Parents plead for dyslexia screening mandate. Some Colorado education officials are on board.
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DENVER — Bri Luna said her daughter started kindergarten with the nickname “Little Miss Sunshine” and by middle school was on antidepressants because of her reading struggles.
Mary Sailas said her second grade son, who shifted from foot to foot next to her, told her he’d choose the ability to read over the superpower of flying. And in a particularly heart-breaking moment, Amy Thompson described how her high school-age daughter took her life in 2022 after years of floundering in reading and in school.
The three mothers were among about 10 Colorado parents and advocates who begged the State Board of Education at the group’s monthly meeting Wednesday for mandatory statewide dyslexia screening.
Advocates have championed universal screening legislation several times in recent years, but the bills have either died or been significantly watered down. Now, there are signs that their push could get some traction.
Staff members from the Colorado Department of Education discussed the possibility of a bill in the 2025 legislative session to amend the state’s flagship reading law — the READ Act — to require the use of reading assessments in kindergarten through third grade that flag students for signs of dyslexia. But staff warned that vetting new assessments would take at least until 2026, a timeline that lacks the urgency some advocates feel is sorely needed.
Although the board’s discussion on dyslexia legislation happened late in the day after a couple board members had left, some board members endorsed universal screening.
“I really want to solve this issue,” said Board Member Karla Esser. “It’s just going to keep bubbling up over and over again if we don’t get to the point where we have a screener.”
In the last few years, some Colorado districts, ranging from Boulder Valley to several rural districts in southern Colorado, have begun screening students for dyslexia, but there’s no statewide mandate to do so.
Dyslexia is a common learning disability that makes it hard to decode and spell words, but with the right instruction, students with dyslexia can do as well as their peers in school. About 15% to 20% of the population has dyslexia, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
On Wednesday, even as education department staff talked about legislation that could bolster identification of students with dyslexia, they warned of Colorado’s impending budget troubles and the challenge of finding new money to help children with the learning disability.
But some board members argued that statewide screening could provide concrete numbers and a clear rationale for additional spending.
“I think if we begin by telling ourselves the truth about how big the challenge is, that can be part of the argument for the funding for the services,” said Board Chair Rebecca McClellan.
The READ Act, which was originally passed in 2012, requires elementary school teachers to evaluate students’ reading skills in kindergarten through third grade and create special learning plans for students who are reading far below grade level.
But some parents and educators have complained for years that the assessments miss students with dyslexia. Often, it’s because such students mask poor reading by leaning on good verbal skills, sophisticated vocabulary, or some other strength. State-approved reading assessments aren’t always designed to catch that disconnect.
Parents who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting described the grim results of those misses: Reading help that doesn’t get to the root of the problem, families who are told to give it more time or do more at home, and students who gradually come to see themselves as stupid and worthless.
Thompson, whose daughter died two years ago while she was a student at Boulder High School, described how shortly before her death, her daughter wrote, “I don’t learn like other kids” and “I feel useless at school every day.”
The girl’s reading problems had long been evident, but the intervention she received wasn’t appropriate, Thompson said. After the girl performed terribly on a reading assessment in first grade, her teacher wrote, “Keep getting your mouth ready and check the picture for tricky words,” she said.
Looking at pictures to figure out what a word says is a debunked strategy long used in several popular reading curriculums.
“The way we are treating dyslexic students now is unconscionable,” Thompson said. “Putting in a kindergarten screener will save lives.”
Other parents talked about their frustration that families often must pay for expensive private dyslexia evaluations and tutoring to get the right help for their children.
Sailas, who was flanked by her second grader and an older son during public comment, said two of her eight children have dyslexia and that a family’s wealth shouldn’t be the deciding factor in whether kids learn to read.
“Families from low-income backgrounds like mine cannot afford private tutors,” said Sailas, who lives in Morgan County. “We need to see change. When a child is struggling in kindergarten. It should not take years, tears, and battles for them to receive support.”
Anna Lebedda, a parent who lives in the Fort Collins-based Poudre district, described the financial expense of getting her sixth grader’s reading and mental health back on track because the girl didn’t get appropriate intervention for dyslexia at school.
Through tears, Lebedda said, ”This year, I have a dyslexic kindergartner and I’m terrified because our family’s personal resources are dried up.”