Oklahoma

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.

To our knowledge, Oklahoma does not have dyslexia screening legislation per se, but the Reading Sufficiency Act addresses screening for reading skills. The state’s dyslexia handbook further states that all students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 must be screened, and that students in Grade 4 may be screened. Screeners should assess phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding skills, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehensions, and a dyslexia checklist for teachers. Students who are below benchmark should also be assessed on rapid naming, encoding, and advanced phonemic awareness skills. Schools should use state-approved measures.

According to the Reading Sufficiency Act, “Each program of reading instruction shall include provisions of the READ Initiative adopted by the school district as provided for in 70 O.S. § 1210.508C. For purposes of the Reading Sufficiency Act, a "program of reading instruction" shall be based upon a three-tiered Response to Intervention ("RtI") model, and shall include: (1) For students identified for Tier I intervention, a minimum of ninety (90) minutes of uninterrupted daily scientific-research-based reading instruction; (2) For students identified for Tier II intervention, at least an amount of uninterrupted scientific-research-based reading instructional time that is: (A) Based on specific student needs; (B) Reflects the needed intensity and/or frequency as identified on a screening tool, diagnostic assessment, and/or progress monitoring instrument; and (C) Is determined by the classroom teacher, reading specialist (if available), and building principal. (3) For students identified for Tier III intervention, at least forty-five (45) to sixty (60) minutes of additional uninterrupted daily scientific-research-based reading instruction in addition to the ninety (90) minutes of uninterrupted daily reading instruction provided under Tier I.” Additionally, the state dyslexia  handbook promotes evidence-based, structured literacy interventions in an RTI/MTSS framework that include explicit instruction.