Compulsory (Universal)
Dyslexia “Risk” Screening
Impact Markets In California and Beyond
What’s really going on?
Expanded Data Surveillance - Biometric and Digital Content Consumed
Pathologizing Children - Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Traits
Social Impact Markets In Early Literacy / Behavioral Health
Market Shaping For Ed-Tech and Cloud Computing
Dehumanized Instruction / Continued Reduction In Human Labor Costs
AppRise (Curious Learning), OptoLexia & RAPID Lexia (Cambium)
Social Impact Markets in Dyslexia Screening
“Dyslexia is the trillion dollar problem we don’t know we have.
Dyslexia and its consequences are estimated to cost California $20 billion in 2020 and $1 trillion over the next 60 years.
Investing in early screening and teacher training would provide an astonishing 800% to 2000% return.”
Social Impact Cost Offset Narrative
“By addressing the learning gap before it widens, we can reallocate what is currently spent on serving disproportionately high numbers of dyslexic individuals within the welfare and criminal justice systems to education budgets statewide.
At a school level benefits of early intervention will have near-term cost savings through a reduction in more cost-intensive needs for students including special education and absenteeism.”
Prison * Unemployment * Mental Health * Homelessness * Higher Education Access * Cost To Families for Screening / Tutoring / Litigation
This is screening for “risk,” not diagnosing dyslexia.
ALL students in K-2. This is market-shaping for literacy remediation apps.
“Screening pursuant to this subdivision shall NOT BE CONSIDERED an evaluation to establish eligibility for special education and related services.”
Boston Consulting Group - Impact Investing
Boston Consulting Group References AppRise July 2020
“...to provide knowledge of INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES [read educational technology] that can be successfully used with pupils AT RISK for dyslexia.”
Curious Learning - AppRise
UCSF
UConn
MIT
Learning Ally
Curious Learning
Gamification = Behavioral Profiling
Opto Lexia Sweden
Dyslexia Markets Opening In The US and UK
Artificial Intelligence - Microsoft “Optolexia”
FERPA Gutted
Neuroscape - Akili - “Digital Therapeutics Alliance”
Is AppRise really about diagnosing dyslexia “risk”?
“Who Can Play?” (Apprise dyslexia risk screener)
What does it assess? Literacy? or “Executive Function”?
Will children’s “Executive Function” data from these dyslexia apps be used in research to predict “criminality” and “prison brain”?
Pay For Success Deals Measure “School Readiness”
Early Literacy Social Impact Bonds
SB237 Bill Sponsors
Literacy Social Impact Bonds K-3
“Screening instrument means a brief tool measuring discrete skills to determine RISK for dyslexia and possible need for early intervention, including, but not limited to, early intervention in a component of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).”��SB237 Bill Text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB237
Context: A Post Literate World - Digital Programming
Global Dyslexia Treatment Market 2020-2027
“Key Market Players:
Few of the major competitors currently working in the global dyslexia treatment market are Novartis AG, Tris Pharma, Inc, LANNETT, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Mallinckrodt, Mayne Pharma, Novel Laboratories Inc, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc, Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alvogen, Bionpharma, ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Mylan N.V, Ascent Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc, Ironshore Pharmaceuticals Inc , Alkem Labs, Fresenius Kabi AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc and others.”
Compulsory dyslexia screening is “risk” profiling.
It yields data to grow social impact investment markets.
Children are profiled as deficits to be “fixed.”
The “fixes” offered are techno-solutionist “evidence.”
The intent is pathlogize but also to limit IEP access.
IEPs are the cost offset, the “Return On Investment” �
Triple Exploitation
See also:
Elliott, J. G.(2020). It’s Time to be Scientific About Dyslexia. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S61-S75. https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rrq.333
Downey, M. (2019). Mistake to Test All Georgia Kindergartners for Dyslexia.The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
National Education Policy Center // Investing for “Impact” or Investing for Profit? Social Impact Bonds, Pay for Success, and the Next Wave of Privatization of Education and Social Services�https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/social-impact-bonds
National Education Policy Center and Education Deans for Justice and Equity // Policy Statement on the “Science of Reading” https://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/publications/FYI%20Ed%20Deans%20reading.pdf
Gabriel, R., E. (2020). Converting to Privatization: A Discourse Analysis of Dyslexia Policy Narratives. American Educational Research Journal, 57, (1), pp. 305–338. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0002831219861945
Worthy, J., Svrcek, N., Daly-Lesch, A., & Tily, S. (2018). “We Know for a Fact”: Dyslexia Interventionists and the Power of Authoritative Discourse. Journal of Literacy Research, 50(3), 2018. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1086296X18784759
See also:
For a close reading of the CA-HI State and National NAACP Dyslexia resolutions (which indicate screenings and not “risk” screenings), please see here (p.22) and here.
NAACP Resolution Protecting Youth from Data Exploitation by Online Technologies and Applications
To learn more about the concerns and harms related to Social Impact Bonds, "Pay For Success," “Results-Based Contracting,” and related financial schemes, see: http://bit.ly/sibgamble