California

State Education Agency (SEA) Dyslexia Legislation

California Assembly Bill 1369 and Chapter 647

Assembly Bill 1369 requires "the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop, and to complete in time for use no later than the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year, program guidelines for dyslexia to be used to assist regular education teachers, special education teachers, and parents to identify and assess pupils with dyslexia, and to plan, provide, evaluate, and improve educational services, as defined, to pupils with dyslexia." The bill also requires "the Superintendent to disseminate the program guidelines through the State Department of Education’s Internet Web site and to provide technical assistance regarding their use and implementation to specified persons. Existing regulations adopted by the State Board of Education include specific basic psychological processes in the definition of 'specific learning disability.'" This bill requires "the state board to include 'phonological processing' in that description of basic psychological processes."

California’s dyslexia handbook recognizes IDA’s definition of dyslexia.

Response to Intervention for Student Learning Disability Eligibility in 2010?

Permitted by law

Severe Discrepancy for Student Learning Disability Eligibility in 2010?

Permitted by law

Student Learning Disability Eligibility (Zirkel & Thomas 2010 Classification)?

RTI and SD permitted by law

AB 1369 states, "Existing law requires all children with disabilities residing in the state, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and related services, to be identified, located, and assessed. Existing law provides that a pupil who is assessed as being dyslexic and meets certain eligibility criteria for the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act category of specific learning disabilities is entitled to special education and related services." AB 1369 charges the Superintendent with developing guidelines that "assess pupils with dyslexia, and to plan, provide, evaluate, and improve educational services to pupils with dyslexia. For purposes of this section, 'educational services' means an evidence-based, multisensory, direct, explicit, structured, and sequential approach to instructing pupils who have dyslexia."

The state handbook states universal screening should occur in kindergarten, and not later than first grade. It does not state or imply that screening should only occur once, but it does not provide explicit guidance on when screening should occur apart from this.

California does not have pre-service legislation related to dyslexia.

California does not have in-service legislation related to dyslexia

Resources

California Dyslexia Guidelines

Decoding Dyslexia California

International Dyslexia Association Northern California

International Dyslexia Association Southern California

Citations

Zirkel, P. A., & Thomas, L. B. (2010). State laws for RTI: An updated snapshot. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 56-63.

Gearin, B., Turtura, J., Kame’enui, E. J., Nelson, N. J., & Fien, H. (2018). A Multiple Streams Analysis of Recent Changes to State-Level Dyslexia Education Law. Educational Policy, 0895904818807328.

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