Dyslexia & the ARD: What Texas Law Requires

Here is What Texas Law Requires and What You Should Be Asking For. Let me start with something that might surprise you.

Here is What Texas Law Requires and What You Should Be Asking For. Let me start with something that might surprise you.

Texas has some of the strongest dyslexia laws in the country. Seriously. Between the Texas Education Code, House Bill 3928, and the Texas Dyslexia Handbook, which was updated in 2024 and is now codified as actual administrative rule under 19 TAC 74.28, this state has put a lot on paper about what schools are supposed to do for students with dyslexia.

And yet... parents come to me all the time with children who have been identified with dyslexia and are still not getting what the law requires. Not because the law is weak. Because nobody told the parents what the law actually says.

So that is what this post is. Texas dyslexia law, in plain language, with the parts that matter most for your child's IEP. What you are entitled to. What to look for. What to do when the school says they are handling it but the evidence says otherwise.

I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice. But I have been at enough of these tables to know exactly where the gaps are. Let's get into it.

What Dyslexia Actually Is... and Why That Matters for the IEP

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects reading. It is neurobiological in origin, meaning it is a brain-based difference, not a result of poor teaching, lack of effort, or low intelligence. It primarily affects the accuracy and fluency of word recognition and spelling. Kids with dyslexia often have strong verbal ability, strong reasoning, strong creativity... and serious difficulty with the printed word.

Why does the definition matter? Because under HB 3928, now codified in Texas Education Code 29.0031, dyslexia is now its own specific eligibility category under Specific Learning Disability. That means your child does not just have an SLD in basic reading. They can be identified with dyslexia as the specific SLD. And that specificity matters for what gets written into the IEP.

Legal truth: Under TEC 29.0031 and the Texas Dyslexia Handbook 2024 Update (19 TAC 74.28), dyslexia is recognized as a specific type of Specific Learning Disability. Schools must identify it as such in the IEP and PEIMS data. If your child has been identified with dyslexia and the IEP just says 'SLD in basic reading' without naming dyslexia specifically, ask why.

504 Plan vs. IEP: Which One Does Your Child Actually Need?

This is one of the most important decisions and one of the most misunderstood.

This question comes up constantly. And the answer matters a lot more than most parents realize.

The 504 Plan

A 504 plan provides accommodations. Extended time. A quiet room for testing. Audio support for reading. It levels the playing field by changing how your child accesses the curriculum. It does not provide specialized instruction. The 504 plan is appropriate for students whose dyslexia affects their access to learning but who do not require intensive, individualized, specialized instruction to make progress.

The IEP

An IEP provides specially designed instruction. It is appropriate when your child's dyslexia is significant enough that accommodations alone are not enough. When they need an evidence-based dyslexia program delivered with fidelity, by a qualified provider, documented as a special education service, in order to make meaningful progress. The IEP carries more legal protections, more parental rights, and more accountability for the school.

Cathi's Note: A 504 plan is for accommodations. It is not supposed to carry an actual dyslexia program. But for years, a lot of districts put kids on a 504 and delivered the real instruction there anyway, because it was easier than the IEP process. That was never actually compliant. All of my own kids with dyslexia have IEPs, and they were moved there the same year the law caught up to this. A 504 with accommodations is access. It is not treatment. If your child needs the program, they need the IEP.

Legal truth: Per the Texas Dyslexia Handbook 2024 Update, a student requires an IEP when their dyslexia significantly impacts their ability to learn and they need intensive, individualized, specialized instruction to make progress. If your child is not making progress on a 504... that is data. Bring it to the table.

What Structured Literacy Actually Is... and Why the Program Name Is Not Enough

Structured literacy is not a brand. It is an approach. And understanding the difference is one of the most important things a parent of a child with dyslexia can know.

The Texas Dyslexia Handbook requires that evidence-based dyslexia instruction be explicit, systematic, cumulative, multisensory, and diagnostic. Let me break those down.

Explicit means the skills are directly taught. Nothing is assumed. Nothing is discovered. The teacher teaches it.

Systematic means there is a logical sequence to the instruction. Skills build on each other in a specific order.

Cumulative means previously learned material is continuously reviewed and reinforced.

Multisensory means the instruction uses multiple pathways to the brain simultaneously. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Seeing, hearing, and doing at the same time.

Diagnostic means the teacher is continuously assessing the child's response and adjusting instruction based on that data.

Programs that meet this standard include Wilson Reading, Barton Reading and Spelling, Take Flight, SPIRE, and others on TEA's Resource List of Evidence-Based Dyslexia Programs. A general reading intervention program is not the same thing. A reading group is not the same thing. Repeated exposure to the same text is not the same thing.

Who Is Delivering the Instruction? Provider Qualifications Matter.

This is the section most parents have never heard of. And it is one of the most important.

