Professional development. 1. For purposes of this section, "dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent recognition of words and poor spelling and decoding abilities, independent of the individual's general intelligence level. 2. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide guidance and recommendations regarding proven strategies in early screening and intervention services for children with risk factors for dyslexia characteristics, including low phonemic awareness. 3. Each school district shall: a. For enrolled children seven years of age and younger, provide a universal screening for dyslexia including core components of phonemic awareness, decoding, and spelling, which must be approved by the superintendent of public instruction; b. Include a process to further evaluate identified risk factors; c. Describe the intervention services for the identified dyslexia risk factors; d. Provide reading intervention services to students with dyslexia characteristics; e. Administer assessments, approved by the superintendent of public instruction, to determine the effectiveness of the intervention services in improving the reading and learning skills of the child; and f. Provide professional development on dyslexia characteristics and interventions related to phonological and phonemic awareness, sound and symbol relationships, alphabet knowledge, rapid naming skills, and encoding and decoding skills, to appropriate kindergarten through grade three personnel of the school district and special education unit. Professional development may meet the requirements for continuing education credits for license renewal. 4. A school district or special education unit shall provide a universal screener under subdivision a of subsection 3 upon request by a parent, legal guardian, or teacher. 5. Before July 1, 2024, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide a report to the legislative management regarding dyslexia screening and intervention under this section.
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