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SST 4 Padlet : Literacy Resources: Families & Caregivers

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SST 4 Padlet : Literacy Resources: Families & Caregivers

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Presentation Handout: WEBINAR "It's Go Time: Navigating & Implementing School Dyslexia Requirements

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Presentation Handout: WEBINAR "It's Go Time: Navigating & Implementing School Dyslexia Requirements

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Explore the obligations and legal implications when navigating House Bill 436

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Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement 

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Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement 

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M A S S A C H U S E T T S DYSLEXIA GUIDELINES 

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M A S S A C H U S E T T S DYSLEXIA GUIDELINES 

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MiMTSS

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5 Ways to Remotely Support Students with Dyslexia 

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5 Ways to Remotely Support Students with Dyslexia 

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Education Week

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The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the needs of students with dyslexia, but also made it more difficult to support them.

Some students have found that their support services, such as one-on-one or small-group reading sessions, have been disrupted by the need for social distancing. Others may bestraining to understand what their masked teachers are saying in class.

And, almost a year later, still others remain physically separated from the teachers that help them overcome the challenges presented by dyslexia, which is marked by readers' struggles with recognizing and decoding words.

Because schools often don't track it, there is no way to know how many students struggle specifically with dyslexia, which can lead to difficulty with reading comprehension. Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the nation's special education law, dyslexia is listed as an example of a disability under the broader term "specific learning disabilities."

Part of the problem lies in the difficulty in diagnosis. Not all students with reading difficulties have dyslexia. Some students with dyslexia can go undiagnosed until late elementary, middle or even high school because they can conceal their struggles or find ways to compensate for them.

Education Week interviewed four experts to find out what advice they have for educators and parents who are working with students with dyslexia.

Here's a look at what the experts had to say. Their statements have been edited for length and clarity:
1. Avoid asychronous learning
The experts universally agreed that students with dyslexia need direction, instruction, and real-time feedback that isn't available during recorded lessons.

"The idea of asynchronous learning for dyslexic learners is not appropriate," said Josh Clark, the head of school at The Schneck School, an Atlanta-based private school for children with dyslexia. He also serves as the executive director of The Dyslexia Resource, a nonprofit that focus on dyslexia education and advocacy through teacher training, tutoring programs and community partnerships.
"You know they're already struggling in the traditional school environment. Then you expect them to navigate independently work they can intellectually access, but they can't decode the instructions?"

Yvette Goorevitch, the chief of specialized learning and student services for Norwalk, Conn., schools, said her district has also avoided asychronous instruction for students with dyslexia.
"There is a distinction between teaching children how to read and assigning reading. We have stayed away from asynchronous learning because it's not direct instruction," Goorevitch said. "There needs to be guided practice. Kids need feedback and immediate correction. They need independent practice, and then they need review. You're constantly evaluating."
2. Find new ways to support students who struggle
Students with dyslexia may not be comfortable discussing their difficulties in front of the class or signaling for help if they have trouble. Teachers should communicate how students and parents can ask for help or additional support.

"We sometimes have this misconception that this generation all really feels comfortable online," said Donnell Pons, a reading and dyslexia specialist in Salt Lake City. "But that's not always the case with someone who struggles with language difficulties. As a teacher, you have to have clear protocols for how students engage in the online classroom, like, 'Is it clear how I communicate when I have difficulty?'"

For older students, Clark recommends teachers reach out directly to students.

"If you have a dyslexic learner in your classroom, it's not something that we need to hide or not talk about or ignore," Clark said. "Let's have the conversation, especially for older students. Let's have conversation about what works: 'What would remove barriers for me to better understand what you know and you're able to produce?'"

Students in middle and high school may be able to advocate for themselves and seek help in office hours or through private online chats, but students in early elementary school have often not developed those skills, said Joanne Pierson, project manager for Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan. The website serves as a resource for people with dyslexia and their parents and employers. Pierson, a speech and language pathologist by training, also runs a private clinical practice that specializes in helping students with dyslexia.

"Keeping those children engaged, when you can't do something subtle like walk around the classroom and stand next to them or gently put your hand on their shoulder or notice when they're looking lost, has to be tough," Pierson said. "All those subtle things that teachers do to keep kids on track. Those are big challenges, particularly if you don't have a parent sitting there with the child because many parents are working. I work with kids one-on-one. So I can say things like, 'Are you with me?' or 'I'm on page whatever in the middle of the paragraph' and show it to them. That's a whole different ballgame when you have 25 or 30 students."

Schools must also remember that a year into the pandemic, some studentsstill struggle to understand how to use technology.
3. Rethink how and what you teach
Teachers cannot take what worked in the traditional classroom and try to transfer it to an online setting. When they make changes, they must consider the needs of students with language-based learning disabilities, especially disabilities that can make some tasks more difficult.

"As we've gone online, a lot of teachers have thought, 'Oh, if we can't be in-person having class discussions, I guess more reading and writing is called for," Pons said. "We need to evaluate putting more demands in the reading and writing area without understanding the needs of students with dyslexia. We need to be patient and understanding, reach out to students who seem to be disengaging and ask questions like 'What is this workload like for you?'"

Students will also need help maintaining their focus as the pandemic stretches on. While students will benefit from in-person instruction, expecting them, dyslexic or not, to sit through six or seven hours of screen time is not the solution, said Goorevitch of the Norwalkschools.

"The challenge for the kids and for the staff has been, how do you inhibit the intrusion into the instructional day? If the kid is remote, you know the distractions that can happen at home," Goorevitch said.

"There's an intrusion into the natural flow (of the school day) that teachers need to plan for and overcome," she added. "Students need real help in sustaining their efforts and developing the stamina to do the really hard work of learning to read, particularly when you have a learning disability or you're dyslexic. The kids need that support as well as the direct explicit instruction."
4. Take advantage of remote options
A school district that has five dyslexia specialists each with dozens of students to support may be able to use online learning to its advantage, even after the pandemic.

"If you can do things online, the breadth of resources is no longer limited by geography," Clark said. "As long as you have an adult in the physical room, they don't have to be the one delivering the instruction."

The Norwalk school system operates a literacy center that focuses on early identification, assessment, and intervention for students with dyslexia. During the pandemic, the district has found new ways to connect students and staff.

"We've been able to pull together kids with similar needs from across the district and put them together in small remote groups and have our literacy and dyslexia specialists work with them very intensely," Goorevitch said. "Rather than sending these specialists out to all our schools or pulling kids in from a variety of schools and (having them miss) instructional time, we have been able to come up with a good remote option to help them."
5. Embrace assistive technology
With students with dyslexia spending more time in front of screens, whether at home or during in-person learning, schools should use tools, such as speech-to-text and text-to-speech functions, that can help them navigate lessons and complete assignments.

"I do think people are not so afraid of technology anymore. It levels the playing field for these students," Pierson said. "If these kids aren't reading the same text as their peers, they're not getting that vocabulary."

Clark, the chairman of the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, is dyslexic. Both of his children also have dyslexia.

"It's just the idea of presenting multiple ways of gaining meaning," Clark said. "So I could read an article, but I could also watch a YouTube video. That removes barriers to the knowledge so that more people can access it."

