Tennessee
State Education Agency (SEA) Dyslexia Legislation
Has Legislation?YesHB2635, HB1735/SB2002, and PC1058
Public Chapter 1058 tasks the state department of education with developing procedures and regulations related to the screening and intervention of dyslexia. Related requirements (including professional development requirements) are also discussed.
Screening
Required?Yes- 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
According to PC1058, "The dyslexia screening procedures shall include phonological and phonemic awareness, sound symbol recognition, alphabet knowledge, decoding skills, rapid naming, and encoding skills. (3) The dyslexia screening procedures shall be implemented by every LEA. (4) Dyslexia screening may be requested for any student by the student's parent or guardian, teacher, counselor, or school psychologist."
State Recognized Screeners
AIMSweb, DIBELS 6th Edition, DIBELS Next, easyCBM, PALS-K, TOWRE-2, Developmental Spelling Analysis, PASS, WIST, CTOPP-2, RAN/RAS, PAT-2, QRI-5, Words their Way, Development Spelling Assessment. See the state resource guide for grade-level requirements and test-content correspondences.
Pre-service
Required?NoTennessee does not have pre-service legislation related to dyslexia.
In-service
Required?NoTennessee does not have in-service legislation related to dyslexia.
Intervention
Required?YesState law states that "(c) If the dyslexia screening conducted by the LEA indicates that a student has characteristics of dyslexia, the LEA shall: (1) Notify the student's parent or legal guardian; (2) Provide the student's parent or legal guardian with information and resource material regarding dyslexia; (3) Provide the student with appropriate tiered dyslexia-specific intervention through its RTl framework; and (4) Monitor the student's progress using a tool designed to measure the effectiveness of the intervention." The state defines "Dyslexia-specific intervention" as evidence-based, specialized reading, writing, and spelling instruction that is multisensory in nature, equipping students to simultaneously use multiple senses, such as vision, hearing, touch, and movement. Dyslexia-specific intervention employs direct instruction of systematic and cumulative content, with the sequence beginning with the easiest and most basic elements and progress methodically to more difficult material. Each step must also be based on those already learned. Components of dyslexia-specific intervention include instruction targeting phonological awareness, sound symbol association, syllable structure, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Literacy State-identified Measurable Result (SIMR) - Part B
Has Literacy SIMR?Yes
Resources
Tennessee Dyslexia Resource Guide
International Dyslexia Association Tennessee
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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Has Dyslexia Legislation?Yes
Screening Requirement?Yes
Pre-service Requirement?No
In-service Requirement?No
Intervention Requirement?Yes
Has Literacy SIMR?Yes
The research reported here is funded by awards to the National Center on Improving Literacy from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, in partnership with the Office of Special Education Programs (Award #: S283D160003). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of OESE, OSEP, or the U.S. Department of Education. Copyright © 2024 National Center on Improving Literacy. https://www.improvingliteracy.org