Because Knowing is the Beginning of the Solution...

“Knowing” is a powerful platform and place to start—knowing exactly what a student with dyslexia needs to access the curriculum. The fact is that teachers need some help working with students who have dyslexia. And uPAR™ can get it to them. Dr. Denise DeCoste developed the uPAR Protocol that gives educators the tools to make the right decisions on read-aloud accommodations. It shows each student’s comprehension using a reading accommodation compared to reading independently. Knowing what a student needs gives you a chance against Dyslexia.

Try uPAR™ for free now

of children who have delayed language development go on to have reading, writing, and spelling deficits.

of classroom teachers say they are somewhat or not too confident in their ability to implement IEP/504 plans.

Teachers are no better than chance at determining whether a student needs a read-aloud accommodation (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2001; Helwig & Tindal, 2003).

States are requiring school districts to screen for Dyslexia. Knowing which students have Dyslexia is the first step. But the next step is equally important—knowing what to do about it...

Screening

Identifying dyslexia early is essential to giving students a fighting chance to excel in school and life.

Evaluating Options

Evaluative tools like uPAR can show how students perform under different reading conditions (read-aloud accommodations vs. independent reading).

Intervention

Popular approaches to instruction focus on multisensory structured language education (MSLE) and include Orton-Gillingham.

Accommodations

Read-aloud accommodations have been found effective for most students with Dyslexia. Students should be evaluated for with uPAR to show whether read-aloud accommodations will work.

uPAR shows if read-aloud accommodations are right for each student. It also shows the specific level of text (by grade level) each student can comprehend with a read-aloud accommodation—even comparing human read-aloud conditions with text-to-speech.

Download a paper-based version of uPAR™ for free

What happens if the wrong accomodations are in place?

Teachers

see students frustrated after performing poorly

Parents

and teachers don’t agree about which accommodation the student needs

Students

don’t use their accommodations because they have the wrong ones

Getting to a dyslexia diagnosis can be the first and sometimes the biggest hurdle a student or parents of a struggling student will encounter.

For educators, understanding dyslexia can be a difficult task. Historically, schools have been hesitant to even label a child as dyslexic (that was often left to physicians), let alone provide that student the assistance they need to be successful. Now the way students are screened and served is changing with new dyslexia legislation.

Infographic showing “1 in 5people are thought to be affectedby Dyslexia” and “1 in 20 arecorrectly diagnosed”

Kristin Smith, AssistiveTechnology Facilitator

uPAR was able to show us that Gavin could read up to sophomore level in high school and comprehend that text [with a reading accommodation]

KRISTIN SMITH

Assistive Technology Facilitator

Hand placing little blacksilhouettes of people

uPAR™ lets you set up a group of students in seconds

uPAR lets you organize and setup a group of students easily to evaluate, giving you data that shows the way each student learns best—and the specific level of text that can be understood by each student when listening (with a reading accommodation) compared to independent reading.

uPAR™

Learn the way students comprehend text best, whether reading independently or by listening with a read-aloud accommodation.
Easy Setup

Easily set up a group of students to test.
Evaluate

an entire group of students the same time.
Score

uPAR scores automatically, giving you the results instantly.
Reports

Reading levels with accommodations are compared to independent reading levels (on file).
Knowledge

Helps fight Dyslexia by delivering real information on how students read.

Teachers

Can find out, for each student in their classroom, the right level of accommodation for success.

Parents

uPAR™ can give you the data to show parents in an IEP meeting if a reading accommodation will work their your child or not, and whether it will help to comprehend grade-level classroom content.

White silhouette of student with a skateboard

Students

Can see their self-esteem rise as they realize that, with a different approach to reading, they can often read even above grade level.

Paper and computerized versions to help you really know.

Paper-based uPAR

the free PDF version of PAR one-on-one or automate the process with uPAR! With uPAR, IEP teams can quickly see which students benefit and which are disadvantaged by accommodations.

FREE

No Credit Card Required

Download Now

Web-delivered uPAR

District-wide, team bundles and individual licenses are available.

$0.50-2.00

per student annually

(based on total student enrollment)

Per Seat licenses are also available

Get a Price Quote

FAQs

What are other districts finding with uPAR?

When the data comes out, there’s typically a lot of surprise in the room—typically quite a few students who have been receiving accommodations are shown to perform better without. Quite a few students are found who can get to or even above grade level with accommodations, and many of these students were unnecessarily getting modified materials in the classroom. uPAR turns subjective decision-making based on opinion into objective decision-making based on data.

How long does it take for students to be tested?

The uPAR process takes up to one class period (under 40 minutes). Districts are typically implementing uPAR in a lab with up to 25 students. We recommend another class period to go over the data with each student and train on accommodations for the students who need them.

My state has new requirements for proving students need accommodations on the new assessment. Will uPAR give me this information?

Most states are requiring a diagnostic process to prove that a student needs reading accommodations. This is exactly the type of data uPAR gives. You can export specific student data or print it out as proof a student needs a reading accommodation. PAR is even written into the guidance recommendations in at least one state.