In early 2021, Governor DeWine signed HB 436 into law. The bill, which became effective on April 12, established new requirements for districts with regard to offering supports for children who may have dyslexia. These supports include:

The law also created the Ohio Dyslexia Committee. Earlier this week, ODE issued additional guidance for districts. A summary of the new law and ODE’s guidance appears below.

Ohio Dyslexia Committee
The Ohio Dyslexia Committee is responsible for developing many of the implementation guidelines of the Ohio dyslexia support laws. The committee’s responsibilities include developing a dyslexia guidebook, which is intended to support district services by providing best practices and methods for universal dyslexia screening, intervention and remediation. The committee must develop the guidebook no later than Dec. 31, 2021.

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.

Dyslexia screening measures
In the coming months, the Ohio Dyslexia Committee will develop a list of approved dyslexia screeners. The approved list will be communicated to the public and posted on the Ohio dyslexia supports website. Districts and schools must select screening and intervention measures from those identified and must establish a multidisciplinary team to administer the measures and analyze the results.

Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, districts and schools must administer “tier one dyslexia screenings.” These screening measures will be used by districts to identify each student who is at risk of dyslexia and must be administered to the following students:

  • All students in grades K-3;
  • Students in grades 4-6 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;
  • Transfer students in kindergarten who transfer into the district or school during the regularly scheduled screening of the kindergarten class or within 30 days after enrollment; and
  • Transfer students in grades 1-6 who transfer into the district or school, within 30 days after enrollment.

If a student is identified as “at-risk for dyslexia” based on the student’s tier one screening results, districts are required to:

  • 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.”
    • 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.

If 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. If a student demonstrates markers of dyslexia, the district must provide the student’s parent, guardian or custodian with a written explanation of the district’s multi-sensory structured literacy program. In addition, districts will be required to follow the guidance in the forthcoming dyslexia guidebook regarding students identified as at risk for dyslexia.

It’s important to note that the new law 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.”

Professional development
Educators must obtain professional development in dyslexia instruction (between 6 and 18 clock hours, as prescribed by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee), staggered depending on the grades of students for which the teacher provides instruction:

  • Beginning of 2023-24 school year – Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers, including special education teachers.
  • Beginning of 2024-25 school year – 2nd and 3rd grade teachers, including special education teachers
  • Beginning of 2025-26 school year – Special education teachers of students in grades 4-12.

ODE, in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, will select and maintain a list of courses that fulfill the professional development requirements. The list may consist of online or classroom learning models. Any professional development course completed by a teacher prior to April 12, 2021, that is included on the list of approved courses will count toward the number of instructional hours in approved professional development courses.

Literacy Certification
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, districts will be required to establish a multi-sensory structured literacy certification process for teachers of students in grades K-3. ODE, in consultation with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, will develop multi-sensory structured literacy program professional development for teachers in evidence-based dyslexia screening and intervention practices. More information on multi-sensory structured literacy is available through the International Dyslexia Association.

The professional development training and multi-sensory structured literacy certification are two separate requirements under the law. The professional development requires a set number of hours of approved coursework. The multi-sensory structured literacy certification process for teachers will be determined by districts with guidance provided by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee.

If you have questions about the new dyslexia support laws, please contact the OSBA Division of Legal Services.

Posted by Sara C. Clark on 5/14/2021