I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2023 

To authorize a pilot program for dyslexia screening and early literacy intervention using evidence-based services for students suspected of having 

an early reading deficiency or dyslexia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. WESTERMAN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, and Mr. BUCSHON) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize a pilot program for dyslexia screening and 

early literacy intervention using evidence-based services 

for students suspected of having an early reading deficiency or dyslexia, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reading Early and 

5 Addressing Dyslexia Act’’ or the ‘‘READ Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) More than 30,000,000 adults in the United 

2 States are not able to read or write above a third3 grade level. 

4 (2) Of adults in the United States who live in 

5 poverty, nearly half have low levels of literacy. 

6 (3) Children whose parents have low levels of 

7 literacy are more than 70 percent more likely to also 

8 have low levels of literacy and are more likely to get 

9 poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high 

10 absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out. 

11 (4) The 2019 National Assessment of Edu12 cational Progress 4th Grade Reading Level Assess13 ment showed the national average reading score for 

14 2019 was lower than 2017. 

15 (5) More than 70 percent of State prison in16 mates have low levels of literacy. 

17 (6) Low levels of literacy are connected to over 

18 $230,000,000,000 a year in health care costs in the 

19 United States. 

20 (7) Dyslexia is thought to be the most common 

21 neurocognitive disorder, affecting about 10 percent 

22 of children in school. 

23 (8) In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the 

24 National Institute of Child Health and Human De25 velopment at the National Institutes of Health, in 


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1 consultation with the Secretary of Education, to con2 vene a national panel, the National Reading Panel, 

3 to assess the status of research-based knowledge, in4 cluding the effectiveness of various approaches to 

5 teaching children to read. The report, released in 

6 2000, documented overwhelming evidence that in7 struction in phonics enhances all students’ success in 

8 learning to read. 

9 (9) In 2014, in response to the Pennsylvania 

10 General Assembly’s passage of Act 69 of 2014, the 

11 Pennsylvania Department of Education developed 

12 the Dyslexia Screening and Early Literacy Interven13 tion Pilot Program, which established a three-year 

14 early literacy intervention and dyslexia pilot program 

15 using evidence-based screening and then evidence16 based instruction and intervention for students 

17 found to be at risk for future reading difficulties. 

18 Such Program identified students in kindergarten 

19 who were deemed at risk for reading difficulties, in20 cluding dyslexia, using screening tests. 

21 (10) Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Con22 necticut, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, 

23 Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina have 

24 all commissioned task forces on early literacy or dys25 lexia. 


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1 (11) Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, 

2 Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, North 

3 Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming have put into 

4 place protocols and procedures to screen for early 

5 reading deficiencies and dyslexia. 

6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

7 Congress that— 

8 (1) it is in the interest of the Nation to ensure 

9 all children in the United States, regardless of abil10 ity, disability, or circumstance, be afforded a high11 quality education that includes the promotion of lit12 eracy skills; and 

13 (2) the Individual with Disabilities Education 

14 Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) should be robustly 

15 funded. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 For the purposes of the pilot program authorized by 

18 this Act: 

19 (1) DYSLEXIA.—The term ‘‘dyslexia’’ means a 

20 condition that— 

21 (A) is characterized by difficulty with accu22 rate or fluent word recognition and by poor 

23 spelling and decoding abilities that typically re24 sults from a deficit in one or more processes reVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2023.IH H2023

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1 lated to the phonological component of lan2 guage; 

3 (B) is often unrelated to other cognitive 

4 abilities and the provision of effective classroom 

5 instruction; and 

6 (C) may result in problems in reading com7 prehension and reduced reading experience that 

8 may impede the growth of vocabulary and back9 ground knowledge. 

10 (2) COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY INSTRUC11 TION.—The term ‘‘comprehensive literacy instruc12 tion’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

13 2221(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6641(b)). 

15 (3) INTENSIVE INTERVENTION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘intensive 

17 intervention’’ means a structured literacy pro18 gram that includes explicit, multisensory, and 

19 systematic phonics instruction and is delivered 

20 in the manner proscribed by the developer of 

21 the structured literacy program by a teacher 

22 trained in such program. 

