Mayor Eric Adams has announced his plan to support students with dyslexia in NYC public schools. The DOE will now screen all students in kindergarten through second grade for literacy three times a year by educational company Acadience Learning. Students in 3rd through 10th grades will also be screened three times a year, but by a screener option chosen by the principal. Students who continue to perform below the benchmark will then be screened for dyslexia and other language-based disabilities.
Students who are identified as at-risk will then be recommended for a neuropsychology evaluation. Promise Project at Columbia University Medical Center has partnered with some schools to help low-income families afford the assessment. Based on the results, students will then receive support at their current school or enroll at one of the two new programs—which will be at P.S. 125 Ralph Bunche in Harlem and P.S. 161 Juan Ponce de Leon in the Bronx.
Other plans include training all teachers and creating a dyslexia task force. Schools will also be changing over to a phonics-based literacy curriculum. Starting in the fall, P.S 161 will pilot the program with second- and third-grade classes. P.S 125 will start with two grade levels as well. The goal is to open additional similar programs in each borough by 2023.