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5 Ways to Remotely Support Students With Dyslexia

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The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the needs of students with dyslexia, but also made it more difficult to support them. Some students have found that their support services, such as one-on-one or small-group reading sessions, have been disrupted by the need for social distancing.

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The Creative Brilliance of Dyslexia | Kate Griggs | TEDxBrighton

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The Creative Brilliance of Dyslexia | Kate Griggs | TEDxBrighton

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The Creative Brilliance of Dyslexia  | Kate Griggs | TEDxBrighton

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Our Dyslexic Children - 2020 - Full Film

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Learning About Your Child's Reading Development 

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Learning About Your Child's Reading Development 

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Topic: Screening | National Center on Improving Literacy

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Your source for improving outcomes for students with literacy-related disabilities, including dyslexia.

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Fact Sheet

Description

Dyslexia plays a part in over 80% of learning disabilities. Efficiently and effectively screen all students for indicators of dyslexia with the MAP Reading Fluency Dyslexia Screener.

View fact sheet

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MAP Reading Fluency Dyslexia Screener Fact Sheet - NWEA

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Fact Sheet Description Dyslexia plays a part in over 80% of learning disabilities. Efficiently and effectively screen all students for indicators of dyslexia with the MAP Reading Fluency Dyslexia Screener. View fact sheet

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Better reading insights in less time

Better reading insights in less time

Better reading insights in less time

Striking the balance of instruction and assessment

Get precise, reliable insights to support early readers while maximizing valuable instructional time. With speech-recognition technology, group administration, and automatic scoring, MAP Reading Fluency provides a clear view of early literacy skills and learning needs for an entire class in about 20 minutes.

Go beyond fluency for a more complete picture of early literacy

Monitor oral reading fluency, literal comprehension, and foundational reading skills from season to season and year to year. Quickly screen students at risk of reading difficulty, including characteristics of dyslexia. Benchmark assessments are available in both English and Spanish.

Go beyond fluency for a more complete picture of early literacy

Monitor oral reading fluency, literal comprehension, and foundational reading skills from season to season and year to year. Quickly screen students at risk of reading difficulty, including characteristics of dyslexia. Benchmark assessments are available in both English and Spanish.

Insights you can implement today

MAP Reading Fluency provides educators with comprehensive reports and actionable data to improve instructional decisions.

Student audio recordings available for teacher playback

Easy-to-use reports to support differentiation and planning

A direct link to instructional resources for foundational skills

Student audio recordings available for teacher playback

Easy-to-use reports to support differentiation and planning

A direct link to instructional resources for foundational skills

Identify challenges earlier with the new dyslexia screener

The MAP Reading Fluency Dyslexia Screener quickly assesses key reading skills, including those most often associated with dyslexia, without the need for a separate assessment. A predictive model flags student results that indicate possible characteristics of dyslexia or other reading difficulties for follow up and intervention.

An industry leader

Fact Sheet

Your questions, answered

The MAP Reading Fluency info you need in a document that's easy to read and share.
Download PDF
Video

Closing the gap

Learn from the experts how MAP Reading Fluency is designed to measure true growth in reading and meet students where they are.

eBook

Literacy for all

NWEA experts discuss how to address gaps in reading instruction to improve literacy rates and support equity in classrooms and schools.
Read the eBook

Explore grades, languages and the time-saving features of MAP Reading Fluency.

Explore grades, languages and the time-saving features of MAP Reading Fluency.

Explore grades, languages and the time-saving features of MAP Reading Fluency.

Never stop learning

Dive deeper into MAP Reading Fluency insights, reports, and instructional strategies with NWEA Professional Learning.
Find out more

It all starts with reading

MAP Reading Fluency is a cornerstone assessment in the MAP Suite, a collection of purpose-built assessments and tools designed to support growth, early literacy, and skill mastery for every student. With this cohesive system, educators have the high-quality insights they need to make instructional and operational decisions for student success.
Learn more

It all starts with reading

MAP Reading Fluency is a cornerstone assessment in the MAP Suite, a collection of purpose-built assessments and tools designed to support growth, early literacy, and skill mastery for every student. With this cohesive system, educators have the high-quality insights they need to make instructional and operational decisions for student success.
Learn more

It all starts with reading

MAP Reading Fluency is a cornerstone assessment in the MAP Suite, a collection of purpose-built assessments and tools designed to support growth, early literacy, and skill mastery for every student. With this cohesive system, educators have the high-quality insights they need to make instructional and operational decisions for student success.
Learn more

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Better reading insights in less time Better reading insights in less time Better reading insights in less time Get precise, reliable insights to support early readers while maximizing valuable instructional time. With speech-recognition technology, group administration, and automatic scoring, MAP Reading Fluency provides a clear view of early literacy skills and learning needs for an entire class in about 20 minutes.

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Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education Part 1: Building an understanding of family and community engagement

Region:

Description:

The Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and Community as Partners in Education provides resources for school staff to build relationships with families and community members and to support family well-being, strong parent-child relationships, and students' ongoing learning and development. Originally developed for the Guam Alliance for Family and Community Engagement in Education, the Toolkit is based on information from a variety of sources that address engagement in diverse communities. As a result, the Toolkit is applicable in a variety of contexts-and wherever school staff are interested in enhancing engagement of families and community members. The Toolkit is divided into four parts, and each includes a series of activities that can be used with family and community members, as well as other diverse cross-stakeholder groups. The Toolkit offers an integrated approach that helps school staff understand how their own cultural experiences and backgrounds influence their beliefs and assumptions about families and community members, and consequently influences their efforts to engage others in support of student learning. It also addresses how to build a cultural bridge through cross-cultural communication and how to use strategies that build trust between families, community members, and schools. In addition, the Toolkit helps school staff understand how to use two-way communication with families to gather and share data about student interests, progress, and outcomes.

The four parts of the Toolkit are:

Part 1: Building an understanding of family and community engagement
Part 2: Building a cultural bridge
Part 3: Building trusting relationships with families and community through effective communication
Part 4: Engaging families and community members in data conversations

Publication Type:

Tools

Online Availability:

Publication Date:

September 2016

Contact:

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educational improvement; excellence in education; educational research; statistics; statistical data; statistical surveys; regional educational laboratory program; rel; rigorous studies; fast response projects; no child left behind

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Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education Part 1: Building an understanding of family and community engagement

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The Regional Educational Laboratory Program (REL) consists of a network of ten laboratories that serve the educational needs of a designated region by providing access to high quality scientifically valid education research through applied research and development projects, studies, and other related technical assistance activities.

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This toolkit helps families and schools work together to support children's literacy success in and out of school.

You will learn:

Tips for starting or enhancing discussions about literacy instruction and intervention

Ways to increase your joint understanding of evidence-based literacy practices

Strategies for addressing concerns about children's literacy development together

This toolkit includes:

An Online Tutorial

Research Briefs & Infographics

Tools & Resources

Facilitator's Guides

Online Tutorial

Supplemental Materials

Explore these resources with ideas or questions linked to the tutorial.

Talk and Interact Often

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by talking and interacting often.

Big Ideas

Family engagement for children's literacy learning and achievement is a shared responsibility among families, schools, and communities.

Trust is the primary ingredient for strong home-school relationships for children's literacy learning and achievement. Strong home-school relationships rely on open, two-way communication.

