Oklahoma

State Education Agency (SEA) Dyslexia Legislation

HB390, HB 1228, and § 70-7001, 

HB 390 creates a scholarship to attend a private school of the recipient's choice. HB 1228 creates a professional development program .§70-7001 creates a dyslexia pilot program. 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).

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. (State handbook discusses identification of dyslexia in terms

A.    Beginning the 2022-2023 school year and for each school year thereafter, any student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second or third grade in a public school in this state who is assessed through the Reading Sufficiency Act pursuant to Section 1210.508C of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes and who is not meeting grade-level targets in reading after the beginning-of-the-year assessment shall be screened for dyslexia. Screening also may be requested for a student by his or her parent or guardian, teacher, counselor, speech-language pathologist or school psychologist.  

B.    No later than July 1, 2021, the State Board of Education shall develop policies for dyslexia screening required under this subsection and shall include, but not be limited to: 1. The definition and characteristics of dyslexia and related language disorders; 2. The process for referring students in kindergarten and grades one through three for screening; 3. A process for providing notification to parents of the use of a qualified dyslexia-screening tool and notification of the results of the screening; 4. A process for providing the parents of students screened for dyslexia with information and resource material regarding dyslexia; 5. A process for monitoring the student's progress after the positive identification of characteristics of dyslexia, or other disorders; and 6. Requirements and qualifications for screeners that demonstrate an understanding of and training to administer the screening instrument.

C.    The Board shall adopt a list of approved qualified dyslexia screening tools that address the following components, as developmentally appropriate: 1. Phonological awareness; 2. Advanced phonemic awareness;3. Sound symbol recognition;4. Alphabet knowledge; 5. Decoding skills; 6. Encoding skills; 7. Rapid naming; and Developmental language.

D.    Screening shall be conducted in accordance with the policies developed by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection B of this section and the Oklahoma Dyslexia Handbook, including policies and information developed relating to universal screening of kindergarten students for characteristics of dyslexia. 

E.    Beginning June 30, 2023, and for each year thereafter, school districts shall provide the following data to the State Department of Education: 1. The number of students by grade level in kindergarten through grade three who were screened for dyslexia in a school year; 2. The number of students by grade level in kindergarten through grade three who were newly identified as having characteristics of dyslexia in a school year; 3. The process or tools used to evaluate student progress; 4. The number of trained school system personnel or licensed professionals used to administer the qualified dyslexia screening tool; 5. The number of students in kindergarten through grade three who were participating in interventions within the school setting and the number of students participating in interventions outside the school setting; and 6. The programs used by districts for intervention within the school setting. 

F.    By December 31, 2023, and for each year thereafter, the State Department of Education shall provide a report containing all of the information provided in subsection E of this section to the Governor and Legislature and make the report available on the Department's website.

In 2012, a dyslexia pilot program for higher education was passed (§70-7001).

HB 1228 requires that professional development concerning dyslexia be provided at least once per year. HB2804 also specifies that “As funds are available, beginning the 2021-2022 school year, the Department shall provide training on the best practices for screening for dyslexia.”

Resources

Decoding Dyslexia Oklahoma

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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