New Dyslexia Screening Law to Take Effect in 2025-26: Key Information You Need to Know

 Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, all kindergarten through second-grade students in California will be screened for reading difficulties to allow identification and support. This initiative is mandated by California law, specifically under Education Code Section 53008, requiring Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to assess students for reading challenges, including potential neurological disorders like dyslexia.

Children reading a book together.

• What is the purpose of the screening? The screening process is intended to inform individualized instruction, measure progress, and identify learning needs, not to serve as a formal diagnosis.

  
  

• Selection of Screening Instruments: A selection panel, approved by the State Board of Education (SBE), has carefully evaluated screening tools based on criteria such as validity, cultural and linguistic appropriateness, predictive ability for dyslexia and other reading disorders.

  
  

• Screening Instruments: California has approved several screening instruments for assessing kindergarten through second-grade students for reading difficulties, including dyslexia. The selected tools are:

• Amira Learning (with HMH as partners) - Covers Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 in English and Spanish.

• Amplify Education (mCLASS with DIBELS Edition 8 and mCLASS Lectura) - Available for Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 in English and Spanish.

• Standard University, Brain Development Lab (Rapid Online Assessment of Reading - ROAR) - Designed for Grade 1 and Grade 2, available in English only.

• University of California San Francisco, Dyslexia Center (Multitudes) - Covers Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 in English and Spanish.

  
  

• Information overviews for the screening instruments can be viewed on the California Literacy webpage. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cl/ There is also a California Dyslexia Guideline that was published by the California Department of Education in 2017, and it contains 136 pages. www.cde.ca.gov › documents › cadyslexiaguidelines

  
  

• Screening implementation: Students should be screened within the first 45 days of enrollment. Multilingual learners will be assessed in their primary language if an approved tool is available, or alternative evaluation methods will be used.

  
  

• Opt-Outs & Exemptions: Parents can opt out of screening with written consent. Students may be exempt if they already have a diagnosed reading disorder, receive special education services, or are being assessed for eligibility.

  
  

This initiative aims to provide early identification and support for struggling readers to improve literacy outcomes statewide. If you'd like more details or would like your child to be assessed for the signs of dyslexia. The FAR (Feifer Assessment of Reading) instrument is a comprehensive reading test that helps determine the presence of a reading disorder and the specific dyslexia subtype. This is the instrument I use frequently for determining why a student is struggling in reading and to inform intervention selection based on a neuroscientific learning approach. https://www.greataspirations-edtherapy.com/early-intervention