An effective system of support and services for children's literacy learning involves home and school partnering together.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Discuss Literacy Instruction and Intervention

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by discussing literacy instruction and intervention.

Big Ideas

Knowing what scientific research says about how kids learn to read can help you determine if the literacy approach, strategy, or program is evidence-based.

It is important to identify if the evidence-based literacy practices are appropriate for children's grade-level or if any key practices are missing.

Discussing literacy instruction and intervention can help you determine if the literacy approach, strategy, or program is designed and delivered effectively.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by sharing literacy resources.

Big Ideas

Two important foundational skills in early reading instruction are phonemic awareness and phonics.

For children who struggle to read, working with phonemes and decoding words can be especially difficult.

Learning to listen, speak, read, and write well also includes developing oral language skills and reading fluently and with meaning.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Address Concerns Together

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by addressing concerns together.

Big Ideas

All children benefit from explicit, systematic reading instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Some children continue to struggle with reading even with evidence-based classroom reading instruction.

If you are concerned that a child's reading difficulties are unexpected or unusual, seek further information from and others about next steps.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Facilitator's Guides

Explore More Toolkits

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Families and Schools Partnering for Children's Literacy Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This toolkit helps families and schools work together to support children's literacy success in and out of school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This toolkit helps families and schools work together to support children's literacy success in and out of school.

You will learn:

Tips for starting or enhancing discussions about literacy instruction and intervention

Ways to increase your joint understanding of evidence-based literacy practices

Strategies for addressing concerns about children's literacy development together

This toolkit includes:

An Online Tutorial

Research Briefs & Infographics

Tools & Resources

Facilitator's Guides

Online Tutorial

Supplemental Materials

Explore these resources with ideas or questions linked to the tutorial.

Talk and Interact Often

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by talking and interacting often.

Big Ideas

Family engagement for children's literacy learning and achievement is a shared responsibility among families, schools, and communities.

Trust is the primary ingredient for strong home-school relationships for children's literacy learning and achievement. Strong home-school relationships rely on open, two-way communication.

An effective system of support and services for children's literacy learning involves home and school partnering together.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Discuss Literacy Instruction and Intervention

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by discussing literacy instruction and intervention.

Big Ideas

Knowing what scientific research says about how kids learn to read can help you determine if the literacy approach, strategy, or program is evidence-based.

It is important to identify if the evidence-based literacy practices are appropriate for children's grade-level or if any key practices are missing.

Discussing literacy instruction and intervention can help you determine if the literacy approach, strategy, or program is designed and delivered effectively.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by sharing literacy resources.

Big Ideas

Two important foundational skills in early reading instruction are phonemic awareness and phonics.

For children who struggle to read, working with phonemes and decoding words can be especially difficult.

Learning to listen, speak, read, and write well also includes developing oral language skills and reading fluently and with meaning.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Address Concerns Together

Families and schools can partner for children's literacy success by addressing concerns together.

Big Ideas

All children benefit from explicit, systematic reading instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Some children continue to struggle with reading even with evidence-based classroom reading instruction.

If you are concerned that a child's reading difficulties are unexpected or unusual, seek further information from and others about next steps.

Visit these Resources to Learn More

Facilitator's Guides

Explore More Toolkits

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Families and Schools Partnering for Children's Literacy Success

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This toolkit helps families and schools work together to support children's literacy success in and out of school.

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Our literacy webpage is updated to include a dyslexia supports page.

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" All Events

Did you miss our Summit?

Recorded Sessions - Ohio Summit of Dyslexia 2021

Registration is required.

Registration closes April 15, 2021

Viewing of recorded sessions ends April 18, 2021

The Right to Read - How the Science of Reading, Teacher Preparation, and Education can bring Literacy to All

IDA Central Ohio's Summit on Dyslexia will serve to:

Inform and energize people about the issue of dyslexia

Support the development and work of parents and educational professionals

Foster and advocate for strategies for serving all of Ohio's children, especially those with dyslexia

Teachers, Tutors, Literacy Specialists, ESL coordinators, Chief Academic Officers + more

Superintendents, School Board members, Principals

Language and Special Education Professionals, Advocates, Psychologists, Pediatricians

Parents and Community-Based Professionals

Policy Makers, Legislators and Other Elected Officials

Anyone Who Wants to Serve Children with Dyslexia!

List of Speakers:

Louisa Moats, Ed.D. - Author, Literacy Expert, Consultant, Licensed Psychologist

Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers Know and Do

This session will address several important questions: What is "the science of reading?" Why is there a chasm between science and educational practice? What are some bedrock findings from research that should guide practice? What changes are needed to prepare teachers well? What does "structured literacy" look like?

Dr. Louisa Moats has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation.

Dr. Moats is most well known for her research and writing about the need for improvements in teacher education. Her more recent publications have focused on helping teachers understand the language basis for reading and writing. They include LETRS Professional Development (Voyager Sopris), LANGUAGE! Live blended literacy intervention (Voyager Sopris), and Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers (Brookes Publishing), as well as a series of articles and books for the International Dyslexia Association.

Our presenters will come together in a live panel to answer your questions and engage in a lively discussion of the issues facing literacy educators, policy makers, and researchers as we strive to bring access to literacy to all students

Dr. Steven Dykstra is a psychologist, advocate, and troublemaker in the reading world with over 25 years experience. He has worked in an urban setting with the most challenging and difficult mental health cases involving children. His passion for reading comes from the recognition that the thousands of children he has served often pay the highest price for our failures and mistakes. Dr. Dykstra is part of the Advisory Group for the International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction.

Mark Seidenberg, Ph.D. - Mark Seidenberg is Vilas Research Professor and Donald O. Hebb Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin.

Can "The Science of Reading" Improve Literacy Outcomes?

It could, but creating a bridge between basic research and educational practice is challenging. I'll talk about some of the difficulties involved and how they might be overcome. The challenges include the fact that the "science of reading" says a lot about how reading works, but less about how to incorporate these findings in effective practices; the reduction of the "science of reading" to a few classic findings that were important in their time but are now out of date; the impact of popular curricular materials that ignore relevant research or incorporate it in a superficial way. Educators also find it difficult to approach what seems like a large, unwieldy body of findings from "reading science." I'll address these issues, emphasizing a small number of basic findings that of lasting value that provide a foundation for thinking about how to improve teacher preparation, in-service support, curricula and software, and educational policies.

Mark Seidenber is a cognitive scientist/neuroscientist/psycholinguist who has studied language, reading and dyslexia. His reading research addresses the nature of skilled reading, how children learn to read, dyslexia, and the brain bases of reading, using the tools of modern cognitive neuroscience: behavioral experiments, computational models, and neuroimaging. His language research addresses what people know when they know a language, how this knowledge is represented in the brain, and how it is acquired and used.

Julie A. Washington, Ph.D. - Dr. Julie Washington is a Professor in the School of Education at the University of California - Irvine (UCI).

Dialect and Reading Achievement of African American Children Growing Up in Poverty

Kelly Butler -Chief Executive Officer at Barksdale Reading Institute

Presentation of Annual IDA Central Ohio Awards

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Recorded Sessions - Ohio Summit on Dyslexia 2021 - IDA Central Ohio

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" All Events Did you miss our Summit? Recorded Sessions - Ohio Summit of Dyslexia 2021 Registration is required.

