Jason Yeatman is an expert in the neurobiology of literacy whose lab is fostering a virtuous research cycle between academia and school communities, aligning scientific inquiry with real-world needs of students, parents, and educators. His lab has developed ROAR – the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading—a gamified, web-based dyslexia screening tool. ROAR provides fast, precise, and scalable assessments, helping educators identify and get support to struggling students. We’re aligning cutting-edge reading science with the challenges teachers face every day, Yeatman tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast.
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Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
Russ Altman introduces Jason Yeatman, a professor of pediatrics education and psychology at Stanford University.
(00:03:12) Why Reading?
Why Jason dedicated his career to studying reading acquisition.
(00:04:12) Are We Built to Read?
How reading is a relatively new invention using older brain systems.
(00:06:41) Reading as a Continuum
Whether reading ability is distributed like other genetic human traits.
(00:07:53) Defining Dyslexia
Reframing dyslexia as a label for support, not a binary diagnosis.
(00:10:19) Phonological Awareness
Understanding how speech sound recognition underpins reading.
(00:13:37) Nature vs. Nurture
The influence of both genetics and environment in reading ability.
(00:16:40) The Origin of ROAR
An online reading assessment tool created during the pandemic.
(00:19:06) ROAR’s Effectiveness
The accuracy in which ROAR can assess reading capability.
(00:22:45) Reading Interventions That Work
Expanding support with evidence-based interventions for all ages.
(00:25:25) Personalized Diagnoses
Tailoring interventions based on detailed individual skill diagnostics.
(00:26:36) Scaling ROAR
Scaling ROAR via an academic research-practice partnership model.
(00:29:34) Infrastructure Behind ROAR
The team and technology required to scale ROAR in schools.
(00:31:54) Future of Reading Assessment
Expanding ROAR to include other dimensions of reading development.
(00:33:44) Reading Across Languages
Why English poses more reading difficulties than many languages.
(00:35:34) Listener Q&A
New segment answering audience questions from past episodes.
(00:37:46) Conclusion
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