Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
DYSLEXIA SCREENING IN SCHOOLS AND OTHER
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHING LITERACY
Analysis available at
Senate Bill 567 (H-3) as reported from committee http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Irwin
Senate Bill 568 (H-2) as reported from committee
Sponsor: Sen. Dayna Polehanki
House Committee: Education
Senate Committee: Education
Complete to 9-25-24
SUMMARY:
Senate Bills 567 and 568 would amend the Revised School Code to require a dyslexia screening
to be part of state-approved reading assessments (SB 567) and to require teacher preparation
programs to include instruction on identifying and addressing dyslexia in students (SB 568).
Senate Bill 567 would add requirements relating to how the Michigan Department of
Education (MDE) and public schools in the state must assist students with dyslexia, as well as
making other changes that reflect the repeal of provisions of law that mandated the retention
of students not reading to an appropriate grade level by the end of their third grade year.1
As used in the bill, dyslexia would mean both of the following:
• A specific learning disorder that is neurobiological in origin and characterized
by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling
and decoding abilities that typically result from a deficit in the phonological
component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive
abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.
• A specific learning disorder that may include secondary consequences, such as
problems in reading comprehension and a reduced reading experience that can
impede the growth of vocabulary and lead to social, emotional, and behavioral
difficulties.
Reading assessment systems
Section 1280f of the Revised School Code contains requirements for MDE relating to its
responsibility to help ensure that an increasing number of pupils achieve a score of proficient
in English Language Arts on the third grade portion of the state assessment (M-STEP). 2 MDE
has met the requirement in this section to approve three or more valid and reliable screening,
formative, and diagnostic reading assessment systems for selection and use by school districts
and public school academies (PSAs, also known as charter schools) in accordance with the
stated criteria.
The bill would change this requirement so that, subject to their availability, MDE would have
to approve three or more valid and reliable screening and progress-monitoring reading
1
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2023-SB-0012
2
https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/OEAA/General/Guide_to_State_Assessments.pdf
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 13
 assessments by January 1, 2026, and remove references to these assessments being systems, as
well as remove other required components for the assessments. These approved assessment
systems are different from the M-STEP, the state’s standardized assessment, which measures
student proficiency in different academic subjects at different grade levels.
As part of deciding whether to approve an assessment model for districts, MDE would also
have to consider the degree of compatibility with other approved statewide assessment
measures, to minimize the impact on instructional time in addition to the other existing
considerations.
Literacy coaches
Section 1280f also requires that MDE recommend or develop an early literacy coach model
(which the bill would rename as “literacy coach model”) that includes certain components. The
department presently has an approved model available on its website. 3 Senate Bill 567 would
add the following requirements regarding literacy coaches and the support they provide to other
educators in their respective districts. As part of their required duties, these coaches would
have to do all of the following:
• Use data diagnostically to adjust intervention instruction and to understand reasons
why a pupil may not be responding to intervention instruction as expected.
• Use evidence-based instructional methods and the features of evidence-based
interventions for pupils who experience difficulties with decoding and word
recognition.
• Engage in the appropriate use of statewide professional learning tools and evidence-
based practices that meet the research requirements consistent with the science of
reading.
• Implement the required professional learning for educators in certain roles.
By the 2027-2028 school year, each school district, intermediate school district (ISD), and PSA
would have to provide assurance to MDE that all literacy consultants, literacy coaches, and
other personnel providing reading intervention or reading instruction to students in grades K
to 12 in the school district, ISD, or PSA received professional learning regarding all of the
following, as applicable:
• The characteristics of dyslexia and underlying factors that place pupils at risk for
difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.
• Secondary consequences of dyslexia, such as problems in reading comprehension and
a reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and
background knowledge and lead to social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties.
• Instructional adjustments for pupils with dyslexia and instructional adjustments to
address the underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to
decode accurately and efficiently.
• Methods to develop schoolwide and classroom infrastructure to meet the collective and
individual needs of pupils using a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS).
• Evidence-based instructional methods and features of evidence-based interventions
that are grounded in the science of reading and principles of structured literacy that are
designed for pupils with characteristics of dyslexia and pupils at risk for difficulties in
learning to decode accurately and efficiently.
3
https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/Literacy/Read-by-Grade-3-
Law/MDE_Early_Lit_Coaching_Model.pdf
House Fiscal Agency SBs 567 (H-3) and 568 (H-2) as reported Page 2 of 13
 • Evidence-based instructional methods and features of evidence-based interventions
that are grounded in the science of reading and principles of structured literacy that are
designed to effectively meet the needs of most pupils.
Multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) would mean a comprehensive framework that
includes three distinct tiers of instructional support and is composed of a collection of
evidence-based strategies designed to meet the individual needs and assets of a whole
pupil at all achievement levels.
Literacy coaches would also be required to do the following under the bill:
• Advise in developing schoolwide and classroom infrastructure to meet the collective
and individual needs of pupils using an MTSS framework.
• Train school staff (in addition to teachers, who are already required to be trained by
coaches) in data analysis and using different techniques to differentiate instruction.
• Model for teachers who have a classroom that includes a pupil with an individual
reading plan, instruction with pupils in whole and small groups. (Modeling and
coaching for teachers who teach grades K to 3 is already required.)
The bill would allow an individual who is not a district-identified literacy coach to perform
some of their required obligations if that individual meets the requirements that a district-
identified literacy coach does.
By the start of the 2027-2028 school year, MDE would have to provide technical assistance to
school districts, ISDs, and PSAs to aid them in reporting information contained in a pupil’s
individual reading improvement plan.
