North Dakota

HB1461 defines dyslexia and establishes a dyslexia specialist position, pilot program, and screening and intervention requirements. Oklahoma’s dyslexia handbook defines dyslexia as follows: 

According to the Woodcock Johnson IV, “Dyslexia affects reading at the single word level, reading fluency and rate, and spelling.In turn, these weaknesses cause difficulties with reading comprehension and written expression. Other abilities that do not require reading, such as general intelligence, reasoning, oral language, mathematics, and knowledge are often unimpaired. In other words, the reading and spelling difficulties are often unexpected in relation to the person’s other abilities.” (Mather & Wendling, 2014).

According to HB1461, “Each public elementary school shall include in the developing and processing of assessments and screening of reading, the core components of phonetic awareness, decoding, and spelling. The screening also must be offered if requested by a parent, legal guardian, or teacher.”

Schools within the pilot program will provide interventions based on screening results. State guidance documents promote MTSS and instruction that is explicit and multisensory.