Under the Texas Dyslexia Handbook and HB 3928, the ARD committee must include a member with specialized knowledge in dyslexia. And the person delivering dyslexia instruction must meet specific qualification standards. Here is what that looks like in practice.

CALT: Certified Academic Language Therapist

A CALT has completed the highest level of training for dyslexia instruction. They have completed an extensive practicum under supervision and passed a rigorous exam administered by the Academic Language Therapy Association. A CALT is qualified to provide the most intensive levels of dyslexia intervention.

CALP: Certified Academic Language Practitioner

A CALP has completed coursework and practicum hours for structured literacy instruction under the Academic Language Therapy Association's credentialing path, at a level below full CALT certification. If your child's IEP lists a CALP as the provider, it's worth asking about their training and who is overseeing the program.

LDT: Licensed Dyslexia Therapist

An LDT is a Texas-specific credential administered by the state. It requires training in structured literacy, a supervised practicum, and a licensing exam. An LDT is qualified to provide dyslexia intervention in Texas public schools.

What about teachers without these credentials?

Under the 2024 Handbook update, a teacher providing dyslexia instruction who does not hold an LDT, CALT, or equivalent credential must at minimum have documented dyslexia training aligned to 19 TAC 74.28(d) and must deliver the program with fidelity.

There is a separate, related requirement worth knowing about too. Every ARD committee must include a member with specialized knowledge in dyslexia. If that member does not already hold an LDT or the most advanced dyslexia-related certification, the district has one calendar year from the date they're designated to that role to get them through TEA's Texas Dyslexia Academies and the required evaluation training. Two different roles, two different requirements, both worth tracking separately at the table.

Cathi's Note: Here is the practical version of all of this. Your child deserves to know who is teaching them and why that person is qualified to do it. If a paraprofessional or an untrained aide is delivering dyslexia instruction without documented training and supervision... that is not compliant. You have every right to ask who is in the room with your child and what their qualifications are.

Dyslexia-Specific Accommodations That Should Be in the IEP

Accommodations for a student with dyslexia are not one-size-fits-all. They should be individualized to your child based on where their specific struggles are. But here are the most common and most important accommodations that should be discussed at every dyslexia ARD.

Cathi's Note: Here is where I see parents get tripped up. Not every accommodation your child uses in the classroom is allowed on the STAAR. The state is upfront about this... instruction and testing don't always run on the same rules, because the test has to protect what it is actually measuring. Rewording, for example, is a classroom accommodation only. It does not transfer to state testing. So the question is not "does everything match." The question is "does the ARD committee know which accommodations carry over and which don't, and has someone explained that to me."

What to Do When the School Says They Are Handling It... But the Data Says Otherwise

This is the situation I hear most often. 'We have a dyslexia program.' 'She is receiving intervention.' 'He is making progress.' And then the parent shows me two years of progress reports that show the child is still reading two grade levels below where they should be.

Here is what to do.

Step 1: Ask for the data.

Not a general progress update. The actual data from the dyslexia program itself. Probe scores. Fluency measures. Intervention data. If the school cannot produce specific data on your child's response to instruction, that is a problem.

Step 2: Ask about program fidelity.

Is the program being delivered the way it was designed? For the right amount of time? By a qualified provider? A program that works in research does not work if it is being delivered in 20-minute sessions three times a week by someone who has never been trained in it.

Step 3: Request a new evaluation or a review of existing data.

If your child has been in a dyslexia program for a year or more and is not making meaningful progress, you have grounds to request a reevaluation or at minimum a full review of existing data at an ARD meeting. The PLAAFP should reflect the current data, and the goals and services should respond to it.

Step 4: Request an Independent Educational Evaluation if needed.

If you disagree with the school's evaluation of your child's needs or their assessment of progress, you have the right to request an IEE at public expense. The school must either pay for an outside evaluation or file for due process to defend their own. This is a significant step. But it is your right.

Legal truth: Lack of progress is data. IDEA requires that the IEP be reasonably calculated to enable your child to make meaningful progress. If the program is not producing progress, the IEP is not meeting that standard. Document everything and bring it to the table.

Legal truth: Lack of progress is data. IDEA requires that the IEP be reasonably calculated to enable your child to make meaningful progress. If the program is not producing progress, the IEP is not meeting that standard. Document everything and bring it to the table.

Read the Texas Dyslexia Handbook

One More Thing

I want to say something directly to any parent reading this who has been told their child is doing fine, is making progress, or just needs more time.

More time is not a dyslexia intervention. Rereading the same text is not structured literacy. A reading group is not an evidence-based dyslexia program. Your child does not have to wait another year to start getting what they need.

You now know enough to ask the right questions. And if the answers you get do not add up... that is exactly what I am here for.

Thank you for letting me play a role in your story.