Colorado
State Education Agency (SEA) Dyslexia Legislation
Has Legislation?YesThis bill expands the authority of the Colorado Department of Education such that it is authorized to provide technical assistance related to the screening and education of students with dyslexia. Provisions are not requirements.
House Bill 19-1134 addresses research on effective methods for assisting early-grade students with dyslexia (i.e., dyslexia pilot program for 2020-2021) and makes connected appropriations.
SB 19-199 amends the 2012 READ Act to include professional development in teaching evidence-based reading by the 2021-22 school year or to provide evidence that educators have met this requirement.
HB 19-1134 and Colorado’s dyslexia handbook recognize IDA’s definition of dyslexia.
Screening
Required?Yes- Response to Intervention for Student Learning Disability Eligibility in 2010?
- Required by law
- Student Learning Disability Eligibility (Zirkel & Thomas 2010 Classification)?
- RTI required, SD prohibited
The READ Act does use the term “dyslexia” specifically. Instead, it requires interim assessments using approved measures in Grades K-3. The approved measures include measures of word reading ability and component skills. The act further specifies that “If a teacher finds, based on a student's scores on the approved reading assessments, that the student may have a significant reading deficiency, the teacher shall administer to the student one or more diagnostic assessments within sixty days after the previous assessment to determine the student's specific reading skill deficiencies. Each local education provider shall select from the list of approved assessments adopted by rule of the state board pursuant to section 22-7- 1209 (1) those assessments it uses to determine a student's specific reading skill deficiencies. A local education provider may choose to use other diagnostic reading assessments in addition to but not in lieu of the approved assessments.”
Screening recommendations are described in the state guidelines for identifying students with disabilities. Colorado also has laws requiring interim reading assessments during early elementary.
State Recognized Screeners
DIBELS 6th Edition, DIBELS Next, easyCBM, TOWRE-2, CTOPP-2, TOSCRF, and TOSWRF.
Pre-service
Required?NoColorado does not have pre-service legislation related to dyslexia.
In-service
Required?YesThough it does not address dyslexia specifically, the READ Act states, “By the beginning of the 2021-22 school year and continuing for each school year thereafter, each local education provider that receives per-pupil intervention money or a grant through the early literacy grant program in any budget year starting with the 2019-20 budget year shall ensure that each teacher employed to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three successfully completes or has successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading. To comply with this subsection (6)(a), a local education provider must submit evidence, as described in subsection (6)(b) of this section, that each teacher employed to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three has successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading that is: (I) Included as a course in an approved program of preparation, as defined in section 22-60.5-103 (8), or an alternative teacher program, as defined in section 22-60.5-103 (5);(II) Included as a course in a post-graduate degree program in teaching reading or literacy; (III) Provided by the department or included on the advisory list of professional development programs provided by the department pursuant to section 22-7- 1209 (2)(c); or(IV) Provided by a local education provider or is appropriate for license renewal pursuant to section 22-60.5-110 (3).(b) A teacher is deemed to have successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading if the local education provider submits to the department evidence that the teacher passed an end-of-course assessment of learning at the completion of the evidence-based training.(c) At the request of a local education provider, the department shall provide, at no cost to the local education provider, evidence-based training in teaching reading to one or more of the teachers employed by the local education provider to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three.”
Intervention
Required?YesAccording to the READ Act, “If a student has a significant reading deficiency, the student's READ plan must include the intervention instruction that the local education provider provides through the multi-tiered systems of support or a comparable intervention system implemented by the local education provider.”
According to the READ Act, “If a student enrolled in kindergarten is identified as having a significant reading deficiency, the local education provider shall create the student's READ plan as a component of the student's individualized readiness plan created pursuant to section 22-7- 1014. The local education provider may include components of the student's individualized readiness plan that apply to teaching literacy as part of the student's READ plan after the student completes kindergarten, so long as the local education provider administers an approved reading assessment to the student in grades one through three as required in section 22-7- 1205 (1) and the student's READ plan meets the requirements specified in subsection (5) of this section. (5) Each READ plan must include, at a minimum:(a) The student's specific, diagnosed reading skill deficiencies that need to be remediated in order for the student to attain reading competency;(b) The goals and benchmarks for the student's growth in attaining reading competency;(c) The type of additional instructional services and interventions the student will receive in reading. At a minimum, the local education provider shall ensure that the student receives educational services in a daily literacy block for the length of time identified as effective in research relating to best practices in teaching reading.(d) The scientifically based or evidence-based reading instructional programming the teacher will use to provide to the student daily reading approaches, strategies, interventions, and instruction, which programs at a minimum shall address the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading comprehension. The local education provider may choose to select the programs from among those included on the advisory list prepared by the department pursuant to section 22-7- 1209”
The state’s dyslexia handbook additionally promotes interventions that are multisensory and include instruction that is explicit, direct, systematic and cumulative.
Literacy State-identified Measurable Result (SIMR) - Part B
Has Literacy SIMR?Yes
Resources
Colorado Department of Education Dyslexia Resources
International Dyslexia Association Rocky Mountain
Colorado Kids Identified with Dyslexia
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.
Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this page. If you see missing or incorrect information, let us know!
Has Dyslexia Legislation?Yes
Screening Requirement?Yes
Pre-service Requirement?No
In-service Requirement?Yes
Intervention Requirement?Yes
Has Literacy SIMR?Yes
The research reported here is funded by awards to the National Center on Improving Literacy from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, in partnership with the Office of Special Education Programs (Award #: S283D160003). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of OESE, OSEP, or the U.S. Department of Education. Copyright © 2023 National Center on Improving Literacy. https://improvingliterarcy.org