Diagnostic assessments refer to assessments given before starting a new content area, while
formative assessments refer to assessments given during the teaching of that content area. The
bill would remove language specifying the types of assessment system that should be approved
by MDE and instead simply use the term “assessment.”
Dyslexia supports
By September 1, 2025, MDE would have to develop dyslexia expertise to provide technical
assistance to districts, ISDs, and PSAs regarding dyslexia and underlying factors that place
pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.
MDE would have to offer this expertise by providing guidance on at least both of the following:
• Structured literacy.
• Professional learning about dyslexia to public schools.
To support the implementation of these requirements, MDE would have to regularly review
and update the Michigan Dyslexia Handbook (or a similar publicly available dyslexia resource
guide that includes information regarding the education of pupils with dyslexia or
characteristics of dyslexia), to be used by public schools. Reviews and updates would then
have to be conducted at an interval not to exceed five years and be based on current research.
House Fiscal Agency SBs 567 (H-3) and 568 (H-2) as reported Page 3 of 13
 The bill would establish a series of deadlines for MDE to release or publish certain materials
for use by public schools:
By not later than January 1, 2026, MDE would have to provide a list of approved valid and
reliable screening and progress monitoring reading assessments for selection and use by
school districts and PSAs and, in addition to meeting applicable requirements regarding
approved assessment tools, identify, within each approved assessment for selection and use
by school districts and public school academies, a list of the elements of a reliable and valid
universal screening assessment for the purpose of identifying pupils with characteristics
of dyslexia or difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently that are or are not
included in the approved assessment. Not later than September 1, 2026, MDE would also
have to develop expertise to provide technical assistance to ISDs, school districts, and
PSAs regarding the appropriate selection and use at each grade level of reliable and valid
universal screening assessments for the identification of pupils who exhibit characteristics
of dyslexia, as well as pupils who display difficulties in learning to decode accurately and
efficiently, to minimize impact on instructional time.
Screening assessment would mean an assessment designed to proactively identify
pupils who may be at risk of developing academic, social, emotional, or behavioral
challenges so that support can be provided and to provide data to inform systems-level
decisions. All of the following would apply to a screening assessment:
• A screening assessment must include, as appropriate for grade level or age as
determined by MDE, in alignment with the required guidelines, elements
designed to identify difficulties in learning to decode and recognize words,
including at least all of the following:
o Phonemic awareness.
o Rapid automatized naming.
o Letter-sound correspondence.
o Single-word reading.
o Nonsense-word reading.
o Oral passage reading fluency.
• A screening assessment may include elements designed to identify
comprehension difficulties, including at least all of the following:
o Retelling.
o Cloze reading procedure.
o Answering questions about a reading passage.
Cloze reading procedure would mean an objective reading assessment that deletes
words in a designated reading passage.
Also by not later than January 1, 2026, MDE would have to publish a list of evidence-
based tier 1, class-wide elementary reading curricula and materials that are aligned with
science of reading methods that research has shown to improve literacy outcomes and help
pupils achieve reading proficiency. The department would also be required to develop
dyslexia expertise to provide technical assistance to school districts, ISDs, and PSAs
regarding evidence-based instructional methods and the features of evidence-based
interventions for pupils exhibiting the characteristics of dyslexia, or pupils who have
difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently. This would include
instructional methods and curriculum resources that use a code emphasis approach to
House Fiscal Agency SBs 567 (H-3) and 568 (H-2) as reported Page 4 of 13
 address the decoding and word-recognition components of reading and that are supported
by the science of reading. The instructional methods and curriculum resources described
here could not include instructional methods or curriculum resources that minimize the
importance of primarily using letter sound information to decode or recognize unknown
words, including any of the uses of letter-sound information, unless that type of
instructional method and curriculum resource is being used to confirm the meaning of
unknown words after decoding has been attempted.
Science of reading would mean a cumulative and evolving body of evidence whose
research studies follow a scientific process of inquiry and utilize scientific methods to
help answer questions related to reading development and issues related to reading and
writing derived from research from multiple fields of cognitive psychology,
communications sciences, developmental psychology, education, special education,
implementation science, linguistics and neuroscience.
By not later than August 1, 2027, each public school would have to update its selection of
a valid and reliable screening and progress-monitoring reading assessment to ensure that
the selected system includes a reliable and valid universal screening assessment in
accordance with the bill’s new requirement that approved assessments include a way to
identify pupils with dyslexia and the guidance provided by the department, if it does not
do so already. In complying with this requirement, a public school must minimize the
impact on instructional time by selecting approved assessments that include elements
fulfilling multiple assessment requirements, or, when appropriate, by adding approved
assessment measures or combining compatible approved assessments that, when utilized
together, include all of the elements of a reliable and valid universal screening assessment.
By not later than the beginning of the 2027-2028 school year, each school district, ISD,
and PSA would have to provide assurance to MDE that all literacy consultants, literacy
coaches, and other personnel providing reading intervention or reading instruction to
students in grades kindergarten to 12 in the public school received professional learning
regarding all of the following, as applicable:
• The characteristics of dyslexia and underlying factors that place pupils at risk for
difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.
• Secondary consequences of dyslexia, such as problems in reading comprehension
and a reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and
background knowledge and lead to social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties.
• Instructional adjustments for pupils with dyslexia and instructional adjustments to
address the underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to
decode accurately and efficiently.
• Methods to develop schoolwide and classroom infrastructure to meet the collective
and individual needs of pupils using MTSS.
• Evidence-based instructional methods and features of evidence-based interventions
that are grounded in the science of reading and principles of structured literacy
that are designed for pupils with characteristics of dyslexia and pupils at risk for
difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.
• Evidence-based instructional me