Recently, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 583 of the 134th Ohio General Assembly. As a result, the following changes related to dyslexia support laws will take effect Sept. 22:
- Delays by one year the requirement for annual tier one dyslexia screenings of students in grades kindergarten through six from the 2022-2023 school year to the 2023-2024 school year but allows a district or school to administer the tier one dyslexia screening prior to the 2023-2024 school year. (See ORC 3323.251);
- Permits districts and schools to use any best practices and recommendations developed for the guidebook by the Ohio Dyslexia Committee regarding the best practices and methods for universal screening, intervention and remediation for children with dyslexia or children displaying dyslexic characteristics and tendencies. (See ORC 3323.251 (C) (4));
- Specifically states that a school must comply with statutorily required provisions regarding the dyslexia guidebook. (See ORC 3323.251 (C) (1));
- Specifies that the list maintain by the Ohio Department of Education, in collaboration with the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, must pertain to "training" rather than "courses" that fulfill the professional development requirements regarding dyslexia. (See ORC 3319.077);
- Removes "multi-sensory” from the description of “multi-sensory structured literacy programs." (See ORC 3323.25, 3323.251 and 3319.078); and
- Defines "teacher" to clarify that the professional development requirements do not apply to a fine arts, music or physical education teacher. (See ORC 3319.077 (A) (4)).
Send questions to Dyslexia@education.ohio.gov.
Posted by Kim Miller-Smith on 7/12/2022