Schools
Sign up to give students with qualifying reading barriers free audio and digital versions of textbooks and novels.
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Effective Reading Instruction for Students with Dyslexia
A plain summary of structured literacy: what is taught and how it is taught.
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Spelling
Why spelling is hard for students with dyslexia, how to teach it, and accommodations such as grading on content.
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Dyslexia: More than mixing up letters
A researcher who has dyslexia explains what it is and how audiobooks and text to speech give older students access. Transcript included.
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How a teen with dyslexia found her voice
A 15 year old student with dyslexia and her father describe what school felt like and what helped. Transcript included.
These resources are shared for professional learning and planning. They are meant to inform your professional judgment, not replace it. Each student's IEP and your district, state and federal requirements always come first. Listing a resource here is not an endorsement by Layered Education. This is educational information only, not legal advice.
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Want help putting this to work?
Facilitated co-planning days give a pair protected time to pick a focal student, choose one thing to try, and plan who does what. The first call is free.