Early in 2018, the US Department of Education released a final report indicating that TEA failed to comply with IDEA requirements of referring students suspected of having a disability for evaluation. They found that many times students were referred for 504 services instead of special education or students currently receiving 504 services suspected of needing special education were not referred or not referred in a timely manner. This was most often the case for students with Dyslexia.
I’ve worked with several families who have struggled to get not only initial evaluations but also appropriate services for their students who are suspected to have Dyslexia. Parents are given many inaccurate excuses: incorrect timelines for evaluation, are told that they cannot evaluate for Dyslexia before a certain age or grade, are told that a student does not need to be evaluated because they are “passing”. It is frustrating for parents to know that their child is struggling in school not have anyone listen to their concerns.
It is not only important to identify Dyslexia but also to provide the appropriate services. Schools cannot use RTI (response to intervention) to delay evaluating a child which is the case with many schools. Early identification and interventions is crucial! TEA released this information last week. Let’s hope schools get the message and services for students in Texas begin to improve.
Here are the full Provisions from TEA:
https://tea.texas.gov/interiorpage_wide.aspx?id=51539622706