Illinois

State Education Agency (SEA) Dyslexia Legislation

Public Act 98-0705

Synopsis As Introduced: "Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to distribute to each school board information on screening instruments available to identify students who exhibit potential indicators of dyslexia and other reading disabilities. Requires a school board to select and implement age-appropriate screening instruments for the early diagnosis of dyslexia and other reading disabilities and to ensure that each kindergarten student enrolled in the school district is screened for dyslexia and other reading disabilities. Requires the State Board to develop and distribute to each school board guidance on appropriate intervention strategies for students diagnosed with dyslexia or other reading disabilities. Provides that, in the event that a student is determined to exhibit potential indicators of dyslexia or another reading disability, the school board shall ensure that the student receives a comprehensive assessment for the learning disorder and, in the event that a diagnosis is confirmed, the school board shall provide appropriate intervention strategies to the student. Sets forth requirements concerning professional development related to reading disabilities, the incorporation of the International Dyslexia Association's definition of dyslexia into administrative rules, and an additional written test for certain educator licensure candidates. Effective immediately."

Response to Intervention for Student Learning Disability Eligibility in 2010?

Required by law

Severe Discrepancy for Student Learning Disability Eligibility in 2010?

Permitted by guidelines

Student Learning Disability Eligibility (Zirkel & Thomas 2010 Classification)?

RTI required, SD permitted when used in combination with another approach

As the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) website states, "Public Act 98-0705PDF Document required the State Board of Education, subject to appropriation or the availability of private donations, to establish an advisory group to develop a training module or training modules to provide education and professional development to teachers, school administrators, and other educational professional regarding multi-sensory, systematic, and sequential instruction in reading. Although no funding was appropriated for this advisory group, the Board decided to convene a group of stakeholders to discuss this important topic and review existing programs. The stakeholder group created a 'Reading Intervention Toolkit' based on their reviews. The group encourages schools and districts to recognize the Program and Methods section of the toolkit as a rubric to assess their own interventions and needs in order to provide appropriate targeted reading intervention as determined by screenings/diagnostic assessments and progress monitoring." It can be noted that ISBE recommends universal screening three times per year. More information can be found in this Reading Instruction Best Practices Related to Dyslexia document.

State Recognized Screeners

CTOPP2, CORE Graded High Frequency Word Survey, Family History, Phonics Screener for Intervention, Phonological Awareness Test-PAT2, Lexercise Dyslexia Screener, Really Great Reading Phonics Boost Skill Assessment, TOSWRF, TOWRE, WADE, Informal Reading Inventory, Nonsense Word Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency, Phonics Survey, and Phonological Awareness Screener.

Public Act 98-0705 states, "Beginning on January 1, 2016, in addition to any other requirements set forth by the State Board of Education under Article 21B of this Code, candidates for licensure requesting a preschool through grade 3 endorsement, elementary school endorsement, or reading specialist endorsement shall pass a written test that includes, at a minimum, the following topics: (1) the foundations of teaching reading; (2) the basic rules of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics of the English language; (3) the diagnosis of reading difficulties; (4) the development of reading comprehension; and (5) reading assessment. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to effectuate this subsection (g), including any rules specifying additional topics deemed appropriate for inclusion on the written test."

Beginning on September 1, 2016. The State Board of Education shall, as part of the professional development requirements for public school teachers, require each public school teacher to complete at least 20 hours of professional development instruction on the screening, intervention, accommodation, and use of technology for students with reading disabilities, including dyslexia, during each 5-year renewal cycle. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the State Board of Education shall provide professional development opportunities related to reading disabilities, including dyslexia, to school district personnel. The professional development must be provided to general education, special education, and English as a second language teachers, instructional support staff, administrators, supervisors, child study team members, and speech and language specialists. The professional development opportunities must be designed to account for the various manners in which different school district personnel interact with or develop instructional programs for students with reading disabilities.

Resources

Decoding Dyslexia Illinois

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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