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LGL DORA
Dyslexia Screener

An advanced online dyslexia screener for K-3 students

DORA DS: Valid, reliable online dyslexia screening assessment

  • Identifies individual students who may be at risk for dyslexia and reading difficulties
  • Identifies students who are on track for grade-level reading
  • Takes just 10 – 15 minutes to administer with no teacher proctoring
  • Provides real-time reporting
  • Available in English and Spanish
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Kids Using Digital Tablets
DORA DS Report Sample

DORA DS is an evidence-based digital screener that analyzes indicators of dyslexia:

  • Mouse Dexterity
  • Letter Identification
  • High-Frequency Words
  • Phonics (real and nonsense words)
  • Phonemic awareness
  • Rapid naming
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Letter Identification Example

During the screening process, a student hears, “Click on the letter E.”

Letter ID Example

Phonemic Awareness Example

Our screening tool analyzes three different phonemic awareness skills, each important in the development of foundational reading skills. For example, with blending, the student hears, “Combine the sounds /d/ /o/ /g/. What word did you hear?” Each face wiggles and plays a word. The student clicks to choose an answer.

Phonemic Awareness Example

Dexterity Test

As part of our dyslexia screening process, DORA DS contains a short bubble-popping test to identify false low scores for all students who may not be developmentally ready to follow instructions.

Dexterity Test Example

“To support universal reading literacy, we designed DORA DS to give teachers a diagnostic evaluation of gaps in early reading skills that may be indicators of dyslexia. Our screener is appropriate for Kindergarteners, 1st grade students, 2nd grade students, and 3rd grade students.  With over 20 years of experience in reading diagnosis and personalized instruction, we know that overcoming dyslexia requires early identification and intervention.”

Let's Go Learn CEO Richard Capone

—Richard Capone
CEO and Co-founder

Let’s Go Learn’s Commitment to Universal Literacy

Since 2000, Let’s Go Learn has committed to developing online programs that support universal literacy in K-12 reading and mathematics.

This year we have put our 20+ years of research-based computer-adaptive experience into an advanced dyslexia screener: DORA DS.

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Why Are Early Screening and Intervention Essential?

What is the definition of dyslexia? What do the experts say?

Dyslexia is the most ubiquitous form of neuro-cognitive disorders. It affects approximately 15-20% of the US student population. 68% of children with an IEP are dyslexic.

“…Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities”

—Dr. Sally Shaywitz, The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity

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Brain Illustration

How big is the problem?

The most recent results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress for US 4th graders indicate that many have severe reading difficulties. NAEP scores are comprised of Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.

  • 65% of 4th grade students are not at grade-level in reading skills.
    • 34% of students are Below Basic.
    • 31% of students are at Basic (partial mastery of prerequisite and proficient grade-level reading skills).
  • Only 36% of students are at Proficient (demonstrated reading competency at grade level).
  • Only 9% of students are at Advanced (superior performance at grade level).
Boy Covers Face

Academic Consequences for Struggling Readers

Elementary school, middle school, and high school students who do not reach grade-level reading proficiency may suffer mild to profound difficulties. If not proficient in reading by the end of 3rd grade, Fewer than 12% finish four years of college. They are also more likely to:

  • Struggle across all content areas, including science and math
  • Experience issues with school discipline and attendance
  • Drop out of high school at 4 times the rate of proficient readers

Socio-Economic Consequences of Dyslexia

Dyslexia that is not overcome has far-reaching personal and socio-economic consequences. It absolutely increases the likelihood of:

  • “low self-esteem, behavior problems, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents, and teachers” (Mayo Clinic)
  • ending up in the criminal justice system and living in poverty (D. Ankey) 

Note: The Boston Consulting Group found that in 2020 alone, dyslexia and its consequences cost California an estimated 12 billion. “Early screening and teacher training “would provide an astonishing 800% to 2000% return.”

Early Identification Allows Early Intervention

With early intervention and support, students can overcome dyslexia and go on to fulfill their academic and lifetime dreams.

Hikers at the Top of the Mountain
Dyslexic Boy at Whiteboard

DORA DS Screens for Key Indicators of Early Reading Readiness and Proficiency

As required by most State Education Departments, DORA DS screens a child’s early reading performance in the following areas:

  • Phonemic awareness and phonological awareness
  • Sound-symbol and symbol-sound recognition
  • Alphabetic knowledge
  • Decoding of real and nonsense words
  • Automatic naming of letters, digits, objects, and colors

Limitations of most dyslexia screeners

Most dyslexia screeners are available only in print. Those that have partial digital implementations such as Shaywitz Dyslexia Screener present administration challenges or interpretation of special scoring options.

  • Print screeners may take 3-4 hours to administer
  • Most require teacher training or a professional administrator
  • Reporting by ed tech company may take weeks to reach the district
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Frustrated Teacher

Advantages of Early Screening of Dyslexia with Online DORA DS

DORA DS was designed with the educator and the student in mind.

  • Takes about 10-15 minutes to administer
  • Uses adaptive logic to maximize validity and minimize test anxiety
  • Ensures social equity with a scores for all students in the key indicators
  • Provides automatic real-time analysis and valid reporting at the sub-test level for district teachers and administrators
  • Includes a mouse dexterity test to control for test-taking bias

Universal Screening for RTI and MTSS

Both RTI and MTSS programs require universal screeners.

DORA DS provides a state of the art dyslexia screening assessment.

After automatic administration of DORA DS, administrators and teachers can take advantage of LGL’s full-solution supplemental online reading program.

  • DORA K-12 Diagnostic Reading Assessment
  • DORA Phonemic Awareness
  • DORA Spanish/EDELL
  • LGL ELA/Reading Edge Data-Driven Instruction

Join our CEO to get an overview of different types of assessments.

Common Questions

Can I use the full DORA reading assessment instead of DORA DS? What are the differences?

Yes, you can use DORA to screen for dyslexia. So for instance, if your workflow is to diagnostically assess all K-8 students then you can just use DORA to screen. The difference is that DORA may take longer for younger students.because it is not capped, advanced young, good readers may get higher level items. Also DORA includes additional sub-tests such as spelling, oral vocabulary, and reading comprehension. These may add to the duration of the assessment.

How does DORA DS compare to the screeners of other companies’ that have diagnostic assessments?

Most companies that have digital screeners require that teachers do an additional one-on-one assessment for students who do not pass the initiative reading assessment. This is comparable to students taking DORA, our full reading assessment. However, the issue is that the law requires quick screener and what their assessment articulation plan requires. In these cases, a separate product like DORA DS is required.

How does DORA DS compare to most print dyslexia screeners?

The Shaywitz Dyslexia screener is a partial online and in-person administered screener. Plus the scoring needs to be sent out to them to be completed. This makes it hard to scale for a lot of students and makes data processing difficult and not real-time.

Can you recommend resources for learning more about dyslexia?

There are a number of educational and medical articles that are helpful in developing a rich understanding of dyslexia.

Is DORA Dyslexia Screener a valid and reliable assessment?

Yes, it is. The standard for dyslexia screening is to look at early reading skills such as letter identification, beginning phonics, rapid naming and phonemic awareness. Our screener is able to statistically and reliably measure a student's abilities in these area of early reading. When rolled up these scores act as a screener.
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