House Bill 33 of the 135th General Assembly in April of 2021 included several important updates to Ohio’s dyslexia support laws. The new dyslexia support laws establish dyslexia screening measures (ORC 3323.251), professional development for identifying dyslexia and instructing students with dyslexia (ORC 3319.077), a structured literacy certification process for teachers (ORC 3319.078) and the Ohio Dyslexia Committee (ORC 3323.25). These laws were created to help school districts screen and identify students who may need intervention supports for dyslexia.
Tier One Dyslexia Screening
Kindergarten Screening: The law requires screening to take place after the first day of January of the school year in which the student is enrolled in kindergarten and prior to the first day of January of the following school year.
Elementary Grades Screening:
Grades 1-6 by Request: Screen students in grades 1-6 upon request of a student’s parent or guardian or request of a student’s teacher with the permission of the student’s parent or guardian.
Teachers complete up to 18 instructional hours of approved professional development training aligned with the dyslexia guidebook.
Lancaster City Schools elementary teachers have been taking professional development through a research based program called LETRS since 2019-2020. During the 2024 school year and beyond, all teachers grade 2-12 will take professional development courses from The Science of Reading Program. This professional development is provided through the Ohio Department of Education.
Start Dates:
Special education and ALL content teachers of students in grades 4-12 – by September 15th of 2025-2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is dyslexia?
Ohio law defines dyslexia as a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin. Dyslexia is characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities not consistent with the person's intelligence, motivation and sensory capabilities. Difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language.
What must a district do if a student is identified as at risk for dyslexia according to a tier one screening measure?
If a student is identified as at risk for dyslexia based on the student’s tier one screening measure results, districts are required to do the following:
Notify the student’s parent, guardian or custodian that the student has been identified as being at-risk for dyslexia;
Monitor the progress of each at-risk student toward attaining grade-level reading and writing skills for up to six weeks.
The district or school shall check each at-risk student's progress on at least the second week, fourth week and sixth week after the student is identified as being at risk.
If no progress is observed during the monitoring period, the district or school shall notify the parent, guardian or custodian of the student and administer a tier two dyslexia screening measure to the student.
Report to the student’s parent, guardian or custodian the results of the tier two screening measure within 30 days after the screening measure’s administration.
In addition, districts will be required to follow the guidance in Ohio's dyslexia guidebook regarding students identified as at risk for dyslexia.
Does this law replace the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements for screening and providing Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans?
No, it does not replace the Third Grade Reading Guarantee requirements. The Third Grade Reading Guarantee continues to require K-3 Reading Diagnostic Assessment and Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans (RIMP) for students who score “not on track."
For more information visit ODE's Read Ohio