23 (B) PHONICS INSTRUCTION TERMS.—With 

24 respect to phonics instruction that is part of in25 tensive intervention— 


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1 (i) the term ‘‘explicit’’ means instruc2 tion in which a teacher clearly explains and 

3 models key skills, with well-chosen exam4 ples, and students are not expected to de5 velop the skills based mainly on exposure 

6 and incidental learning opportunities; 

7 (ii) the term ‘‘multisensory’’ means 

8 instruction that combines listening, speak9 ing, reading, and a tactile or kinesthetic 

10 activity; and 

11 (iii) the term ‘‘systematic’’ means in12 struction that is planned and provided in 

13 specific sequence, with important pre14 requisite skills taught before more ad15 vanced skills, and with care taken not to 

16 introduce skills in a way that is confusing 

17 to students. 

18 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

19 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

20 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Education. 

24 (6) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

25 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 


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1 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 SEC. 4. EARLY LITERACY AND DYSLEXIA INTERVENTION 

4 PILOT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es7 tablish an Early Literacy and Dyslexia Intervention Pilot 

8 Program (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Pilot Program’’), 

9 in accordance with this Act, to award grants to State edu10 cational agencies to provide evidence-based early screen11 ing, multi-tier support systems, and comprehensive lit12 eracy education, using evidence-based methods of screen13 ing and intensive intervention identified in accordance 

14 with subsection (d), for students served by the partici15 pating local educational agencies in such States. The early 

16 screening and support systems identified in accordance 

17 with subsection (d) and carried out under the Pilot Pro18 gram shall screen and support students for potential risk 

19 factors for early reading deficiencies and dyslexia, such as 

20 low phonemic awareness, low letter and symbol naming, 

21 and inability to remember sequences. 

22 (b) GRANT SELECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 

23 (1) GRANT SELECTION.—The Secretary shall 

24 award grants under this Act to 5 State educational 

25 agencies to participate in the Pilot Program. The 


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1 Secretary shall ensure that the State educational 

2 agencies awarded grants under this Act serve geo3 graphically, racially, and economically diverse stu4 dent populations. 

5 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded to a 

6 State educational agency under this Act shall be for 

7 a period of 3 consecutive school years, and shall be 

8 for not more than $500,000 for each school year of 

9 the grant period. 

10 (c) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN11 CIES.—Each State educational agency awarded a grant 

12 under this Act shall select no fewer than 2 local edu13 cational agencies in the State to participate in the Pilot 

14 Program under this Act. To be eligible to be selected as 

15 a participating local educational agency, a local edu16 cational agency shall— 

17 (1) have a total enrollment of at least 3,000 

18 students; 

19 (2) provide full-day kindergarten; and 

20 (3) submit an application to the State edu21 cational agency at such time and containing such in22 formation as may be required by the Secretary and 

23 the State educational agency. 

24 (d) IDENTIFICATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED METHODS

25 OF SCREENING AND INTENSIVE INTERVENTION.—Not 


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1 later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 

2 Act, the Secretary shall, in consultation with recognized, 

3 expert organizations described in section 5(a)(1), State 

4 educational agencies the Secretary is consulting with in 

5 accordance with section 5(b), and the State educational 

6 agencies selected to participate in the Pilot Program, iden7 tify— 

8 (1) one or more intensive interventions for stu9 dents in kindergarten through grade 3, which shall 

10 include— 

11 (A) phonological awareness and phonemic 

12 awareness; 

13 (B) sound symbol recognition; 

14 (C) alphabet knowledge; 

15 (D) decoding skills; 

16 (E) encoding skills; and 

17 (F) rapid naming; and 

18 (2) best practices to instruct educators on— 

19 (A) the science of reading; 

20 (B) how to execute the intensive interven21 tions identified in accordance with paragraph 

22 (1); 

23 (C) understanding and identifying early 

24 reading deficiencies and dyslexia, including how 


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1 to execute methods of screening identified in ac2 cordance with paragraph (3); and 

3 (D) how to execute the intensive interven4 tion identified in accordance with paragraph 

5 (4); 

6 (3) one or more evidence-based methods of 

7 screening appropriate for students in kindergarten 

8 through grade 3 for potential risk factors for early 

9 reading deficiencies and dyslexia, which may include 

10 the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy 

11 Skills tests and phonological and phonemic proc12 essing and rapid automatized naming tests; 

13 (4) evidence-based intensive intervention for 

14 students identified as being at risk for, suspected of 

15 having, or having early reading deficiencies or dys16 lexia, or both; and 

17 (5) a methodology for evaluating the effects of 

18 the Pilot Program on the students identified as hav19 ing early reading deficiencies or dyslexia, or both. 

