130 STAT. 120 PUBLIC LAW 114–124—FEB. 18, 2016 

Public Law 114–124 

114th Congress 

An Act 

To require the President’s annual budget request to Congress each year to include 

a line item for the Research in Disabilities Education program of the National 

Science Foundation and to require the National Science Foundation to conduct 

research on dyslexia. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia Act’’ or the ‘‘READ Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

The Congress finds the following: 

(1) As many as 1 out of 6, or 8,500,000, American school 

children may have dyslexia. 

(2) Since 1975, dyslexia has been included in the list of 

qualifying learning disabilities under the Education for All 

Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act. 

SEC. 3. RESEARCH IN DISABILITIES EDUCATION. 

(a) PROGRAM.—Nothing in this Act alters the National Science 

Foundation’s Research in Disabilities Education program for fundamental and implementation research about learners (of all ages) 

with disabilities, including dyslexia, in science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The National Science 

Foundation shall continue to encourage efforts to understand and 

address disability-based differences in STEM education and 

workforce participation, including differences for dyslexic learners. 

(b) LINE ITEM.—The Director of the National Science Foundation shall include the amount requested for the Research in Disabilities Education program in the Foundation’s annual congressional 

budget justification. 

SEC. 4. DYSLEXIA. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with subsection (c), the National 

Science Foundation shall support multi-directorate, merit-reviewed, 

and competitively awarded research on the science of specific 

learning disability, including dyslexia, such as research on the 

early identification of children and students with dyslexia, professional development for teachers and administrators of students 

with dyslexia, curricula and educational tools needed for children 

with dyslexia, and implementation and scaling of successful models 

of dyslexia intervention. Research supported under this subsection 

shall be conducted with the goal of practical application. 

42 USC 1862r–1. 

42 USC 1862r 

note. 

42 USC 1862r 

note. 

Research 

Excellence and 

Advancements 

for Dyslexia Act. 

42 USC 1861 

note. 

Feb. 18, 2016 

[H.R. 3033] 


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PUBLIC LAW 114–124—FEB. 18, 2016 130 STAT. 121 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3033: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 

Vol. 161 (2015): Oct. 26, considered and passed House. 

Vol. 162 (2016): Feb. 3, considered and passed Senate, amended. 

Feb. 4, House concurred in Senate amendment. 

Æ 

(b) AWARDS.—To promote development of early career 

researchers, in awarding funds under subsection (a) the National 

Science Foundation shall prioritize applications for funding submitted by early career researchers. 

(c) COORDINATION.—To prevent unnecessary duplication of 

research, activities under this Act shall be coordinated with similar 

activities supported by other Federal agencies, including research 

funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and the National 

Institutes of Health. 

(d) FUNDING.—The National Science Foundation shall devote 

not less than $5,000,000 to research described in subsection (a), 

which shall include not less than $2,500,000 for research on the 

science of dyslexia, for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, 

subject to the availability of appropriations, to come from amounts 

made available for the Research and Related Activities account 

or the Education and Human Resources Directorate under subsection (e). This section shall be carried out using funds otherwise 

appropriated by law after the date of enactment of this Act. 

(e) AUTHORIZATION.—For each of fiscal years 2016 through 

2021, there are authorized out of funds appropriated to the National 

Science Foundation, $5,000,000 to carry out the activities described 

in subsection (a). 

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY. 

In this Act, the term ‘‘specific learning disability’’— 

(1) means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological 

processes involved in understanding or in using language, 

spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the 

imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or 

do mathematical calculations; 

(2) includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain 

injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental 

aphasia; and 

(3) does not include a learning problem that is primarily 

the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual 

disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. 

Approved February 18, 2016. 

42 USC 1862r–1 

note. 

Time period. 

Time period. 


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