Improving Reading Skills

Arizona ED Selects i-Ready as Universal Literacy and Dyslexia Screener for Students for 2022-23

• By Kristal Kuykendall
• 02/04/22

The Arizona Department of Education has named Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Assessment as an approved universal literacy and dyslexia screener for the 2022–2023 school year, allowing schools statewide to use the online diagnostic and offline literacy assessments to screen for risk factors associated with dyslexia.

The new dyslexia screening process is part of Arizona’s Move on When Reading policy, designed to provide evidence-based, effective reading instruction tailored to students’ individual needs.

“As a longtime partner to the Arizona education community, Curriculum Associates developed dyslexia screener items specific to the needs of Arizona students as required by state law,” said Curriculum Associates CEO Rob Waldron. “This recent approval by the ADE reinforces the power and validity of our assessment in identifying potential risk factors for dyslexia, which is necessary so educators can provide the specialized supports students need to succeed.”

ADE has directed Arizona schools to give all students in grades K–3 a universal literacy and dyslexia screener within the first 45 calendar days of the school year and to perform additional screenings during the winter and spring benchmark periods, according to a news release. Each benchmark data set is to be submitted to ADE’s Move on When Reading team throughout the school year.

The i-Ready platform combines Diagnostic tools and additional tasks that leverage the newest research on dyslexia screening and adheres to recommendations of the International Dyslexia Association, Curriculum Associates said. Districts can use the program to determine whether further assessment and specialized reading intervention may be appropriate for individual students.

Approximately one-fourth of all U.S. K–8 students are assessed on the i-Ready program, the company said.

Learn more at CurriculumAssociates.com/i-Ready.