MISSION
- To raise dyslexia awareness
- To empower families and communities to support children with reading difficulties and dyslexia
- To inform policy-makers on best practices to identify, educate and support students with dyslexia in Maryland public schools.
POLICY GOALS
Decoding Dyslexia Maryland supports public education and the work of our teachers and related educators. We work closely with policy makers to ensure that evidence based instruction for reading and language is available to all students no matter their race, ethnicity, country of origin, dialect, disability, access to books, poverty, or other potentially limiting social, ethnic or cultural factor.
Schools of higher education must provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to teach both the elements and principles of structured literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency & comprehension) systematically and explicitly. There can be no equity, no access, no learning if READING INSTRUCTION does not teach a student how to manipulate sounds before they learn to read and then to match sounds to letters while learning to read.
Several school districts, including Baltimore County, support better teacher prep in reading and have called on Maryland Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) to do so. MD IHE's testified during hearings on HB 493 in Annapolis in 2018 saying that they "were not responsible" for the Maryland student's poor reading performance year after year. Teachers who testified during the hearing said the same thing time and time again: they didn't get the training they needed in their teacher prep programs. Higher education representatives continually state that "these teachers" are low performing themselves and this is why they can't teach reading. This pronunciation is not based on fact and is shameful coming out of the mouths of those responsible for producing coursework that still includes the "three cueing system" where students are taught to guess at words by assuming meaning from the context
Policy Goals 2018 Status
DEFINE DYSLEXIA
Establish a universal definition and understanding of “dyslexia” in the state education code.
TEACHER PREP & CERTIFICATION
Require institutions of higher education to provide teacher preparation on dyslexia, foundational reading skills, the structure of language, and methodologies for the early screening/identification of students with reading and language difficulties.
IN-SERVICE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Require schools to provide in-service professional development to teachers on dyslexia, foundational reading instruction, appropriate evidence-based interventions for dyslexia and screening/identification for dyslexia.
EARLY SCREENING FOR READING DIFFICULTIES
Require EARLY screening to IDENTIFY students who struggle with reading and those at risk for reading disabilities before they begin to fall behind.
See HB 910 & SB 548, 2018 General Assembly
BEST PRACTICES FOR READING INSTRUCTION
Require dyslexia intervention programs that are evidence-based and are known to teach foundational reading and language skills that can be accessed by both general and special education populations. Instruction and interventions must be structured, explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction designed to promote understanding, memory, recall, and use of spoken and written language. Instruction must also include components that focus on phonological skills, phonics and word analysis, spelling, word recognition and oral reading fluency, grammar and syntax, text comprehension, writing, and study skills. Structured Literacy defined
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES & ACCOMMODATIONS
Ensure access to appropriate accommodations including “assistive technologies” in the public school setting to SUPPORT students with dyslexia. See recommendations in the Dyslexia Task Force Report.
Decoding Dyslexia Maryland supports public education and the work of our teachers and related educators. We work closely with policy makers to ensure that evidence based instruction for reading and language is available to all students no matter their race, ethnicity, country of origin, dialect, disability, access to books, poverty, or other potentially limiting social, ethnic or cultural factor.
Schools of higher education must provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to teach both the elements and principles of structured literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency & comprehension) systematically and explicitly. There can be no equity, no access, no learning if READING INSTRUCTION does not teach a student how to manipulate sounds before they learn to read and then to match sounds to letters while learning to read.
Several school districts, including Baltimore County, support better teacher prep in reading and have called on Maryland Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) to do so. MD IHE's testified during hearings on HB 493 in Annapolis in 2018 saying that they "were not responsible" for the Maryland student's poor reading performance year after year. Teachers who testified during the hearing said the same thing time and time again: they didn't get the training they needed in their teacher prep programs. Higher education representatives continually state that "these teachers" are low performing themselves and this is why they can't teach reading. This pronunciation is not based on fact and is shameful coming out of the mouths of those responsible for producing coursework that still includes the "three cueing system" where students are taught to guess at words by assuming meaning from the context
Policy Goals 2018 Status
DEFINE DYSLEXIA
Establish a universal definition and understanding of “dyslexia” in the state education code.
- Dyslexia Technical Assistance Bulletin for a definition: Dyslexia TAB
- Dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia "drop-down" menu on the e-IEP form
- Dyslexia Task Force Report & Recommendations 2016
TEACHER PREP & CERTIFICATION
Require institutions of higher education to provide teacher preparation on dyslexia, foundational reading skills, the structure of language, and methodologies for the early screening/identification of students with reading and language difficulties.
- See HB 493 and SB 638, 2018 session: teacher prep and certification was referred to the Kirwan Commission for further study.
- See HB 1657, Higher Education Literacy Preparation legislation; legislation failed, requested it be referred to the Kirwan Commission for further study.
- Request Letter to Kirwan Commission
- Kirwan Commission Preliminary Report
IN-SERVICE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Require schools to provide in-service professional development to teachers on dyslexia, foundational reading instruction, appropriate evidence-based interventions for dyslexia and screening/identification for dyslexia.
EARLY SCREENING FOR READING DIFFICULTIES
Require EARLY screening to IDENTIFY students who struggle with reading and those at risk for reading disabilities before they begin to fall behind.
See HB 910 & SB 548, 2018 General Assembly
- 2018 legislation defeated, reintroduction in 2019. Opponents: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) and the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland (PSSAM)
- Support far outweighed opposition
BEST PRACTICES FOR READING INSTRUCTION
Require dyslexia intervention programs that are evidence-based and are known to teach foundational reading and language skills that can be accessed by both general and special education populations. Instruction and interventions must be structured, explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction designed to promote understanding, memory, recall, and use of spoken and written language. Instruction must also include components that focus on phonological skills, phonics and word analysis, spelling, word recognition and oral reading fluency, grammar and syntax, text comprehension, writing, and study skills. Structured Literacy defined
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES & ACCOMMODATIONS
Ensure access to appropriate accommodations including “assistive technologies” in the public school setting to SUPPORT students with dyslexia. See recommendations in the Dyslexia Task Force Report.