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Long Title To amend sections 3310.03, 3310.522, 3313.976, 3314.03, 3323.11, 3326.11, and 3328.24; to enact new section 3323.25 and sections 3319.077, 3319.078, and 3323.251; and to repeal section 3323.25 of the Revised Code with regard to screening and intervention for children with dyslexia and to modify achievement assessment requirements for students receiving state scholarships.

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Long Title To amend sections 3310.03, 3310.522, 3313.976, 3314.03, 3323.11, 3326.11, and 3328.24; to enact new section 3323.25 and sections 3319.077, 3319.078, and 3323.251; and to repeal section 3323.25 of the Revised Code with regard to screening and intervention for children with dyslexia and to modify achievement assessment requirements for students receiving state scholarships.

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Having a child diagnosed with dyslexia can be a traumatic experience. While dyslexia can make reading more difficult, with the right instruction, almost all individuals with dyslexia can learn to read. Many people with dyslexia have gone on to accomplish great things. Among the many dyslexia success stories are Thomas Edison, Stephen Spielberg, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Charles Schwab.

Dyslexia is a neurological condition caused by a different wiring of the brain. There is no cure for dyslexia and individuals with this condition must learn coping strategies. Research indicates that dyslexia has no relationship to intelligence. Individuals with dyslexia are neither more nor less intelligent than the general population. But some say the way individuals with dyslexia think can actually be an asset in achieving success.

In public school settings where many teachers are not knowledgeable about this condition, students with dyslexia may be considered stupid or lazy. Parents who have children diagnosed with dyslexia should seek out reading instruction that is based upon a systematic and explicit understanding of language structure, including phonics. This reading instruction goes by many names, Structured Literacy, Orton- Gillingham, Simultaneous Multisensory, Explicit Phonics, and others (See IDA's fact sheet Effective Reading Instruction n ). If you think you or your child may be dyslexic, you can take IDA's test which will evaluate the chance that you have this condition.

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Dyslexia At a Glance - International Dyslexia Association

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Having a child diagnosed with dyslexia can be a traumatic experience. While dyslexia can make reading more difficult, with the right instruction, almost all

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Research shows that children who don't learn to read by the end of third grade are likely to remain poor readers for the rest of their lives. Underdeveloped literacy skills lead to underachievement in all academic subjects and often affects school and social behavior. Unsurprisingly, reading difficulties have been associated with higher risks of depression, higher rates of dropping out, decreased likelihood of obtaining college degrees and lower levels of income.

For children who have dyslexia, identification and earlier, effective interventions could change their lives. However, most students don't get diagnosed with dyslexia until the end of second grade or the beginning of third- but research shows reading interventions are most successful in kindergarten and first grade.
One District's Transformation
Marysville Exempted Village School District in Marysville, Ohio, is recognized nationwide as a lighthouse of education innovation on many fronts- but in 2015-16, it earned a letter grade of D on the State Report Card K-3 Literacy Improvement Component. Three years later, the district's grade on the same component is now a B. This distinction, says Superintendent Diane Mankins, is a direct reflection of Marysville's intentional and collaborative effort to reduce the risk level of all kids who struggle with reading- including those with dyslexia.
Data-At-A-Glance

Component

2015-2016

2017-2018

K-3 Literacy Improvement

D

B

Gap Closing

F

A

Promotion

N/A

100%

Source: Marysville Schools Ohio School Report Card

In a district where special education referral rates were once approaching twice the state average, the Superintendent created a Director of Literacy position reporting directly to her thus reducing any unnecessary bureaucracy, signaling space for innovation and elevating the criticality of the work. The charge: Develop systems and mobilize resources to support teachers and students so no matter the reading challenge, the district can chart an effective path ensuring each student's success.
The Marysville Way
Marysville collectively shifted from a curricular to a clinical mindset, adopting a diagnostic prescriptive approach to reading. This approach allows the district to focus intensely on individual student reading profiles rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to reading. Marysville was willing to share the following highlights of their literacy programs with the goal of inspiring greater exchanges of knowledge, practices and systems serving learners with dyslexia.

Diving right in:

Get Screenings Right

Personalize Interventions

Reading is Everyone's Business

Get Screenings Right

Once teams of Marysville educators identified the information necessary to create accurate student reading profiles, the often difficult task of properly implementing universal screeners and other diagnostic testing (i.e. Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing - Second Edition) for all Kindergarten students) was relatively easy. "Even in a district primarily grounded in Literacy Collaborative and Reading-Recovery, our teams quickly found value in previously misunderstood measures allowing us to capture both at-risk and dyslexic profiles," said Literacy Director Steve Griffin. Building the capacity to accurately use and understand these new data was and continues to be a district focus. "If red, yellow and green colored data is simply dropped in your lap with no systems or interventions in place to allow these data to impact teaching and learning, teams will resent wasting the time it took to collect the information," said Griffin.

Marysville MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) teams and teachers deeply understand the importance of quantifying risk and how tracking student performance in areas like phonemic awareness, the understanding of alphabetic principle, working memory and retrieval abilities help do this for kids. These are common sense issues Marysville addressed which helped them tremendously.

In terms of dyslexia, Marysville's goal is to identify it early and prevent children from realizing a severity level necessitating an IEP whenever possible. The CTOPP2 is very popular across Marysville schools because educators there understand the important information the assessment provides. Gaining a glimpse into the functioning of a student's left brain hemisphere is invaluable. By accurately capturing a dyslexic profile early on, Marysville puts time on their side. They can't wait for the IEP process to do this. It's too reactionary. The key is to be proactive and keep kids from ever realizing their potential reading problem. Time and best practices are the two key variables Marysville can control, so they've put programs in place to do so, in turn, leveraging an enormous amount of control.

The district insists on continuous screening, diagnosing and intervening - all starting in Kindergarten. One of the goals of screening for dyslexia is to identify this variability and begin research-based remediation to rewire the brain as soon as possible. Marysville believes in a greater focus on putting supports in place across intervention Tiers (I, II & III) instead of merely attaching kids to IEPs. Their mantra in grades K through 2: There's nothing we can do with an IEP that we can't without.

Personalize Interventions

Griffin states, "When it comes to the reading wars Marysville is Switzerland. Adopting a prescriptive diagnostic approach allows us to stay student-focused rather than program-focused." Through their screening and MTSS process, a student-at-risk for dyslexia is quickly enrolled into Orton-Gillingham based programming. The more severe the reading deficit, the higher the level of instructional support all starting without having to qualify for an IEP to trigger the supports. In Marysville, educators believe students shouldn't have to qualify via IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) to gain a personalized education. "Reading instruction tailored to the individual learner shouldn't be just a 'special education thing'," Griffin said.

Reading is Everyone's Business

"We're excited about our recent success but good news on the report card doesn't mean our work stops. Getting reading right for every student is not optional and we'll continue to align our practice to this end."

