Marin schools prepare to add reading diagnostic tool

California elementary schools will have a new online screening tool next year to spot risks for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, in their youngest students, the state announced.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that all public school students from kindergarten through second grade will get the screening during the 2025-26 school year, according to state law. School districts have until June 30 to select one of the four state-approved screening providers for use in their schools starting in the fall, Newsom said.

“I know from my own challenges with dyslexia that when we help children read, we help them succeed,” Newsom said in making the announcement. “By finalizing the reading difficulties screening tools, we are taking an important step toward early, universal reading screenings for California’s kids.”

The digital screening program likely to be used in Marin is called Multitudes, developed by neuroscience researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Multitudes was one of the four screeners approved by the state last  week.

Several Marin school districts had a hand in early tests of Multitudes, according to Laura Trahan, an assistant superintendent at the Marin County Office of Education.

“We are most excited to have a tool available for use in our schools that is not only evidence-based, but also cost-neutral,” Trahan said. “We understand the importance of universal screeners and the role they play in early identification so that the right students can get the right supports they need at the right time to thrive.”

The county office plans to offer teachers professional training on Multitudes in February or March, Trahan said. Education officials will discuss in January the best way to communicate the screening process to Marin parents, she said.

Schools in the Ross, Ross Valley, Reed Union, Shoreline Unified and Sausalito Marin City school districts worked with UCSF in early tests of the Multitudes screener, according to Francesca Pei, chief operations officer for the UCSF program.

Pei said the Multitudes screening tool, which is available in English and Spanish, uses iPads or laptops in one-on-one sessions between a teacher and a child. The teacher digitally guides the student through about 10 minutes of online exercises that assess the child’s ability to recognize words and spellings, vocabulary and reading comprehension.

From the results of the exercises, the tool can alert the teacher to any weaknesses or irregularities in the child’s literacy skills so teachers can plan an intervention, Pei said.

“The tool provides results instantly to inform instruction and next steps,” Pei said. “The platform also includes resources for interventions — curated and tailored to students — and professional development materials that cater to different learning and teaching styles.”

Pei said the UCSF research team gathered 15,000 student sample tests statewide, including some from Marin, to develop their screening tool over approximately four years.

“Our screener is science-backed, free of charge and culturally responsive,” said Dr. Marilu Gorno Tempini, director of the UCSF Dyslexia Center and principal investigator for Multitudes. “It supports early readers from diverse backgrounds, including California’s more than 1.1 million English learners.”

David Rice, superintendent of the Ross School District, said his district has partnered for several years with the UCSF Dyslexia Center to test its Multitudes screener.

“This collaboration has enabled us to enhance our intervention programs by pinpointing gaps in foundational literacy skills, allowing for timely and targeted support,” Rice said. “By integrating Multitudes with our existing assessments, we are better equipped to foster a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all our students.”

Kimberly McGrath, superintendent at Reed Union School District, agreed.

“We are very optimistic about the potential of the UCSF dyslexia screener to significantly improve early identification and intervention for students struggling with reading,” McGrath said.

“By identifying potential challenges early on, such as dyslexia, RUSD and other school districts can provide targeted support and interventions tailored to individual student needs,” McGrath said.

More information on the statewide reading screening program is online at shorturl.at/Mx0ZM.