Enhancing consistency in dyslexia identification : fostering collaboration to reduce noise in multidisciplinary evaluation teams.

Special education evaluation teams interpret student data sets from different points of view based on their areas of expertise. Individual team members' professional judgment is influenced by individual training, skills, experience, and recent changes in Texas policy, leading to variability and inconsistent conclusions in the identification of dyslexia. This study will investigate the discrepancies and inconsistencies in conclusions among team members. To quantify this inconsistency within a single district, a Noise Audit will be completed to determine the percentage of agreement in identification between evaluation team members. Subsequently, a Mediating Assessment Protocol strategy will be implemented as an intervention to enhance the consistency of team decision-making regarding dyslexia identification. A semi-structured interview with each participant will provide insight into the types and sources of noise that influence decision-making of the evaluation team members. Data analysis will involve a comparative examination of diagnostic outcomes across specific evaluation personnel’s expertise.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Vorderkunz, Janeia, 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Urick, Angela.

• Special education.
• Multidisciplinary evaluation team.
• Professional judgement.
• Dyslexia.
• Noise.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14641

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14641