The director of the reading and language development program at Fairfield University has been named the chief academic officer of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Jule McCombes-Tolis will continue in her present role at the university while taking on her new responsibilities with IDA.
She has been an advocate for student literacy growth throughout her career and has dual expertise in special education and remedial reading. McCombes-Tolis will lead the IDA”™s Educator Training Initiative, a nationwide effort to provide accreditation of university programs and teacher training that gives teachers better tools and enhanced knowledge of structured literacy.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that from 6 to 17 percent of school age children have some form of dyslexia. It defines dyslexia as a learning disability that specifically impairs a person”™s ability to read. In the general population, its prevalence is variously estimated at from 3 to 20 percent. Since its founding more than 65 years ago, IDA has educated the public and professionals about dyslexia, and identifying policy changes needed to deliver effective instruction to all students.
