OSPA Executive Director Ann Brennan spent the end of 2020 engrossed in legislative and administrative action.
Just ahead of the legislative session’s end, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed and sent to the Governor for signing Sub. HB 436, which requires school districts to screen for dyslexia in grades K-3. It requires schools to identify students at risk of dyslexia, notify parents of such identification and monitor progress in reading and writing.
Kindergarteners must be screened between Jan. 1 of the kindergarten year and Jan. 1 of the first-grade year. Districts must also administer screening assessments to
students in grades 4-6 upon parent request. They must also administer a tier-two screening measure to each at-risk student who does not show progress toward attaining grade-level reading and writing skills by the sixth week after identified as at risk and report the results of the tier-two screening measure to the student’s parent or guardian within 30 days of administration. If the student is determined to be below the 20th percentile on the screening measure, the student’s parent or guardian must be provided with information about reading development, the risk factors for dyslexia, and description for evidence-based interventions.
