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S 3078Curriculum and Standards

Education - Rhode Island Literacy and Dropout Prevention Act

This bill updates the state's legal definition of dyslexia to more accurately describe the disability, its causes, and its impacts.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 13, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the Rhode Island Literacy and Dropout Prevention Act by updating the legal definition of "dyslexia." The new definition is more detailed, describing dyslexia as a specific learning disability involving difficulties with word reading accuracy, speed, or spelling. It acknowledges that these difficulties exist on a spectrum and persist despite effective instruction. The definition also notes complex causes, including genetic and neurobiological factors, and highlights potential secondary consequences like reduced reading comprehension and impacts on psychological well-being. It emphasizes that early language and literacy support is particularly effective for these students.

For younger readers

This law changes how schools describe "dyslexia." Dyslexia is a challenge some kids have with reading and spelling words correctly or quickly. The new description explains that this can happen a little bit or a lot, and it stays hard even when teachers teach well. It explains that the reasons for dyslexia are complicated and can come from how a person is born or how their brain works. It also says that helping kids with these reading challenges early on is the best way to help them learn and feel good about school.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Students with dyslexiaElementary school teachersParents of students with learning disabilitiesSchool administratorsSpecial education professionals
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Updates the definition of dyslexia to align with modern science and inclusivity, ensuring that students with learning disabilities receive appropriate identification and support to promote educational equity.
  • Recognizes that dyslexia occurs along a continuum of severity and involves complex causes, helping to destigmatize the disability and fostering a more inclusive school environment for neurodivergent students.
  • Acknowledges the secondary consequences on psychological well-being and employment, encouraging a holistic approach to student welfare that looks beyond test scores to the whole child.
  • Lacks specific funding mandates to accompany the new definition, potentially leaving schools without the resources needed to provide the "early language and literacy support" mentioned in the text.
  • Focuses primarily on a definition change rather than mandating specific new remedial programs or smaller class sizes, which may limit its immediate practical impact on disadvantaged students.
  • Does not explicitly address the intersectionality of dyslexia with poverty or ESL status, potentially leaving the most marginalized students without specific protections or targeted aid.
For Conservatives
  • Strengthens the focus on foundational literacy skills like phonics and spelling accuracy, aligning with traditional educational standards and ensuring students learn to read effectively.
  • Adopts a scientifically rigorous definition of dyslexia based on genetic and neurobiological factors, moving away from subjective interpretations of student performance.
  • Emphasizes early intervention, which can be a fiscally responsible approach by addressing learning issues before they require more expensive remedial services later in a student's career.
  • Expands the definition of a learning disability to include "environmental influences," which could lead to a broader interpretation that increases the number of students classified as disabled and raises taxpayer costs.
  • Imposes state-level definitions and potential compliance burdens on local school districts, reducing local control over educational assessments and curriculum decisions.
  • Codifies "psychological well-being" within the definition, potentially encouraging schools to expand their role beyond academics into social-emotional domains best left to families.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 13 additions · 4 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 16-67-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-67 entitled "Rhode Island Literacy and Dropout Prevention Act [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-67-2. The literacy program.

(a) Activities under this section shall include strategies to improve the performance of students in mathematics, reading and writing, and to specifically address issues of dyslexia. Such activities must be founded on a scientific research base, as described in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, title I, part B, § 1208 (20 U.S.C. § 6368). Reading instruction to improve the reading skills of all students in the early grades (specifically kindergarten (K) through to and including grade five (5)) shall be consistent with the council on elementary and secondary education’s reading policy. This legislation requires that the following six (6) activities, which comprise the literacy program, be conducted:

(1) Screening for all children first entering school. All school districts that provide elementary education are required to screen all children prior to, or upon, their first entry to school to determine their level of educational readiness. All children are required to participate in this screening. Screening shall address the child’s educational development and shall be used to determine whether he or she is educationally disadvantaged in terms of readiness for instruction in the literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, or mathematics.

(2) Literacy focus in instruction in kindergarten through grade three (3) for all students. All school districts that provide elementary education shall focus their kindergarten through grade three

(3) instruction for all students on literacy: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics. All instruction shall be geared to helping students achieve the outcomes in literacy that have been specified by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. School districts are encouraged to consider reducing class size to no more than fifteen (15) students as one means to achieving these outcomes. School districts will be held accountable for student achievement of the literacy outcomes. (3)(i) Supplementary literacy instruction for educationally disadvantaged students in grades kindergarten through twelve (12).

(ii) Supplementary literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics) instruction may be required for educationally disadvantaged students. The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall stipulate for each school district the specific cutoff points and the grades for required service each year. Services must be provided first to students who are most educationally disadvantaged. Services shall focus on instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics. Program emphasis shall be as follows:

(A) Intensive development in literacy. Kindergarten through grade three (3).

(B) Early intervention in literacy. Grades four (4) through six (6).

(C) Remediation in literacy. Grades seven (7) through eight (8).

(D) Intensive remediation in literacy. Grades nine (9) through twelve (12).

(iii) School districts will be held accountable for student achievement of the literacy outcomes.

(4) Dropout prevention programs. Programs shall address the academic, social, or personal needs of potential dropouts. Projects shall be selected at the discretion of the commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

(5) State-level program support. Activities shall provide for necessary planning and administrative functions and for a broadly representative advisory council.

(6) Dyslexia-targeted assistance. The literacy program shall also include assistance to students by providing strategies that formally address dyslexia, when appropriate. In addition, the department of elementary and secondary education shall offer to school districts, at no cost to the school district or to participants in the training, professional development services to enhance the skills of elementary teachers in the use of evidence-based strategies to improve the literacy skills of students with dyslexia.

(b) As used in this section, the term “dyslexia” means a specific and significant impairment in the development of reading, including, but not limited to, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension that is not solely accounted for by intellectual disability, sensory disability or impairment, or lack of appropriate instruction. learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography. These difficulties occur along a continuum of severity and persist even with instruction that is effective for the individual’s peers. The causes of dyslexia are complex and involve combinations of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences that interact throughout development. Underlying difficulties with phonological and morphological processing are common but not universal, and early oral language weaknesses often foreshadow literacy challenges. Secondary consequences include reading comprehension problems and reduced reading and writing experience that can impede growth in language, knowledge, written expression, and overall academic achievement. Psychological well-being and employment opportunities also may be affected. Although identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, language and literacy support before and during the early years of education is particularly effective.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.