20 (e) ACTIVITIES.—Each State educational agency par21 ticipating in the Pilot Program shall ensure that the fol22 lowing activities are carried out using the methods of 

23 screening and intensive intervention identified in accord24 ance with subsection (d): 


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1 (1) Provide intensive interventions identified in 

2 accordance with subsection (d)(1) that develop basic 

3 reading skills and incorporate systematic phonics in4 struction to every student in kindergarten through 

5 grade 3 who is served by a participating local edu6 cational agency in the State. 

7 (2) Three times during each school year during 

8 the grant period, including at the beginning of the 

9 school year, during the middle of the school year, 

10 and during the final academic period of the school 

11 year, use evidence-based methods of screening identi12 fied in accordance with subsection (d)(3) to screen 

13 each student in kindergarten through grade 3 en14 rolled in each participating local educational agency 

15 in the State for low phonemic awareness and other 

16 evidence-based risk factors for early reading defi17 ciencies and dyslexia. 

18 (3) For each student who is suspected of having 

19 an early reading deficiency or dyslexia, or both, 

20 based on the results of a screening conducted in ac21 cordance with paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) notify the parent or guardian of such 

23 student that the student was screened, the re24 sults of the student’s screening, and that the 


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1 student is eligible to receive reading interven2 tion services as part of the Pilot Program; 

3 (B) provide to the parent or guardian of 

4 such student information about additional 

5 screening and services available through the 

6 Pilot Program, and information on other re7 sources available through the local educational 

8 agency and State to parents and students about 

9 early reading deficiencies and dyslexia, and rec10 ommended evidence-based resources and inter11 ventions; and 

12 (C) in order to provide additional screen13 ing, diagnostic assessments, or services to the 

14 student under the Pilot Program, require con15 sent from the parent or guardian of such stu16 dent indicating that the parent or guardian vol17 untarily and knowingly consents to the contin18 ued participation of the student in the Pilot 

19 Program. 

20 (4) For each student suspected of having an 

21 early reading deficiency or dyslexia based on the re22 sults of a screening whose parent or guardian has 

23 consented to continued participation in the Pilot 

24 Program— 

25 (A) conduct diagnostic assessments that— 


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1 (i) are nationally standardized, norm2 referenced screening assessments of phono3 logical awareness, alphabetic knowledge, 

4 concept of word and grapheme phoneme 

5 correspondence; and 

6 (ii) are proven to have predictive va7 lidity and classification accuracy; and 

8 (B) provide intensive intervention identi9 fied in accordance with subsection (d)(4) in 

10 areas identified by the screening, diagnostic as11 sessments, or progress monitoring data col12 lected by intervention teachers, that includes 

13 timely targeted instruction and strategic re14 teaching of specific unlearned material or con15 cepts until mastery is achieved. 

16 (f) STUDENT PARTICIPATION.—Participation of a 

17 student in the Pilot Program, including participation in 

18 screening and receipt of intensive intervention, shall not 

19 at any time preclude a parent or guardian from requesting 

20 or receiving an evaluation of such student for special edu21 cation services, including during the course of intensive 

22 intervention carried out under the Pilot Program. 

23 (g) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—At the end of each 

24 school year of the Pilot Program, each participating State 

25 educational agency shall report to the Secretary on the 


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1 activities of the State educational agency, and each par2 ticipating local educational agency in the State, carried 

3 out under the Pilot Program, including any data and in4 formation the Secretary may require. 

5 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION. 

6 (a) CONSULTATION AND GRANTEE ASSISTANCE.—In 

7 establishing, operating, and evaluating the Pilot Program, 

8 the Secretary shall— 

9 (1) consult with nationally recognized organiza10 tions that recognize, support, and advocate for 

11 science-based literacy instruction, and specialize in, 

12 and have expertise with, the scientific basis of dys13 lexia and intensive intervention; and 

14 (2) provide State educational agencies partici15 pating in the Pilot Program with assistance related 

16 to implementation and execution of the Pilot Pro17 gram, including access to— 

18 (A) technical support mechanisms (such as 

19 training and printed reference materials); and 

20 (B) the State educational agencies con21 sulting with the Secretary in accordance with 

22 subsection (b). 