Marysville has blurred the lines between instructional tiers (I, II and II) and also between professional titles. While Marysville reading specialists provide most of the heavy lift when it comes to providing Tier II interventions, so do its classroom teachers, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and intervention specialists (special education teachers). Taking a collaborative team approach removes the "turfdom" existing in reading. In any given school you may see a classroom teacher using the S.P.I.R.E. curriculum (intensive, multisensory reading instruction) or a reading specialist completing their Orton-Gillingham practicum. Specialized instruction occurs across all Tiers. This "feathering out of services" and vertical alignment of programming, in turn, allows Intervention Specialists to better streamline their special education caseloads, providing more robust services to students on IEPs with the most severe reading needs. True collaboration and a common vision amongst district administrators exist as well. This building of capacity at all levels across multiple professionals for the student with dyslexia is a defining contributor to student success.
The work at Marysville isn't complete, and an "A" across the board on the State Report Card is in their long-range sight. But it's about so much more than the letter grade. Reading is key to life, health, confidence and success. It's a game changer for kids. Marysville Superintendent Diane Mankins notes "We're excited about our recent success but good news on the report card doesn't mean our work stops. Getting reading right for every student is not optional and we'll continue to align our practice to this end."
This article was submitted to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) by the International Dyslexia Association, Central Ohio branch. Email Info@DyslexiaIDA.org for more information about IDA's branches. Share this with your friends and family...

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Marysville Schools Leading The Way: Evolving Best Practices For Learners with Dyslexia - International Dyslexia Association

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Research shows that children who don't learn to read by the end of third grade are likely to remain poor readers for the rest of their lives. Underdeveloped literacy skills lead to underachievement in all academic subjects and often affects school and social behavior.

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New law addresses dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation

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On Jan. 9, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 436 of the 133 rd General Assembly for dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation. The following is a summary of the new law:

Requires the Ohio Department of Education to establish the Ohio Dyslexia Committee consisting of 11 members;

Requires the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to develop a dyslexia guidebook for screening, intervention and remediation for children with dyslexia or displaying dyslexic characteristics and tendencies;

Requires the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to prescribe the number of clock hours of dyslexia-related professional development required for teachers;

Permits the Ohio Dyslexia Committee to make recommendations regarding ratios of students to teachers who have received certification in identifying and addressing dyslexia, the school personnel who should receive the certification and whether professional development requirements should include completing a practicum;

Requires the Department, in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, to identify screening and intervention measures that evaluate the literacy skills of students using a multi-sensory structured literacy program;

Requires school districts and other public schools to administer annual dyslexia screenings beginning in the 2022-2023 school year;

Phases in over three years dyslexia-related professional development requirements for public school teachers;

Requires school districts and other public schools, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, to establish a multi-sensory structured literacy certification process for teachers.

More information about House Bill 436 will be available in the coming weeks. Please send questions to Dyslexia@education.ohio.gov.

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New law addresses dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation

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On Jan. 9, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 436 of the 133 rd General Assembly for dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation.

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Overcoming Dyslexia

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What every teacher needs to know.

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Lexercise

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Lexercise | Treatment and Testing for Children with Dyslexia

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"I am a Speech-Language Pathologist...I know the importance of providing the right remediation. With Lexercise, for the first time, we were able to address our son's specific reading needs and as a result his reading skills have greatly improved. Even more important to us though, his self-confidence and self-esteem have improved."

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Self-Assessment Tool
Fran Levin Bowman, Ed.D. & Vincent Culotta, Ph.D., Copyright, 2010, All Rights Reserved
Dyslexia affects 1 in 10 individuals, many of whom remain undiagnosed and receive little or no intervention services. For some individuals who have never been diagnosed, dyslexia is a hidden disability which may result in underemployment, difficulty navigating academic environments, difficulty on the job, and reduced self-confidence. Even those who have been diagnosed are likely to struggle with reading or writing in some aspects of their lives. Dyslexia is a specific reading disorder and does not reflect low intelligence. There are many bright and creative individuals with dyslexia who never learn to read, write, and/or spell at a level consistent with their intellectual ability. Do you think you may have dyslexia? Please complete the brief 10 question self-assessment tool below.

Dyslexia Self-Assessment for Adults

If you checked seven or more of these questions, this may indicate dyslexia. Consider seeking consultation from a specialist or a formal diagnostic assessment from a qualified examiner.

Click here for additional self-assessment tools specific to preschoolers, school-age children, and adults.

To find a potential resource in your area click here to search from a list of providers.

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Do I Have Dyslexia? - International Dyslexia Association

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"Dyslexia is a gift from God"

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Demystifying Dyslexia | Taia Kututa | TEDxYouth@BrookhouseSchool

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ODE - Structured Literacy Certification Process (includes Certification Pathways)

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ODE - Structured Literacy Certification Process (includes Certification Pathways)

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STRUCTURED LITERACY CERTIFICATION process
Certification Process
Districts are required to establish a Structured Literacy Certification process for teachers providing instruction in kindergarten through third grade. Districts determine locally which educators will become certified through this process. The certification process must align with Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook.

NEW - District leaders may consider using this Certification Process Planning Tool, which includes a checklist of items to consider when establishing their structured literacy certification process.
Certification Pathways
Ohio law defines appropriate certification as either certification at a certified level, or higher, from a research-based structured literacy program or any other certification as recognized by a majority vote of the Ohio dyslexia committee.

This includes, but is not limited to, the following pathways recognized by a majority vote of the Ohio dyslexia committee. This document from the Ohio Dyslexia Committee provides more information on these pathways.

Completion of an independent training program or higher education program accredited by the International Dyslexia Association at the Accreditation Plus level. Note that programs with Accreditation Plus status include coursework, practicum, and an exam.

Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist Certification or Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist Alternate Route Certification from the Center for Effective Reading Instruction

Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist Certification or Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist Alternate Route Certification from the Center for Effective Reading Instruction

Certified Academic Language Practitioner from the Academic Language Therapy Association

Certified Academic Language Therapist from the Academic Language Therapy Association￼

Completion of an International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) accredited program.

Completion of an independent training program or higher education program accredited by the International Dyslexia Association at the Accreditation level, in addition to completing a practicum provided by an accredited provider and passing the Knowledge and Practice Examination for Effective Reading Instruction (KPEERI). Further details and specifications for these three components can be found on this template, which will be used to document completion.

Note about this option: This process and form is for educators who already have completed significant work in structured literacy knowledge building and teaching but do not have the full training from an International Dyslexia Association-Accreditation Plus organization. This may be because their training was completed prior to the International Dyslexia Association introducing the Accreditation Plus status or they had a unique set of circumstances (significant prior training) that allowed them to complete an Accreditation Plus practicum without the connected coursework (typically not allowed). Individuals must complete the coursework, practicum and exam, as described below, to meet the certification requirement. Please use the template provided on page 2 to submit documentation of completion of all three components to the district.

It is recommended individuals beginning their certification journeys complete one of the International Dyslexia Association-Accreditation Plus trainings (all of these include coursework and a connected practicum). Practicums have specific coursework that is connected to their practicum experience. It may be most efficient to do a connected coursework and practicum option, all of which are included on the Accreditation Plus list.

OHIO REVISED CODE

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Certification Process Districts are required to establish a Structured Literacy Certification process for teachers providing instruction in kindergarten through third grade. Districts determine locally which educators will become certified through this process. The certification process must align with Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook.

