A change to the North Dakota dyslexia landscape is on the horizon!
Following in the footsteps of the state of California earlier this year, North Dakota has recently passed some important legislative changes to teaching licenses that will make it easier to identify literacy differences like dyslexia in students earlier, and make it easier for them to access the support that they need.
House Bill 1131 added a dyslexia specialism to the list of professional credentials that it is possible to attach to a teaching license via the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The change becomes effective on the 1st of August 2021, just in time for the start of the new school year, after it passed the House 89-0 and the Senate 45-0 in a landslide ruling. The bill also added a further $250,000 to a dyslexia pilot project active in the state.
The credentialing had been trialled as part of the pilot project, spearheaded by Representative Michelle Strinden who is a sponsor of House Bill 1131, but plans never truly came to fruition as enough relevant training systems were not truly in place. As a response to the project, however, the University of North Dakota has since created a three-course professional training programme that will be active as of this Fall. Dickinson State University is also developing its own training programme, with other, similar training available at Dyslexia Learning Centers and some independent institutions.
Having trained staff who are able to specialise in dyslexia means that there can be more people in more classrooms all over the state who understand how best to help, what to look for, and most critically identify the condition early on in a student's life. It’s another major step in the right direction for identifying dyslexia across the board, and making sure that students are able to access the support and the resources that can make all the difference on their individual learning journey.
You can find more information, as well as a short text briefing by Representative Michelle Strinden at the Minot Daily News.