Category: Spelling Interventions

Dyslexia Expert Coming to California

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Learn how one dyslexia expert is paying it forward! Decoding Dyslexia CA interviews Dr. Margie Gillis, President and Founder of Literacy How to learn more about the innovative way she is reinvesting her company’s profits into training teachers in Structured Literacy. Structured Literacy is a research-based approach to providing instruction that benefits not only students with dyslexia, but all students.

Dr. Gillis holds an Ed.D. in Special Education and is a Certified Academic Language Therapist. She is also a research affiliate with Haskins Laboratories.  Haskins Laboratories has long-standing, formal affiliations with the University of Connecticut and Yale University and it produces groundbreaking research that enhances our understanding of—and reveals ways to improve or remediate—speech perception and production, reading and reading disabilities, and human communication.

 

Decoding Dyslexia CA is pleased to announce that Dr. Gillis of Literacy How will be coming to the San Francisco Bay Area this summer to provide a weeklong (30-hour) Structured Literacy training for sixty teachers.  DDCA is co-sponsoring this training with San Ramon Valley USD.  More information on how teachers can register for this training can be found here. This training will sell out so register early.

Breaking News:  Judge denies Berkeley Unified School District’s motion to dismiss dyslexia case!

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Breaking News:  Judge denies Berkeley Unified School District’s motion to dismiss dyslexia case!

October 12, 2017 – BUSD (“Defendants”) had previously filed a motion, in part, to have this federal dyslexia case (Student A, et al v. Berkeley Unified School District – Case No. 17-cv-02510-JST) dismissed arguing that the individual families involved had failed to “exhaust their administrative remedies before bringing suit” (i.e. each individual family going through due process hearings first).  Plaintiffs successfully argued that they should “be excused from exhausting their administrative remedies because it was futile and inadequate to do so”.  Judge ruled, in part, in favor of the Plaintiffs.

Many of you have been closely following the complaint filed in federal court on May 2, 2017 against Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), the BUSD Superintendent, the BUSD Board of Education, and the Directors of the BUSD Board of Education, for systemically failing to educate students with reading disorders, and students who are suspected to have reading disorders.

It should be noted that complaints regarding the systemic and unlawful practices and policies at BUSD had been previously filed with the CA Department of Education and that BUSD did not sufficiently change its policies in response to these complaints.

Plaintiffs successfully argued that the issue regarding BUSD failing to educate students with dyslexia was a systemic one and not limited to the students involved in this federal lawsuit and that they are seeking relief on behalf of all similarly situated students at BUSD.

The judge did grant the Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss claims against individual BUSD board members. This dismissal has no real impact on the case.

Thanks to all DDCA volunteers who attended the Motion to Dismiss hearing on August 24, 2017!

Click here to read the original complaint filed on May 2, 2017.

Click here to read the May 2, 2017 press release issued by Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), Jacobson Education Law, Inc. & Goodwin.

Click here to read the “Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion to Dismiss” filed on October 12, 2017.