Should California schools screen students for dyslexia? + Fresno Unified honors educators
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Hey Bee readers! It’s Lasherica with The Education Lab. Today is Wednesday, Feb. 22, and this is our weekly newsletter.
Amid the three-day weekend, you might’ve missed the news about state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D–Burbank, introducing legislation to screen all K-2 students for dyslexia — again.
According to EdSource, Portantino proposed a screening mandate in 2021 as well. Lawmakers didn’t discuss the bill, and it died in the Assembly Education Committee.
The legislation’s greatest opponent, according to Carolyn Jones’ EdSource story, was the state’s teachers union.
The California Teachers Association said the universal screening would result in “overidentification of students with potential reading disorders, take up classroom time and not necessarily result in more help for children with dyslexia.”
Jones’ story provides insight into their arguments by allowing CTA to elaborate on their stance and by talking with experts, such as a UC Irvine education professor and dyslexia expert who disputed their claims of overidentification and pointed to evidence that a delayed assessment of dyslexia leads to problems for students.
Portantino told EdSource the issue was too important to drop, so he’s proposing a mandate again — Senate Bill 691. This time around, he said he would work with the CTA and other concerned parties to clarify the bill’s language.
“Dyslexia is the most common learning disability, and yet it often goes undetected,” Portantino said in a statement. “Early identification and intervention with evidence-based strategies is key to helping children read and vital to their academic success.”
Pictured above: Associated Press file photo
HERE’S THE LATEST FROM THE EDUCATION LAB
Here are the boundaries for Clovis’ newest elementary school. What parents should know
The new attendance zone will pull students from one of the area’s most populous schools.
MORE FRESNO-AREA EDUCATION NEWS
Fresno Unified recently honored its Excellence in Education finalists and announced the winners.
The awardees are:
Classified Employee of the Year: Cathy Lopez, social emotional intervention paraeducator at Roosevelt High School
Elementary School Educator of the Year: Emmelin Herrera, teacher at Herrera Elementary School
Middle School Educator of the Year: Jessica Matoian, teacher at Sequoia Middle School
High School Educator of the Year: Kyra Orgill, teacher at Fresno High School
Administrator of the Year: Abraham Olivares, principal at Fort Miller Middle School
Department Administrator of the Year: Tumani Heights, manager at Project ACCESS
Lopez, Herrera and Heights will be in the running for the Fresno County Educator of the Year awards.
“Every single employee that we see tonight has had a hand in substantively changing the lives of students in the city of Fresno,” Superintendent Bob Nelson said during the Jan. 31 awards dinner.
The California Council for Adult Education, a state awards commission, selected two Clovis Unified employees for statewide awards, Superintendent Eimear O’Brien announced.
Clovis Adult School Principal Ed Schmalzel is receiving the CCAE Award of Merit for his “outstanding service in leadership to adult education at local and state levels,” O’Brien said.
The school’s program technician Josie Gallegos is being awarded the Excellence in Support Services for service to adult education sites.
“It (Clovis Adult School) really is another jewel in Clovis Unified,” O’Brien said.
Both Schmalzel and Gallegos will receive their awards in April at the state conference in Oakland.
The Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Office is hosting a School Safety Symposium on Tuesday, according to a media release.
Coordinated by the FBI Sacramento Field Office and the California County Superintendents, the symposium connects K-12 educators and law enforcement leaders to provide up-to-date information and practices in active shooter prevention and response while facilitating a relationship between educators and law enforcement ahead of a threat.
There will be presentations on active shooter awareness, school climate and safety, threat assessment tools and suspicious activity reporting, among other topics.
More than 200 are expected to attend the event, which is not open to the public.
Fresno Pacific University is one of seven universities starting a Master of Social Work program with grant funding from the California Department of Health Care Access & Information, a media release said.
Through the Social Work Education Capacity Expansion program, FPU was awarded $1.5 million to create a one-year accelerated model for students with a bachelor’s degree in social work with plans for a traditional two-year model for students with different undergraduate degrees.
“Over the past eight years, our BSW (Bachelor of Social Work) graduates have consistently told us they are looking for an MSW (Master of Social Work) option that is rooted in the values and peace tradition of an FPU education,” said Ron Herms, dean of the School of Humanities, Religion & Social Sciences.
The MSW program will be established on Fresno Pacific’s main campus before expanding to the college’s North Fresno and Visalia campuses.
Amarisa Gonzalez, a Fresno City College molecular and cell biology student,is one of about 10 students chosen internationally for a spot with Project PoSSUM at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) at Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla., a media release detailed. She is seeking financial support to attend the program.
The project is a nonprofit research and education program that examines the mesosphere and its role in the global climate.
“The program prepares its candidates for suborbital human space flight to build unprecedented models of this region of our atmosphere,” Fresno City College said about the program, which starts in March.
Gonzalez created a GoFundMe to raise the money for the $6,500 program.
“I have had a strong passion for the sciences and have taken every opportunity to expand my knowledge,” she said.
STILL WANT MORE EDUCATION NEWS? HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Julianna’s List
New Report: Lengthy Calculus Prerequisites Pose Barriers
“If we want to increase diversity in STEM fields, we must question practices potentially rooted in deficit perspectives of students.” | Inside Higher Ed
Michigan State University student: I survived Sandy Hook, now this shooting
21-year-old Jackie Matthews shared her story in a TikTok posted in the early morning hours following the shooting at the college campus in East Lansing. | The Detroit Free Press
An onslaught of trauma is creating a generation on alert
“Like Hudson, some MSU students lived through their second mass shooting on Monday. A handful of students were at Oxford on Nov. 30, 2021, another student said she survived the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, over a decade ago. Thousands more who were on campus Monday, many of whom are young adults, survived their first shooting.” | The Detroit Free Press
Lasherica’s List
New Training Tells Florida School Librarians Which Books Are Off-Limits
They are prohibited from using any instructional materials that include critical race theory, culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, social justice, “and any other unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination are prohibited,” according to the training. | Education Week
PROOF POINTS: Federal funds to combat pandemic learning loss don’t reflect need
A new report hints at the complexity of catch up strategies | The Hechinger Report
Will arts education cuts in proposed California budget have a big impact?
Arts advocates point to the power of the arts to boost the state’s student achievement and buttress social-emotional well-being. | EdSource
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