Dyslexia support in Little Rock rises

The number of Little Rock School District students who are receiving instructional intervention for their characteristics of dyslexia grew by 50% between February and November, according to a recent report by Chandle Carpenter, the district’s dyslexia specialist.

The increase was most significant at the middle and high school level, where the number of students receiving the tier three support increased from 79 in the 2018-19 school year to the current 359.

At the elementary school level, the number of children receiving the tier three services has increased from 898 in February to 1,107.

A total of 977 students received tier three support in February as compared with the current 1,466 students.

The district’s recent report on reading intervention services to students comes after a February 2019 audit of the services by the Arkansas Department of Education. That state audit found the district’s services to students with dyslexia or symptoms of dyslexia were almost nonexistent at the high schools and full of holes at the middle and elementary schools.