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ODE - Structured Literacy Certification Process - Planning Tool

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ODE - Structured Literacy Certification Process - Planning Tool

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Teacher professional development

The Dyslexia Support Laws require all kindergarten through third grade teachers, as well as teachers providing special education instruction to children in kindergarten through grade 12, to complete professional development on identifying characteristics of dyslexia and understanding pedagogy for instruction of students with dyslexia.
Requirements from the Ohio Dyslexia Committee
The Ohio Dyslexia Committee is requiring educators to complete 18 hours of professional development aligned with the Ohio Dyslexia Guidebook. This professional development will support educators in identifying characteristics of dyslexia and understanding the pedagogy for instruction of students with or at risk of dyslexia.

Professional Development Training

Each professional development option is evidence-based and includes instruction and training for identifying characteristics of dyslexia and understanding the pedagogy for instructing students with dyslexia as required under ORC 3319.077. The list was developed by the Department in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee pursuant to ORC 3323.25 and 3319.077. This list is subject to change to align with the version of the guidebook that will be approved by the State Board of Education. Check back frequently for updated information.

Questions can be sent to Dyslexia@education.ohio.gov. If you need additional account support after consulting the linked support documents above, please contact OH|ID Profile Help at Profile.Help@education.ohio.gov for OH|ID assistance. If you are in the LMS application and need additional support, please contact LMS Support at LMSSupport@education.ohio.gov.

Note to providers: This is not an endorsement process, and no course provider should market themselves as offering an Ohio Department of Education endorsed course.

Timeline for Completing Professional Development

Teachers hired before April 12, 2021, who provide instruction to students in the following grade bands must complete the required professional development in accordance with the following timeline:

By the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year: Teachers of grades K-1, including special education teachers.

By Sept. 15 of the 2024-2025 school year: Teachers of grades 2-3, including special education teachers.

By Sept. 15 of the 2025-2026 school year: Special education teachers of students in grades 4-12.

Teachers hired after April 12, 2021, who provide instruction to students in the grade bands outlined above must complete the required professional development by the later of the aforementioned dates or two calendar years after the hiring date (unless the teacher completed the professional development while employed by a different district or school).

Note: Any professional development previously completed by a teacher that is included on the list of approved courses counts toward the required 18 hours in approved professional development. Courses Accredited by the International Dyslexia Association
Independent Training Programs and Higher Education Programs accredited by the International Dyslexia Association are approved to meet the professional development requirements of the Dyslexia Support Laws. Programs with Accreditation and Accreditation Plus status are recognized. Training programs that offer training similar trainings to those on this list are encouraged to apply for accreditation to provide additional high quality professional development options for Ohio educators.

Courses approved for Structured Literacy Certification
The Ohio Dyslexia Committee has provided a list of approved programs for Structured Literacy Certification. Educators completing at least 18 hours of this coursework will have met the professional development requirements. Completion of the course and practicum in full is required for Structured Literacy Certification.

Training Provided by Instructors of Structured Literacy Certification Programs

Individuals qualified to provide the coursework and practicum approved for Structured Literacy Certification by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee may develop and provide training for the purpose of this requirement. If the instructor is developing training that is different from what is already approved through the Structured Literacy Certification program, the training must be at least 18 hours and include the content recommended by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee (outlined below).

Ohio Department of Education Dyslexia Course
The Ohio Department of Education has developed a free course for teachers providing instruction to students in grades K-3 to meet the professional development requirements.
For information on accessing the course, please review the Instructions for Accessing the Introduction to Dyslexia Course.

The Ohio Department of Education will be developing an additional free course to meet the professional development requirements for intervention specialists and teachers providing instruction to students in grades 4-12. Intervention specialists serving these grade bands must complete the PD by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. More information about this course, including its release date, is forthcoming.

The following outlines the 18 hours of content recommended by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee:

Pre and Post Assessment for Participants

What is Structured Literacy?

Science of Reading Overview

Defining Dyslexia and Identifying Characteristics of Dyslexia

Multi-Tiered System of Support Overview

Structured Literacy in Core (Tier 1) Instruction

Using Data to Plan Instruction through Reading Profiles and Aligned Interventions

Teaching Word Recognition

Phonological awareness

Basic phonics

Advanced phonics (morphology, syllable types, etymology)

​Sight word recognition

Teaching Handwriting

Print / Manuscript

Cursive

Brief, explicit and systematic instruction

Teaching Language Comprehension

Language Structures (Syntax)

Vocabulary

Background Knowledge

Fluency

Comprehending Grade-Level Texts

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The Dyslexia Support Laws require all kindergarten through third grade teachers, as well as teachers providing special education instruction to children in kindergarten through grade 12, to complete professional development on identifying characteristics of dyslexia and understanding pedagogy for instruction of students with dyslexia.

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Dyslexia Screening

Tier 1 (Universal) Screening

Universal screening, referred to as a tier 1 dyslexia screening measure in Ohio's dyslexia support laws (ORC 3323.251), identifies the students whose current level of skills indicate they may be at risk of reading difficulties such as dyslexia.

NOTE: There are no exceptions or exemptions in the dyslexia support laws. All students in the specified grade bands must receive the universal screener and any subsequent follow up that is required based on the screener results.

As stated on page 46 of Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook, assessing children with complex communication needs, as well as those with visual impairments, may require adaptations to standardized procedures. If the assessment you are using does not offer instructions for how to adapt the assessment protocol to serve diverse learners, assistive technologies may be used to meet individual access needs.

The document " Administering Literacy Assessment for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities and Complex Communication Needs" (January 2024 version) provides resources and recommendations for accommodations and scaffolds districts may use when administering district wide literacy screenings and benchmarks or reading diagnostics. These can be used when administering the required tier 1 dyslexia screener, as well as the reading diagnostic required under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee and other district assessments. The purpose of these is to ensure these assessments provide proper data related to the reading abilities of students with complex communication need and low incidence disabilities.

The following additional resources may be used to learn more about these adaptations:

Progress Monitoring and Tier 2 (Intervention-Based Diagnostic) Screening

Students identified as at risk must be progress-monitored for up to 6 weeks and an intervention-based diagnostic (tier 2) screener must be administered to students who continue to exhibit risk for dyslexia.
Note that in lieu of the progress-monitoring period, an intervention-based diagnostic (tier 2) screener can also be administered immediately to any student who received a universal (tier 1) screener.

Districts and schools must use a universal (tier 1) screener from this approved list. There is no approved list of tier 2 screeners but districts and schools can refer to Section 2 and Appendix B of Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook for guidance in making their selection.

The " Literacy Assessment Selection Tool K-6" is a useful tool for schools and districts looking to identify and choose their tier 1 and tier 2 dyslexia screeners. It describes the different skills that each screener should identify.

Screening Timelines for the 2023-24 School Year

Kindergarten students: Universal (tier 1) screening must occur between the first day of January of their kindergarten year and prior to the first day of January of the following school year.
Grades 1-3: There is no specified time window for students in these grades but must occur within the 2023-24 school year.
Grades 4-6: Upon parent request or teacher request with parent permission.
Transfer kindergarten students: During the school's regularly scheduled screening of the kindergarten class or within 30 days after the student's enrollment if the screening already has been completed, or within thirty days after the student's parent, guardian, or custodian requests the screening or grants permission for a screening.
Transfer students in grades 1-3: Within 30 days after the student's enrollment for those who transfer midyear, or within thirty days after the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for the screening.
Transfer students in grades 4-6: Within 30 days of the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for the screening.
Note: A district or school is not required to administer a tier one dyslexia screening measure to a student in grades K-6 who transfers into the district or school midyear if the student's records indicate a screening was administered to the student by the district or school from which the student transferred during that year.

