Senate Bill 2289

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-173-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "DYSLEXIA" FOR PURPOSES OF THE DYSLEXIA THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 37-173-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-173-1. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.

(b) "Department" means the State Department of Education.

(c) "Dyslexia" * * * is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography. These difficulties occur along a continuum of severity and persist even with instruction that is effective for the individual's peers. The causes of dyslexia are complex and involve combinations of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences that interact throughout development. Underlying difficulties with phonological and morphological processing are common but not universal, and early oral language weaknesses often foreshadow literacy challenges. Secondary consequences include reading comprehension problems and reduced reading and writing experience that can impede growth in language, knowledge, written expression, and overall academic achievement. Psychological well-being and employment opportunities also may be affected. Although identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, language and literacy support before and during the early years of education is particularly effective.

(d) "Dyslexia therapy" means an appropriate specialized dyslexia instructional program that is delivered by a Mississippi Department of Education licensed dyslexia therapist which is scientific, research-based, Orton-Gillingham based, and is offered in a small group setting to teach students the components of reading instruction which include:

(i) Phonemic awareness to enable students to detect, segment, blend and manipulate sounds in spoken language;

(ii) Graphophonemic knowledge (phonics) for teaching the letter-sound plan of English;

(iii) The entire structure of the English language that encompasses morphology, semantics, syntax and pragmatics;

(iv) Linguistic instruction directed toward proficiency and fluency with the patterns of language so that words and sentences are carriers of meaning; and

(v) Strategies that students use for decoding, encoding, word recognition, fluency and comprehension.

These components shall be taught using instructional approaches that include explicit, direct instruction which is systematic, sequential and cumulative, following a logical plan of presenting the alphabetic principle commensurate with the students' needs, with no assumption of prior skills or language knowledge; individualized to meet the specific learning needs of each individual student in a small group setting; intensive, highly concentrated instruction that maximizes student engagement and uses specialized methods and materials; meaning-based instruction directed toward purposeful reading and writing, with an emphasis on comprehension and composition; and multisensory instruction that incorporates the simultaneous use of two (2) or more sensory pathways during teacher presentations and student practice.

(e) "AA license" means a certification issued by the department to educators who hold a master's degree, indicating their eligibility to teach in specific academic settings within the State of Mississippi.

(f) "Qualified Instructor of Certified Academic Language Therapists" means a professional who is certified in instructor competency through a nationally recognized Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy organization or Orton-Gillingham-based academic language therapy organization and has:

(i) Experience in Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy situations that include remediating students of various severity levels, ages and group sizes not exceeding six (6) students;

(ii) Completed a minimum of fourteen hundred (1400) clinical therapy hours;

(iii) Completed a minimum of two (2) curriculum therapy cycles remediating students;

(iv) Trained in a minimum of two (2) Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy curriculum programs;

(v) Assisted in training educators through an Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy program under a Qualified Instructor of Certified Academic Language Therapists; and

(vi) A master's degree or higher level of education.

(g) "Department of Education licensed dyslexia therapist" means a professional:

(i) Who has completed training in a department-approved Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy training program attaining * * * a an AA license in dyslexia therapy; or

(ii) Holding or currently participating in a master's degree that leads to an AA license and a department-approved Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy training program; or

(iii) Holding a standard five-year license or administrator license and a master's degree having completed a department-approved Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia training program; or

(iv) Holding:

1. A national certification for Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy or Orton-Gillingham-based academic language therapy from a nationally recognized professional organization;

2. College transcripts as proof of a master's degree or greater level of graduate education; and

3. Current membership in a national certifying organization for Orton-Gillingham-based dyslexia therapy or Orton-Gillingham-based academic language therapy as proof of maintenance of professional continuing education standards.

(h) "Approved dyslexia therapy training program" means a program accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) and includes:

(i) A minimum of two hundred (200) hours of coursework and seven hundred (700) hours of clinical work, observed and monitored by a Qualified Instructor of Certified Academic Language Therapists; and

(ii) A reading-science competency examination, including multisensory structured language, administered by a nationally recognized organization with authority to issue national certification.

(i) "Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program" means a scholarship to provide the option to attend a public school other than the one to which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for students in Grade 1 through Grade 12 diagnosed with dyslexia in order to receive comprehensive multisensory dyslexia therapy delivered by holders of an appropriate license in dyslexia therapy issued by the department.

(j) "School" means any public or state-accredited nonpublic special purpose school that provides a specific learning environment that provides comprehensive dyslexia therapy instruction delivered by dyslexia therapists licensed by the department providing highly qualified education and intervention services to children diagnosed with the primary learning disability of dyslexia.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.