I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6051 To authorize a pilot program for dyslexia screening and early literacy inter- vention using evidence-based services for students suspected of having an early reading deficiency or dyslexia, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2020 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself and Mr. WESTERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To authorize a pilot program for dyslexia screening and early literacy intervention using evidence-based services for students suspected of having an early reading defi- ciency or dyslexia, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reading Early and 4 Addressing Dyslexia Act’’ or the ‘‘READ Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6051 IH (1) More than 30,000,000 adults in the United 1 States are not able to read or write above a third- 2 grade level. 3 (2) Of adults in the United States who live in 4 poverty, nearly half have low levels of literacy. 5 (3) Children whose parents have low levels of 6 literacy are more than 70 percent more likely to also 7 have low levels of literacy and are more likely to get 8 poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high 9 absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out. 10 (4) The 2019 National Assessment of Edu- 11 cational Progress 4th Grade Reading Level Assess- 12 ment showed the national average reading score for 13 2019 was lower than 2017. 14 (5) More than 70 percent of State prison in- 15 mates have low levels of literacy. 16 (6) Low levels of literacy are connected to over 17 $230,000,000,000 a year in health care costs in the 18 United States. 19 (7) Dyslexia is thought to be the most common 20 neurocognitive disorder, affecting about 10 percent 21 of children in school. 22 (8) In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the 23 National Institute of Child Health and Human De- 24 velopment at the National Institutes of Health, in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6051 IH consultation with the Secretary of Education, to con- 1 vene a national panel, the National Reading Panel, 2 to assess the status of research-based knowledge, in- 3 cluding the effectiveness of various approaches to 4 teaching children to read. The report, released in 5 2000, documented overwhelming evidence that in- 6 struction in phonics enhances all students’ success in 7 learning to read. 8 (9) In 2014, in response to the Pennsylvania 9 General Assembly’s passage of Act 69 of 2014, the 10 Pennsylvania Department of Education developed 11 the Dyslexia Screening and Early Literacy Interven- 12 tion Pilot Program, which established a three-year 13 early literacy intervention and dyslexia pilot program 14 using evidence-based screening and then evidence- 15 based instruction and intervention for students 16 found to be at risk for future reading difficulties. 17 Such Program identified students in kindergarten 18 who were deemed at risk for reading difficulties, in- 19 cluding dyslexia, using screening tests. 20 (10) Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Con- 21 necticut, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, 22 Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina have 23 all commissioned task forces on early literacy or dys- 24 lexia. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6051 IH (11) Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, 1 Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, North 2 Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming have put into 3 place protocols and procedures to screen for early 4 reading deficiencies and dyslexia. 5 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 6 Congress that— 7 (1) it is in the interest of the Nation to ensure 8 all children in the United States, regardless of abil- 9 ity, disability, or circumstance, be afforded a high- 10 quality education that includes the promotion of lit- 11 eracy skills; and 12 (2) the Individual with Disabilities Education 13 Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) should be robustly 14 funded. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 For the purposes of the pilot program authorized by 17 this Act: 18 (1) DYSLEXIA.—The term ‘‘dyslexia’’ means a 19 condition that— 20 (A) is characterized by difficulty with accu- 21 rate or fluent word recognition and by poor 22 spelling and decoding abilities that typically re- 23 sults from a deficit in one or more processes re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6051 IH lated to the phonological component of lan- 1 guage; 2 (B) is often unrelated to other cognitive 3 abilities and the provision of effective classroom 4 instruction; and 5 (C) may result in problems in reading com- 6 prehension and reduced reading experience that 7 may impede the growth of vocabulary and back- 8 ground knowledge. 9 (2) COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY INSTRUC- 10 TION.—The term ‘‘comprehensive literacy instruc- 11 tion’’ has the meaning given such term in section 12 2221(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6641(b)). 14 (3) INTENSIVE INTERVENTION.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘intensive 16 intervention’’ means a structured literacy pro- 17 gram that includes explicit, multisensory, and 18 systematic phonics instruction and is delivered 19 in the manner proscribed by the developer of 20 the structured literacy program by a teacher 21 trained in such program. 22 (B) PHONICS INSTRUCTION TERMS.—With 23 respect to phonics instruction that is part of in- 24 tensive intervention— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6051 IH (i) the term ‘‘explicit’’ means instruc- 1 tion in which a teacher clearly explains and 2 models key skills, with well-chosen exam- 3 ples, and students are not expected to de- 4 velop the skills based mainly on exposure 5 and incidental learning opportunities; 6 (ii) the term ‘‘multisensory’’ means 7 instruction that combines listening, speak- 8 ing, reading, and a tactile or kinesthetic 9 activity; and 10 (iii) the term ‘‘systematic’’ means in- 11 struction that is planned and provided in 12 specific sequence, with important pre- 13 requisite skills taught before more ad- 14 vanced skills, and with care taken not to 15 introduce skills in a way that is confusing 16 to students. 17 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 18 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 19 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 20 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Education. 23 (6) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 24 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6051 IH such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 2 SEC. 4. EARLY LITERACY AND DYSLEXIA INTERVENTION 3 PILOT PROGRAM. 