Screening Timelines for the 2024-25 School Year and Beyond

Kindergarten students: Universal (tier 1) screening must occur between the first day of January of their kindergarten year and prior to the first day of January of the following school year.
Grades 1-6: Upon parent request or teacher request with parent permission.
Transfer kindergarten students: During the school's regularly scheduled screening of the kindergarten class or within 30 days after the student's enrollment if the screening already has been completed, or within thirty days after the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for a screening.
Transfer students in grades 1-6: Within 30 days of the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for the screening.
Note: A district or school is not required to administer a tier one dyslexia screening measure to a student in grades K-6 who transfers into the district or school midyear if the student's records indicate a screening was administered to the student by the district or school from which the student transferred during that year.

Communication with Families

There are several requirements for districts to maintain consistent communication with families regarding students' screening results and reading progress. These include:

Sharing results of the universal (tier 1) screener for students identified as at risk.

Sharing results of progress monitoring for students who continue to demonstrate risk and will be administered the intervention-based diagnostic (tier 2 ) screener

Results of the intervention-based diagnostic (tier 2 ) screener, along with information about reading development, the risk factors for dyslexia and a written explanation of the district or school's structured literacy program.

Templates and examples of written notification can be found on the OSU Family Engagement Center website. Please note that these are examples and templates only; districts are not required to use these templates but are encouraged to review them as a resource and adapt as desired and appropriate.
Additional Resources

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Tier 1 (Universal) Screening Universal screening, referred to as a tier 1 dyslexia screening measure in Ohio's dyslexia support laws (ORC 3323.251), identifies the students whose current level of skills indicate they may be at risk of reading difficulties such as dyslexia. NOTE: There are no exceptions or exemptions in the dyslexia support laws.

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Reading Diagnostic and Tier 1 Dyslexia Screener Approved Use List 5-18-23.pdf

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During April 2021, a new set of laws strengthening dyslexia supports for Ohio's children went into effect. The dyslexia support laws apply to each local, city and exempted village school district in Ohio. The new dyslexia support laws establish:

More information and updates will be posted on the Ohio dyslexia supports webpage.

General Questions

Ohio Dyslexia Committee

Professional Development for Teachers

Dyslexia Screening and Intervention

General Questions

What is dyslexia?
Ohio law defines dyslexia as a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin. Dyslexia is characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities not consistent with the person's intelligence, motivation and sensory capabilities. Difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language.

Does this law replace the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements for screening and providing Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans?
No, it does not replace the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements. The Third Grade Reading Guarantee continues to require K-3 Reading Diagnostic Assessment and Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans (RIMP) for students who score "not on track."

How will districts cover the various costs associated with the requirements of this legislation?
Districts should use existing local, state and allowable federal funds to cover the costs associated with the dyslexia support laws requirements. Please reference the Federal Funding Guidance document for detailed information.

The Ohio Department of Education was required to select up to four school districts that have implemented dyslexia screening, identification and remediation services similar to those prescribed by the dyslexia support laws and analyze the financial costs of those services. The cost study analysis that was submitted to the Ohio General Assembly by Dec. 31, 2021 can be found here.

Will districts need to report data regarding implementation of the dyslexia support laws to the Ohio Department of Education?
Districts will be required to report their dyslexia screener results to the Department. Instructions for submitting these results are forthcoming.

What is the timeline for implementation of the provisions outlined in the law? What are the timelines for administering dyslexia screeners?

There are many different components of the law, and timelines vary for each. Below is a list of requirements and their start dates or deadlines.

A. Committee and Guidebook

Appoint Committee: Ohio Department of Education to appoint individuals to the Ohio Dyslexia Committee and other appointing authorities to establish selection process for appointments.
Deadline: May 12, 2021

Convene Committee: Convene the first meeting of the Ohio Dyslexia Committee.
Start Date: Within 30 days after nine members have been appointed to the committee.

Guidebook: Ohio Dyslexia Committee to develop a dyslexia guidebook.
Start Date: Dec. 31, 2021

B. Tier One Dyslexia Screening

Kindergarten Screening: Screen all Kindergarten students.
Start Date: Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year and each school year thereafter. Screening to take place after the first day of January of the school year in which the student is enrolled in kindergarten and prior to the first day of January of the following school year.
Elementary Grades Screening - Startup:
Start Date: Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

C. Transfer Student Screening

​Kindergarten Transfers: Administer a tier one dyslexia screening measure to each kindergarten student who transfers into the district or school midyear during the school's regularly scheduled screening of the kindergarten class or within 30 days after the student's enrollment if the screening already has been completed, or within thirty days after the student's parent, guardian, or custodian requests the screening or grants permission for a screening.

Grades 1-3 Transfers: Within 30 days after the student's enrollment for those who transfer midyear, or within thirty days after the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for the screening.
Start Date: For the 2023-2024 school year.

Grades 4-6 Transfers: Within 30 days of the student's parent requests the screening or grants permission for the screening.
Start Date: Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

Elementary Grades - Continuing: Screen transfer students in grades 1-6 upon request of a student's parent or guardian or request of a student's teacher with the permission of the student's parent or guardian.
Start Date: Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and each school year thereafter.

D. Tier Two Dyslexia Screening

Tier Two Dyslexia Screening:
At-Risk Students: Screen each at-risk student who does not show significant progress toward attaining grade-level reading and writing skills by the sixth week after the student is identified as at risk.

At-Risk Transfer Students: In the case of a transfer student who is identified as at risk of dyslexia, a tier two dyslexia screening must be administered "in a timely manner."

Start Date: Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year and each school year thereafter.

E. Teacher Professional Development and Certification

Teachers complete 18 instructional hours of approved professional development training aligned with the dyslexia guidebook.
Start Dates:

Teachers of grades K-1, including special education - by the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.

Teachers of grades 2-3, including special education - by September 15th of the 2024-2025 school year.

Special education teachers of students in grades 4-12 - by September 15th of 2025-2026 school year.

Districts establish a structured literacy certification process for teachers.
Start Date: Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.

What information is in Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook?
Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook supports district services for children with dyslexia or children displaying dyslexic characteristics and tendencies by providing best practices and methods for universal screening, intervention and remediation. These practices and methods include explanation of structured literacy programs and how those can be used. The guidebook also provides other relevant information and guidance from the Ohio Dyslexia Committee regarding screening and intervention.

What is a structured literacy approach?
Structured literacy is an instructional approach that is systematic and cumulative, explicit and diagnostic. This approach to reading instruction focuses on phonology, sound-symbol association, syllables, morphology, syntax and semantics.

How can districts learn more about structured literacy programs?
The Department, in consultation with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, has developed structured literacy program professional development training for teachers regarding evidence-based dyslexia screening and intervention practices. More information on structured literacy is available through the International Dyslexia Association.

