HB 1542 Summary

• Requires all students in kindergarten through third grade to be screened and assessed for reading skills and dyslexia using State Board-approved instruments.

• Students identified with dyslexia must receive interventions utilizing multisensory structured language teaching methods, with specialized reading therapists involved in developing individual reading instruction programs.

• Mandates that all early childhood, elementary, and special education teachers receive quality training in multisensory structured language teaching methods; requires teacher candidates to study these methods and the five elements of reading instruction.

• Establishes good-cause exemptions from third-grade retention for students with dyslexia who have received intensive remediation through an approved reading instruction program.

• Effective July 1, 2015, with an emergency clause allowing immediate effect upon passage and approval.