Title 17. Education

Chapter 1. General School Law

Part VI-B. Dyslexia

17:392.11     Dyslexia; screening and reporting

A. As used in this Part:

(1) “Dyslexia” means an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in phonological processing, which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell. 

(2) “Phonological processing” means the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken and written language. 

B. (1) The state Department of Education shall select a dyslexia screener with an area under the curve of 0.80 or above and provide the screener, at no cost, to each public school. The dyslexia screener shall be administered to each student by a classroom teacher in the second half of kindergarten or upon request of a teacher or a parent or legal guardian. This screener shall not be a progress monitoring tool but shall: 

(a) Be developed solely for dyslexia. 

(b) Be evidence-based with proven, published psychometric validity. 

(c) Be used for the sole purpose of determining whether a student is at risk for dyslexia. 

(2) If the results of such screening indicate that a student is at risk for dyslexia, the parent or guardian shall be notified within thirty days of the results of the screening. 

(3) The implementation of the provisions of this Subsection shall be subject to the appropriation of funds by the legislature for this purpose. 

C. (1) Each public school governing authority shall submit a report to the state Department of Education by December fifteenth annually relative to the occurrence of dyslexia. The report shall include numbers of students of all grade levels identified as dyslexic, either pursuant to the provisions of this Section or by any other means, and shall include, per grade, all of the following: 

(a) For students identified as dyslexic through a Section 504 Plan: 

(i) The number initially identified during the preceding school year. 

(ii) The total number. 

(b) For students with an Individualized Education Plan identified as having a specific learning disability, dyslexia: 

(i) The number initially identified during the preceding school year. 

(ii) The total number. 

(2) The state Department of Education shall compile the reports received pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this Subsection and report such data to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education no later than March first annually. 

(3) Notwithstanding Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, if the number of students in a grade level identified as dyslexic is not zero and not more than ten, the report shall not indicate an exact number but shall indicate that there are fewer than eleven students in the grade identified as dyslexic. 

Added by Acts 2023, No. 266, § 1.