Educators across the state are watching closely to see if new Michigan dyslexia bills that could change how teachers are trained and how kids are taught will become law.
Parents may be wondering what these laws would change. If passed, they would affect the screening process for dyslexic students and require teacher training institutions to follow “evidence-based” instruction grounded in the science of reading, plus, a house bill would create a dyslexia advisory committee within the state’s department of education.
The three bills are tie-barred, meaning all must pass for them to take effect. Two have already passed the Senate and have moved to committee.
Read on for the top four things parents should know about these potential changes to Michigan education.
Student interventions would include more phonics instruction, as aligned with the “science of reading principles”
For the past two decades, educators were trained in “balanced reading,” an approach that emphasized allowing children to choose books that interested them and using illustrations as a way to guess words, as opposed to structured phonics instruction.
Some education advocates lay partial blame for struggling literacy rates nationwide on the balanced reading approach. Senate Bill 567 would make sure that reading interventions are aligned with the science of reading, which includes an emphasis on phonics.
More coaching for teachers in grades K-3 to address dyslexia
Although Senate Bill 567 primarily focuses on screening processes for dyslexic students, it would also increase support for K-3 educators specifically.
The bill says that each K-3 teacher and each teacher whose classroom includes a student with an individual reading improvement plan, would receive coaching.
Teaching programs must train teachers in the consequences of dyslexia
Senate Bill 568 stipulates that teacher preparation programs, like an undergraduate program at a university, must train teachers to better support students with dyslexia. That training must also include instruction on the secondary consequences of dyslexia, such as how it can lead to “social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.”
State education advocates support the bills
Michigan advocacy group Education Trust-Midwest praised the bills, stating the legislation would increase teacher and student support to reach literacy for all as well as create a better screening process for identifying students with dyslexia.
The nonprofit also emphasized the urgency to meet the needs of roughly 15-20 percent of the student population with dyslexia as Michigan’s literacy crisis worsens.
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