The city will assess all students to determine if they are at risk of dyslexia — and will launch new pilot programs offering targeted support to students with the reading disability, officials announced Thursday.

Dyslexia has been a major talking point for Schools Chancellor David Banks — and for Mayor Eric Adams, whose own dyslexia went undiagnosed until after he left the city’s public school system. The announcement aims to prevent that from happening — by making screening accessible across the city, for free. “Those who repeatedly struggle will be offered a specific screening for dyslexia — going to identify it early, give them support early and ensure that they can have the right support as they move throughout their education,” Adams said Thursday. Next fall, the city will pilot programs at 80 elementary schools and 80 middle schools, offering support and training to identify students at risk for dyslexia and provide interventions. At those schools, every student will participate in what the city described as “short, adaptive literacy screeners.” And two school programs — Literacy Academy Collective at P.S. 161 in the Bronx and the Lab School for Family Literacy at P.S. 125 in Manhattan, where the announcement was made — will offer specialized programs for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities.

The Education Department says they plan to have at least one school offering this kind of instruction in each borough by fall of 2023. By April of 2023, all teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade will participate in a two-hour introductory training from the organization “Made by Dyslexia.”  Read the article here