By:  Haywood, Harris                                  S.C.R. No. 20
                            SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, In 1985, the Texas Legislature passed a law
 1-2     requiring public schools to identify students who have dyslexia and
 1-3     related disorders and to provide those students with appropriate
 1-4     educational programs and services; in 1994, the Dyslexia
 1-5     Information Center was created to address questions about this
 1-6     disorder; and in 1996, the State Board of Education revised its
 1-7     earlier guidelines and adopted more stringent rules for
 1-8     administering dyslexia programs; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, Despite these efforts, many districts still have
1-10     difficulty identifying and serving dyslexic students, and while
1-11     estimates of the student population that is dyslexic range between
1-12     10 and 20 percent, the number of students actually identified as
1-13     having this disorder fall far short of those estimates; and
1-14           WHEREAS, The primary obstacle to the identification of
1-15     dyslexic students and the subsequent delivery of the appropriate
1-16     educational programs and services is the shortage of educators
1-17     adequately trained to diagnose and teach dyslexic students; not
1-18     every child is screened for dyslexia, and students are tested for
1-19     dyslexia only if teachers are aware of and recognize
1-20     disorder-related characteristics and refer those students for
1-21     testing; and
1-22           WHEREAS, The problem of identification and diagnosis in the
1-23     absence of adequate training is compounded by the fact that the
1-24     most common characteristic of dyslexia is also characteristic of
 2-1     other learning disabilities, and students often are diagnosed as
 2-2     learning disabled but not dyslexic and consequently fail to receive
 2-3     the appropriate educational services; and
 2-4           WHEREAS, Although State Board of Education rules require each
 2-5     school district to provide dyslexic students with a teacher trained
 2-6     in dyslexia and related disorders, there are no clear guidelines to
 2-7     define the extent of training necessary both to identify dyslexic
 2-8     students and then to teach them, and most educator preparation
 2-9     programs and staff development training programs for prospective
2-10     and classroom teachers do not provide instruction on the
2-11     characteristics of learning disorders such as dyslexia; and
2-12           WHEREAS, While it is incumbent upon the state to increase the
2-13     number of teachers trained in identifying and teaching dyslexic
2-14     students, the state first must determine what constitutes adequate
2-15     training in this field and the level of competency required for
2-16     certification that would enable districts to recruit and hire
2-17     appropriate staff to carry out this mandate; now, therefore, be it
2-18           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-19     hereby direct the State Board of Education to clarify the extent of
2-20     staff development training needed for an educator to be competent
2-21     in diagnosing and teaching students with dyslexia and related
2-22     disorders; and, be it further
2-23           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-24     hereby direct the State Board for Educator Certification to
2-25     identify standards for certification that will enable beginning
2-26     teachers to identify and assist students with dyslexia and related
 3-1     disorders; and, be it further
 3-2           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
 3-3     copy of this resolution to the chair of the State Board of
 3-4     Education and the chair of the State Board for Educator
 3-5     Certification.