DORA Assessment results for struggling reader- Please help!

[ChocolateCake]

Can anyone give me some advice on where to go from here?  I just got results for the DORA exam for my 10dd (4th grade).  She has always struggled with reading.  She learned to read at 6.5 and only about a year ago stopped asking me "When will I know how to read?".  We've completed OPGTR and almost all the ETC books (doing book 8 this summer).  She also completed Reading Eggs and Teach Your Monster to Read when she was younger.  I'm currently having her watch Elizabeth B.'s phonics videos and I'm using How to Teach Spelling with her.  The main problem I see with her is she forgets the sounds of phonemes.  She guesses words and adds/takes off letters and endings.  I had her checked by a COVD optometrist but he said her tracking is slightly off but not bad enough to need therapy.  

I'm a bit depressed by these scores. 

High-Frequency Words: 3.17

Word Recognition: 5.17

Phonics (Word Analysis): 4.5

Spelling: 1.83

Oral Vocabulary: 6.83

Reading Comprehension: 2.17

 

 

 

 

[Renai]

The only thing really low in those scores are spelling and reading comprehension. The others (besides high frequency words) are at the 4th-6th grade level. Nothing concerning there. My daughter had spelling scores like that at about that age, and I switched her spelling to All About Spelling. It made a big difference in recognizing phonemes, maybe because of the color coding. The scores are showing that she decodes words just fine, she just is not putting them together in a way that makes sense, or she is not reading fast enough to comprehend the passage (reading comprehension score).

I'd look into doing testing to see if she has a processing issue. My daughter processed things slowly, which came out when she read things herself, but her auditory processing skills were high. On DORA, some things are timed, so if your daughter is reading slowly, it will look like a reading comprehension issue. When my daughter was tested (by the school district), it showed that when allowed to read without being timed, her comprehension was actually high. When timed, the scores plummeted. 

Now, it's been a while since I've used DORA, but this is the way I remember it (it may have been changed).

[PeterPan]

11 hours ago, ChocolateCake said:

The main problem I see with her is she forgets the sounds of phonemes.  She guesses words and adds/takes off letters and endings. 

She's presenting as dyslexic. Is she currently homeschooled? Nothing you're using is intervention level. Watching videos from another tutor is not the same as providing multisensory instruction.

You suspect learning disabilities and have evidence that they are affecting her ability to access her education. You can make a written request to your ps and they will be required by federal law to eval or you can eval privately. Or you can do a combo (private and ps evals) to fight for an IEP if your state offers disability funding.

You're definitely seeing something, and I would get thorough, baseline testing. She's going to benefit from multi-sensory instruction, something like OG, Wilson, Barton, etc. She may also have an effect on her math, writing, attention, etc. That reading comprehension despite high vocabulary is concerning, so I would make sure they run narrative language testing as well. They can do that with the TNL (test of narrative language) or a dynamic assessment.

You need complete evals to get a complete picture, but many reading tutors could do the *reading* portion of the assessment you need. They may have the CTOPP and a reading achievement test to get you an affordable baseline. However that still doesn't get you the full picture, address whether there are other issues comorbid, tell you about language issues or processing speed. You really want full evals either privately or through the ps. But if you just want a quick baseline to get you started, look for a reading tutor. That would also be another way to gather evidence to compel the ps to eval.

On the plus side, her vocabulary is strong and she sounds like she's very bright. She should respond well to intervention when you finally get the right materials. So take heart, you're going the right direction gathering information to make a change! 

Btw, have you done the Barton tutor and student screenings? https://bartonreading.com/students/#ss  It's entirely possible she won't pass the screening, which would give you data on where to begin your intervention.

Edited April 25, 2019 by PeterPan

[ChocolateCake]

Thanks for the kick in the pants regarding testing.  I don't have someone IRL to talk to about this.  

Yes, we homeschool.  Yes, I am pursuing evals (private).  We have an appointment with a psychologist next month to discuss educational testing.  Any tips moving forward are appreciated. 

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by ChocolateCake

[domestic_engineer]

If I recall correctly the reading comprehension part of the DORA was at the end.  And my DC, by that time, was bored/tired of the whole thing.  I saw DC just answering quickly to get the whole thing over; so I stopped the test for the day.  But then when we restarted the next day there were just a few questions left.  So I justified my DC's low reading comprehension score as due to boredom.    BUT I also had DC do one of  ElizabethB's  programs (Syllables Spell Success or the longer Phonics program, I can't remember which one), and promised myself I'd retest DC with the DORA upon completion of the program.

I am not discounting anyone else's advice, just wanted to point out that boredom/fatigue could be playing into the results.

Other ideas:  have her read aloud to you more often so that you can monitor her accuracy, a typing program that has the phonograms built into their teaching approach, teach cursive so that she will think in chunks more.

[ChocolateCake]

I actually had her do the DORA over three days because I knew she wouldn't have the stamina to read that long.  We typically buddy read for about 10 minutes (5 days/week).  So really she's just reading 5 minutes aloud per day and will complain if I ask her to do more.  She reads silently before bed for about 10 minutes.  Sometimes it's a book she can read on her own like Judy Moody and sometimes it's a Whispersync book (with audio).  I was planning to have her use Touch Type Read and Spell this summer instead of the typing she has been doing.  I have had her work on cursive for two years but she still can't read cursive.  I actually just realized that recently.  When she copies a word she does it one letter at a time.  During the DORA, she was reading a story about Sally Ride and she asked me, "Does this say ride or rid?".  We've worked on silent e a lot.  I'm surprised she still is wondering how to read words like that. 