4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Not later than 1 year after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 6 tablish an Early Literacy and Dyslexia Intervention Pilot 7 Program (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Pilot Program’’), 8 in accordance with this Act, to award grants to State edu- 9 cational agencies to provide evidence-based early screen- 10 ing, multi-tier support systems, and comprehensive lit- 11 eracy education, using evidence-based methods of screen- 12 ing and intensive intervention identified in accordance 13 with subsection (d), for students served by the partici- 14 pating local educational agencies in such States. The early 15 screening and support systems identified in accordance 16 with subsection (d) and carried out under the Pilot Pro- 17 gram shall screen and support students for potential risk 18 factors for early reading deficiencies and dyslexia, such as 19 low phonemic awareness, low letter and symbol naming, 20 and inability to remember sequences. 21 (b) GRANT SELECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 22 (1) GRANT SELECTION.—The Secretary shall 23 award grants under this Act to 5 State educational 24 agencies to participate in the Pilot Program. The 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6051 IH Secretary shall ensure that the State educational 1 agencies awarded grants under this Act serve geo- 2 graphically, racially, and economically diverse stu- 3 dent populations. 4 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded to a 5 State educational agency under this Act shall be for 6 a period of 3 consecutive school years, and shall be 7 for not more than $500,000 for each school year of 8 the grant period. 9 (c) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 10 CIES.—Each State educational agency awarded a grant 11 under this Act shall select no fewer than 2 local edu- 12 cational agencies in the State to participate in the Pilot 13 Program under this Act. To be eligible to be selected as 14 a participating local educational agency, a local edu- 15 cational agency shall— 16 (1) have a total enrollment of at least 3,000 17 students; 18 (2) provide full-day kindergarten; and 19 (3) submit an application to the State edu- 20 cational agency at such time and containing such in- 21 formation as may be required by the Secretary and 22 the State educational agency. 23 (d) IDENTIFICATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED METHODS 24 OF SCREENING AND INTENSIVE INTERVENTION.—Not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6051 IH later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 1 Act, the Secretary shall, in consultation with recognized, 2 expert organizations described in section 5(a)(1), State 3 educational agencies the Secretary is consulting with in 4 accordance with section 5(b), and the State educational 5 agencies selected to participate in the Pilot Program, iden- 6 tify— 7 (1) one or more intensive interventions for stu- 8 dents in kindergarten through grade 3, which shall 9 include— 10 (A) phonological awareness and phonemic 11 awareness; 12 (B) sound symbol recognition; 13 (C) alphabet knowledge; 14 (D) decoding skills; 15 (E) encoding skills; and 16 (F) rapid naming; and 17 (2) best practices to instruct educators on— 18 (A) the science of reading; 19 (B) how to execute the intensive interven- 20 tions identified in accordance with paragraph 21 (1); 22 (C) understanding and identifying early 23 reading deficiencies and dyslexia, including how 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6051 IH to execute methods of screening identified in ac- 1 cordance with paragraph (3); and 2 (D) how to execute the intensive interven- 3 tion identified in accordance with paragraph 4 (4); 5 (3) one or more evidence-based methods of 6 screening appropriate for students in kindergarten 7 through grade 3 for potential risk factors for early 8 reading deficiencies and dyslexia, which may include 9 the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy 10 Skills tests and phonological and phonemic proc- 11 essing and rapid automatized naming tests; 12 (4) evidence-based intensive intervention for 13 students identified as being at risk for, suspected of 14 having, or having early reading deficiencies or dys- 15 lexia, or both; and 16 (5) a methodology for evaluating the effects of 17 the Pilot Program on the students identified as hav- 18 ing early reading deficiencies or dyslexia, or both. 19 (e) ACTIVITIES.—Each State educational agency par- 20 ticipating in the Pilot Program shall ensure that the fol- 21 lowing activities are carried out using the methods of 22 screening and intensive intervention identified in accord- 23 ance with subsection (d): 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6051 IH (1) Provide intensive interventions identified in 1 accordance with subsection (d)(1) that develop basic 2 reading skills and incorporate systematic phonics in- 3 struction to every student in kindergarten through 4 grade 3 who is served by a participating local edu- 5 cational agency in the State. 6 (2) Three times during each school year during 7 the grant period, including at the beginning of the 8 school year, during the middle of the school year, 9 and during the final academic period of the school 10 year, use evidence-based methods of screening identi- 11 fied in accordance with subsection (d)(3) to screen 12 each student in kindergarten through grade 3 en- 13 rolled in each participating local educational agency 14 in the State for low phonemic awareness and other 15 evidence-based risk factors for early reading defi- 16 ciencies and dyslexia. 17 (3) For each student who is suspected of having 18 an early reading deficiency or dyslexia, or both, 19 based on the results of a screening conducted in ac- 20 cordance with paragraph (2)— 21 (A) notify the parent or guardian of such 22 student that the student was screened, the re- 23 sults of the student’s screening, and that the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Mar 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6051.IH H6051 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6051 IH student is eligible to receive reading interven- 1 tion services as part of the Pilot Program; 2 (B) provide to the parent or guardian of 3 such student information about additional 4 screening and services available through the 5 Pilot Program, and information on other re- 6 sources available through the local educational 7 agency and State to parents and students about 8 early reading deficiencies and dyslexia, and rec- 9 ommended evidence-based resources and inter- 10 ventions; and 11 (C) in order to provide additional screen- 12 ing, diagnostic assessments, or services to the 13 student under the Pilot Pr [Text truncated for display. 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