(a) In order to support and maintain full educational
opportunity for students with dyslexia and related disorders and consistent
with federal and state law, school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools shall provide each student with dyslexia or a related disorder
access to each program under which the student qualifies for services.
(b) The board of trustees of a school district or the
governing body of an open-enrollment charter school must ensure that
procedures for identifying a student with dyslexia or a related disorder
and for providing appropriate, evidence-based instructional services
to the student are implemented in the district.
(c) A school district's or open-enrollment charter
school's procedures must be implemented according to the State Board
of Education (SBOE) approved strategies for screening, individualized
evaluation, and techniques for treating dyslexia and related disorders.
The strategies and techniques are described in the "Dyslexia Handbook:
Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders" provided in
this subsection. The handbook is a set of guidelines for school districts
and open-enrollment charter schools that may be modified by the SBOE
only with broad-based dialogue that includes input from educators
and professionals in the field of reading and dyslexia and related
disorders from across the state.
Attached Graphic
(d) Screening as described in the "Dyslexia Handbook:
Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders" and further
evaluation should only be conducted by individuals who are trained
in valid, evidence-based assessments and who are trained to appropriately
evaluate students for dyslexia and related disorders.
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall purchase a reading program or develop its own evidence-based
reading program for students with dyslexia and related disorders that
is aligned with the descriptors found in the "Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures
Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders." Teachers who screen and
treat these students must be trained in instructional strategies that
use individualized, intensive, multisensory, phonetic methods and
a variety of writing and spelling components described in the "Dyslexia
Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders." The
professional development activities specified by each open-enrollment
charter school and district and/or campus planning and decision making
committee shall include these instructional strategies.
(f) At least five school days before any evaluation
or identification procedure is used selectively with an individual
student, the school district or open-enrollment charter school must
provide written notification to the student's parent or guardian or
another person standing in parental relation to the student of the
proposed identification or evaluation. The notice must be in English,
or to the extent practicable, the individual's native language and
must include the following:
(1) a reasonable description of the evaluation procedure
to be used with the individual student;
(2) information related to any instructional intervention
or strategy used to assist the student prior to evaluation;
(3) an estimated time frame within which the evaluation
will be completed; and
(4) specific contact information for the campus point
of contact, relevant Parent Training and Information Projects, and
any other appropriate parent resources.
(g) Before a full individual and initial evaluation
is conducted to determine whether a student has a disability under
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the school
district or open-enrollment charter school must notify the student's
parent or guardian or another person standing in parental relation
to the student of its proposal to conduct an evaluation consistent
with 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), §300.503, provide
all information required under subsection (f) of this section, and
provide:
(1) a copy of the procedural safeguards notice required
by 34 CFR, §300.504;
(2) an opportunity to give written consent for the
evaluation; and
(3) a copy of information required under Texas Education
Code (TEC), §26.0081.
(h) Parents/guardians of a student with dyslexia or
a related disorder must be informed of all services and options available
to the student, including general education interventions under response
to intervention and multi-tiered systems of support models as required
by TEC, §26.0081(d), and options under federal law, including
IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act, §504.
(i) Each school or open-enrollment charter school must
provide each identified student access at his or her campus to instructional
programs required in subsection (e) of this section and to the services
of a teacher trained in dyslexia and related disorders. The school
district or open-enrollment charter school may, with the approval
of each student's parents or guardians, offer additional services
at a centralized location. Such centralized services shall not preclude
each student from receiving services at his or her campus.
(j) Because early intervention is critical, a process
for early identification, intervention, and support for students at
risk for dyslexia and related disorders must be available in each
district and open-enrollment charter school as outlined in the "Dyslexia
Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders." School
districts and open-enrollment charter schools may not use early intervention
strategies, including multi-tiered systems of support, to delay or
deny the provision of a full and individual evaluation to a child
suspected of having a specific learning disability, including dyslexia
or a related disorder.
(k) Each school district and open-enrollment charter
school shall report through the Texas Student Data System Public Education
Information Management System (TSDS PEIMS) the results of the screening
for dyslexia and related disorders required for each student in Kindergarten
and each student in Grade 1 in accordance with TEC, §38.003(a).
(l) Each school district and open-enrollment charter
school shall provide a parent education program for parents/guardians
of students with dyslexia and related disorders. This program must
include:
(1) awareness and characteristics of dyslexia and related
disorders;
(2) information on testing and diagnosis of dyslexia
and related disorders;
(3) information on effective strategies for teaching
students with dyslexia and related disorders;
(4) information on qualifications of those delivering
services to students with dyslexia and related disorders;
(5) awareness of information on accommodations and
modifications, especially those allowed for standardized testing;
(6) information on eligibility, evaluation requests,
and services available under IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act, §504,
and information on the response to intervention process; and
(7) contact information for the relevant regional and/or
school district or open-enrollment charter school specialists.
(m) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall provide to parents of children suspected to have dyslexia or
a related disorder a copy or a link to the electronic version of the
"Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders."
(n) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
will be subject to monitoring for compliance with federal law and
regulations in connection with this section. School districts and
open-enrollment charter schools will be subject to auditing and monitoring
for compliance with state dyslexia laws in accordance with administrative
rules adopted by the commissioner of education as required by TEC, §38.003(c-1).
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Source Note: The provisions of this §74.28 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 4311; amended to be effective September 1, 2001, 25 TexReg 7691; amended to be effective August 8, 2006, 31 TexReg 6212; amended to be effective August 24, 2010, 35 TexReg 7211; amended to be effective August 27, 2018, 43 TexReg 5519; amended to be effective March 13, 2019, 44 TexReg 1315; amended to be effective December 25, 2019, 44 TexReg 7981; amended to be effective February 10, 2022, 47 TexReg 504 |