This presentation critically examines the implications of Ohio House Bill 436, commonly referred to as, “The Dyslexia Law,” and its impact on pre-service teachers, districts, and students. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words (Moats & Dakin, 2020). The purpose of this presentation was to explore the Ohio Dyslexia Handbook and the requirements of the law. This presentation also examines multiple perspectives on the implementation and use of structured literacy instruction. Structured Literacy is a researched based intervention that can be used to support struggling readers, “Structured literacy approaches emphasize highly explicit and systematic teaching of all important components of literacy. These components include both foundational skills (e.g., decoding, spelling) and higher-level literacy skills (e.g., reading comprehension, written expression),” (Spear-Swerling, 2022). The law will require an increase in training for teachers on structured literacy instruction prior to the 2023-2024 school year. All students in grades K-3 will be administered a dyslexia screener. Parents of students will be notified if their students are identified as being at risk for dyslexia. This presentation also examines curriculums that will likely be used in districts throughout the state. It can be predicted that students will benefit from the universal screening of dyslexia and early intervention. It is important that communication and collaboration are made between teachers, administrators, and the community on this new piece of legislation.
Author(s): Christina Fligner, Inclusive Special Education Major
Advisor(s): Sarah Watt, Department of Educational Psychology
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