Ohio Dyslexia Committee

What is the Ohio Dyslexia Committee?

The Ohio Dyslexia Committee is the group responsible for developing many of the implementation guidelines of the Ohio dyslexia support laws. The committee's responsibilities include developing Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook and prescribing the number of clock hours of dyslexia-related professional development required for teachers. In addition to these duties, the Ohio Dyslexia Committee may:

1. Recommend appropriate ratios in school buildings of students to teachers who have received certification in identifying and addressing dyslexia;

2. Recommend which additional school personnel should receive certification in identifying and addressing dyslexia, including school psychologists or speech-language pathologists; and

3. Consider and make recommendations regarding whether the dyslexia law's professional development requirements should include completion of a practicum.

Who is on the Ohio Dyslexia Committee?

The Ohio Dyslexia Committee consists of 11 members. Members were appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction (seven members), state Speech and Language Board (one member), chancellor of higher education (one member) and Ohio Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association (two members). Visit the Ohio Dyslexia Committee page for more information.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

School district superintendent

Elementary school principal

Certified classroom teacher with two years of experience teaching in a multi-sensory structured literacy program

Appropriately certified educational service center employee

School psychologist

Appropriately certified reading intervention specialist

Ohio Department of Education employee

International Dyslexia Association of Ohio

Chancellor of Higher Education

Ohio Speech and Hearing Professionals Board

Professional Development for Teachers

Do music, art and PE teachers who serve students in grades K-3 also need to take 18 hours of dyslexia-related professional development?
Music, art and PE teachers are not required to complete dyslexia-related professional development training.

What is the timeline for teachers to complete the professional development requirement?
There is a staggered timeline for teachers of different grade bands to complete the professional development requirement:

By the beginning of the 2023-2024 School Year: Teachers providing instruction to students in grades K-1, including intervention specialists

By September 15th of the 2024-2025 School Year: Teachers providing instruction to students in grades 2-3, including intervention specialists

By September 15th of the 2025-2026 School Year: Intervention Specialists serving students in grades 4-12

Our district has selected an approved professional development course that will require more than 18 hours to complete. Do we need to finish the entire course to meet the professional development requirement?
Under the dyslexia support laws, teachers of certain subjects in specific grade bands are required to complete a minimum of 18 hours of professional development. If districts decide to use an approved training course that takes more than 18 hours to complete, districts determine locally whether the requirement is met by the full course completion or when the initial 18 hours are done.

What type of teacher professional development is required?

The professional development required by the dyslexia support laws includes training for identifying characteristics of dyslexia and understanding the pedagogy for instructing students with dyslexia. The Ohio Dyslexia Committee has determined that teachers will need to complete 18 clock hours of PD to meet this requirement. The list of training that fulfill this requirement can be found on the Professional Development webpage.

Please note: Professional development training that was completed by a teacher prior to the law's effective date of April 12, 2021, will count toward the required number of instructional hours in professional development training only if it appears on the list of Department-approved training.

What is "structured literacy certification?"

A structured literacy certification process has been defined by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, districts must establish their own structured literacy certification process for teachers that aligns to Ohio's dyslexia guidebook. More information is available on the Structured Literacy Certification Process webpage.

Are required teacher professional development and structured literacy certification the same thing?

No. The professional development training and structured literacy certification are two separate requirements under the law. The professional development requires 18 hours of approved coursework (established by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee). The structured literacy certification process for teachers will be determined by districts with guidance provided by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee. Please see the table above for specific implementation dates.

Dyslexia Screening and Intervention

Will dyslexia become one of the disability categories for special education?

No. Dyslexia will not be added as a disability category for special education.

Will an individualized education program (IEP) need to be written if a child is identified as "at risk" by the dyslexia screener?

No. The determination of "at risk" by a dyslexia screener is not a diagnosis. If a parent or guardian thinks his or her child may have a disability that is affecting the child's education, a request can be made to the district to evaluate the child to determine whether he or she would be eligible for special education.

How do districts find reliable screening measures?

The list of approved tier 1 dyslexia screeners can be found on the List of Approved Assessments page on the Department's website.

If you have questions, please review the Dyslexia Screener FAQ, or contact the Office of Assessment at statetests@education.ohio.gov or (614) 466-1317.

What is a tier one or tier two dyslexia screening measure? When does a district use a tier one or tier two screening measure?

Information about what qualifies as tier one or tier two dyslexia screening measure is described in Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook. Under Ohio law, tier one dyslexia screening measures will be used by districts to identify each student who is at risk of dyslexia. Districts also must administer a tier two dyslexia screener if no progress is observed during the progress monitoring period after the tier one dyslexia screener was administered.

What must a district do if a student is identified as at risk for dyslexia according to a tier one screening measure?

If a student is identified as at risk for dyslexia based on the student's tier one screening measure results, districts are required to do the following:

Notify the student's parent, guardian or custodian that the student has been identified as being at-risk for dyslexia;

Monitor the progress of each at-risk student toward attaining grade-level reading and writing skills for up to six weeks.

The district or school shall check each at-risk student's progress on at least the second week, fourth week and sixth week after the student is identified as being at risk.

If no progress is observed during the monitoring period, the district or school shall notify the parent, guardian or custodian of the student and administer a tier two dyslexia screening measure to the student.

Report to the student's parent, guardian or custodian the results of the tier two screening measure within 30 days after the screening measure's administration.

In addition, districts will be required to follow the guidance in Ohio's dyslexia guidebook regarding students identified as at risk for dyslexia.

What must a district do if a student is identified as having dyslexia tendencies under a tier two screening measure?

Districts will be required to report to a student's parent or guardian the student's results on a tier two screening measure within 30 days after the measure's administration. If, as determined by the tier two screening measure, the student is identified as having dyslexia tendencies, the student's parent or guardian will be provided with information about reading development, the risk factors for dyslexia and descriptions for evidenced-based interventions, and a written explanation of the district's structured literacy program. In addition, districts will be required to follow the guidance in Ohio's dyslexia guidebook regarding students identified as at risk for dyslexia.

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Dyslexia Intervention and Support Frequently Asked Questions

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During April 2021, a new set of laws strengthening dyslexia supports for Ohio's children went into effect. The dyslexia support laws apply to each local, city and exempted village school district in Ohio. The new dyslexia support laws establish: More information and updates will be posted on the Ohio dyslexia supports webpage.

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Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center Dyslexia Communication Tools for Schools

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Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center Dyslexia Communication Tools for Schools

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Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center

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Dyslexia Communication Tools for Schools - Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center

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Our Center partnered with the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio families, and educators to develop sample communication tools and guidance for schools related to Ohio's Dyslexia Laws. These resources are aligned with Ohio's Dyslexia Guidebook for schools, and can be copied/adapted for local use. If you would like to request additional communication tools or have [...]

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SST2/Lorain ESC - Dyslexia Tools - Collaborative Effort of Literacy Leaders

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SST2/Lorain ESC - Dyslexia Tools - Collaborative Effort of Literacy Leaders

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These resources were compiled and reviewed by a workgroup of regional literacy leaders. They were kind enough to share their work with all. Thank you to the Literacy Leaders Network facilitated by State Support Team Region 2 and the Educational Service Center of Lorain County.