House Bill 449

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-173-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERMS "DYSLEXIA THERAPY" AND "DYSLEXIA THERAPIST" FOR PURPOSES OF THE DYSLEXIA THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 37-173-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE DYSLEXIA SCREENING OF STUDENTS FOR PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY EITHER IN THE SPRING OF THE STUDENT'S KINDERGARTEN YEAR OR IN THE FALL OF THE STUDENT'S FIRST GRADE YEAR; TO PRESCRIBE THE CREDENTIALS OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS WHO MAY CONDUCT DYSLEXIA EVALUATIONS; 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" means a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin, characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities, which typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction, and secondary consequences which may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

(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 in content and principles of instruction, recognized by a national accrediting or certifying organization, 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) "Dyslexia therapist" means a professional who has completed training in a department-approved Orton-Gillingham-based, in content and principles of instruction, dyslexia therapy training program that is recognized by a national accrediting or certifying organization, and attaining an AA license in dyslexia therapy or a professional participating in a state approved dyslexia therapy training program to attain an AA license in dyslexia therapy.

(f) "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 6 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.

(g) "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. Section 37-173-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-173-15. (1) (a) Each local school district shall adopt a policy to ensure that students will be screened in the spring of kindergarten * * *~~and~~ or the fall of Grade 1. The component of the screening must include:

(i) Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness;

(ii) Sound symbol recognition;

(iii) Alphabet knowledge;

(iv) Decoding skills;

(v) Encoding skills; and

(vi) Rapid naming.

(b) If a student fails the screener, the parent or legal guardian will be notified of the results of the screener. Subsequent dyslexia evaluations may be administered by licensed professionals, including:

(i) Psychologists, licensed under Chapter 31, Title 73, Mississippi Code of 1972;

(ii) Psychometrists, licensed by the Mississippi Department of Education; or

(iii) Speech Language Pathologists, licensed under Chapter 38, Title 73, Mississippi Code of 1972, or licensed by the State Department of Education at the master's level.

(c) If a student fails the screener, the school district, in its discretion, may perform a comprehensive dyslexia evaluation, such evaluation must be administered by any of the licensed professionals identified under paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(d) If a parent or legal guardian of a student who fails the dyslexia screener exercises the option to have a subsequent evaluation performed, such evaluation shall be administered by any of the licensed professionals identified under paragraph (b) of this subsection, and the resulting diagnosis of the subsequent evaluation must be accepted by the school district for purposes of determining eligibility for placement within a dyslexia therapy program within the current school or to receive a Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for placement in a dyslexia program in another public school or nonpublic special purpose school.

(2) The screening of all compulsory-school-age children enrolled in each local public school district for dyslexia required by subsection (1)(a) of this section shall in no manner nullify or defeat the requirements of the pilot programs adopted by the State Department of Education to test certain students enrolled or enrolling in public schools for dyslexia under Section 37-23-15.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.