So, these are some of the things that concern me.

[EKS]

I would read up on dyslexia.  Start with Sally Shaywitz's book Overcoming Dyslexia.  Ignore where she says that parents should not try to remediate their child's dyslexia. What she means is that parents should not wing it when remediating their child's dyslexia.

That said, some of the DORA subtests have really low ceilings, specifically high frequency words and phonics, and she seems to have almost maxed those out.  What this means is that one little silly error may have prevented her from scoring the maximum possible score.

Did you observe her taking the test?  If you didn't, I recommend that you have her retake it.  It may artificially inflate the scores somewhat, but it will allow you to see where she struggles.  Also, in order to make her struggles more transparent, it is important that she reads everything aloud.

[domestic_engineer]

48 minutes ago, ChocolateCake said:

she's just reading 5 minutes aloud per day and will complain if I ask her to do more. 

Maybe bring the reading level down a bit for read-alouds so that you can build her confidence and her stamina?  

It sounds like it's hard work for her to read .... and nobody, especially a kid, likes to work hard for a long period of time.

[PeterPan]

There's also the idea of fluency, which is that the person needs enough repetition, after the multi-sensory instruction, to practice to skill to build fluency.

[EKS]

On 4/26/2019 at 8:47 AM, ChocolateCake said:

 So really she's just reading 5 minutes aloud per day and will complain if I ask her to do more. 

It is really important that she work up to reading aloud for 20-30 minutes of easy to read text every day.  Once she can do this with whatever level you start out with, gradually increase the level of the books until the books are on level.  "On level" doesn't necessarily mean her age-grade level, though it can.  It means a level that is commensurate with her intelligence.

Also, if she has mostly mastered basic phonics, I recommend going through REWARDS (probably Intermediate).  It is an extremely powerful and easy to implement program that teaches kids how to deal with multisyllabic words.

Edited April 28, 2019 by EKS

[ChocolateCake]

I gave her the Barton screening and she didn't pass since she got 2 wrong on Task B (clapping syllables) so I will work with her on that. She made no mistakes in Task A and Task C.

[PeterPan]

So you're going to get her eval'ed, get the dyslexia diagnosed, and get her intervention level materials? I missed it. That screener is only to show whether she has the requisite skills even to do OG (the proper intervention for dyslexia). So she failed that, and it's a test any 5 yo would pass. I'm assuming you saw the materials Barton links https://bartonreading.com/student-result/  but clearly a 10 who is failing that screener has significant issues and needs evaluations and intervention. Barton would be open and go for you. Advantages of a diagnosis will include paper trail for college testing, possible access to state disability funding, and free access to the National Library Service.

[ChocolateCake]

23 hours ago, PeterPan said:

So you're going to get her eval'ed, get the dyslexia diagnosed, and get her intervention level materials? I missed it. That screener is only to show whether she has the requisite skills even to do OG (the proper intervention for dyslexia). So she failed that, and it's a test any 5 yo would pass. I'm assuming you saw the materials Barton links https://bartonreading.com/student-result/  but clearly a 10 who is failing that screener has significant issues and needs evaluations and intervention. Barton would be open and go for you. Advantages of a diagnosis will include paper trail for college testing, possible access to state disability funding, and free access to the National Library Service.

I’m guessing it will be at least a month before she is tested.  What would you suggest working on in the meantime?

[PeterPan]

18 minutes ago, ChocolateCake said:

I’m guessing it will be at least a month before she is tested.  What would you suggest working on in the meantime?

Well if you have an appt and you know it's only going to be a month, I would do other things. You'd like her to be very calm and rested up for her appointment. You could work on daily mindfulness and calming strategies, do art, cook, sew, do read alouds, learn how to get audiobooks through your library, do lego kits, take field trips to historical sites, explore parks, plan a project/adventure like a series of camping trips, read summaries of Shakespeare and watch the BBC cartoon versions or the Ambrose dvd versions.

Whatever she's already doing, she should continue to do. So if she reads comics 20 minutes daily, continue to do that. 

[ElizabethB]

I have found that working through my syllables program helps my dyslexic students be better able to hear, divide, and understand syllables, the portion that she failed in the screening.  I would keep working through it.  The schwa accent pattern of syllables in Webster is especially helpful for my dyslexic students.

For learning the letter sounds and getting them long term, I have students use this chart on their own when reading to look up sounds, the physical act of looking them up seems helpful.  You can also drill it daily across and down for a few weeks, then weekly for a while.  The arrangement is by sound, not alphabet, which is also helpful for my students with dyslexia.

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/Resources/40LChartsCombined.pdf

For 2 letter vowel teams, I use this chart, and drill the sounds with color and the key, then without the key, then in black and white.

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/Resources/OnePageVowelChart.pdf

I am actually working on a video about how to learn the sounds and which vowel teams are worth drilling, it should be out Monday, although I am running behind so it might be late.