By Haywood                                            S.C.R. No. 20
         76R1004 JLZ-D                           
                                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 college and in-service
 2-9     training programs for classroom teachers do not provide instruction
2-10     on the characteristics of learning disorders such as dyslexia; and
2-11           WHEREAS, While it is incumbent upon the state to increase the
2-12     number of teachers trained in identifying and teaching dyslexic
2-13     students, the state first must determine what constitutes adequate
2-14     training in this field and the level of competency required for
2-15     certification that would enable districts to recruit and hire
2-16     appropriate staff to carry out this mandate; now, therefore, be it
2-17           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-18     hereby direct the State Board of Education to clarify the extent of
2-19     training needed for an educator to be competent in diagnosing and
2-20     teaching students with dyslexia and related disorders; and, be it
2-21     further
2-22           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
2-23     copy of this resolution to the chair of the State Board of
2-24     Education.