23 (b) CONSULTATION WITH STATE EDUCATIONAL

24 AGENCIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall select at least one State educational agency 

4 with experience implementing and carrying out a 

5 program similar to the Pilot Program to be carried 

6 out by State educational agencies under this Act. 

7 The Secretary shall consult with the selected State 

8 educational agencies with respect to providing assist9 ance to State educational agencies participating in 

10 the Pilot Program. Such assistance may include des11 ignated staff assistance, conferences, shadowing, re12 source building and sharing, and any other assist13 ance the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

14 (2) SELECTION.—To be qualified to be selected 

15 as a State educational agency to consult with the 

16 Secretary in accordance with paragraph (1), a State 

17 educational agency shall— 

18 (A) submit to the Secretary an application, 

19 at such time and containing such information 

20 as the Secretary may require; and 

21 (B) have implemented, before the date of 

22 enactment of this Act, and carried out for not 

23 less than one calendar year before such date, a 

24 statewide program that— 


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1 (i) incorporated evidenced-based read2 ing instruction for all students served by 

3 the State; 

4 (ii) identified students at-risk for 

5 early reading deficiencies or dyslexia in 

6 kindergarten; 

7 (iii) provided evidenced-based inten8 sive intervention beginning in kindergarten 

9 for students identified as at-risk; 

10 (iv) collected data to study the impact 

11 of such program; and 

12 (v) used an outside research institu13 tion to analyze the data and determine the 

14 impact on student outcomes. 

15 (3) INELIGIBILITY FOR PILOT PROGRAM.—Any 

16 State educational agency selected to consult with the 

17 Secretary for the purposes of this subsection shall 

18 not be eligible for a grant to participate in the Pilot 

19 Program. 

20 SEC. 6. EVALUATION. 

21 (a) EVALUATION.—Not later than one year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter 

23 into a contract with a nationally recognized educational 

24 evaluation institution or organization to provide an evalua25 tion of the Pilot Program, which shall be completed not 


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1 later than one year after the completion of the third school 

2 year of the Pilot Program. Such evaluation shall review 

3 the effectiveness of evidence-based early reading assistance 

4 programs for students with risk factors for early reading 

5 deficiencies and dyslexia. 

6 (b) PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.—The Secretary shall 

7 make available to the public on the website of the Depart8 ment of Education the results of the evaluation carried 

9 out under subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 7. REPORT; STUDY; RESOURCE SHARING. 

11 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REPORT.—Not later than the 

12 30 days after the completion of the evaluation required 

13 under section 6, the Secretary shall submit a report to 

14 Congress on the outcome of the Pilot Program and other 

15 related matters. Such report shall include— 

16 (1) qualitative and quantitative data on the out17 comes of State and local educational agencies and 

18 students who participated in the Program; 

19 (2) qualitative and quantitative data on the ex20 perience of educators who participated in the Pro21 gram; 

22 (3) a list of the methods of screening used to 

23 evaluate students for low phonemic awareness and 

24 other evidence-based risk factors for early reading 

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1 pating State educational agencies, participating local 

2 educational agencies, and participating schools used 

3 each such method; 

4 (4) for each school year of the Pilot Program, 

5 the number of students in kindergarten through 

6 grade 3 in each participating State educational 

7 agency, participating local educational agency, and 

8 participating school who were— 

9 (A) screened for low phonemic awareness 

10 and other evidence-based risk factors for early 

11 reading deficiencies and dyslexia; 

12 (B) suspected of having an early reading 

13 deficiency or dyslexia based on the results of 

14 such screening; and 

15 (C) identified as having early reading defi16 ciencies or dyslexia based on a diagnostic as17 sessment; and 

18 (5) any regulatory, legal, or resource barriers to 

19 continuing and expanding the Program. 

20 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the com21 pletion of the evaluation required under section 6, the Sec22 retary shall provide to Congress, based on the data col23 lected as part of the Pilot Program and evaluation carried 

24 out under this Act and any other data available to the 

25 Secretary— 


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1 (1) an assessment of— 

2 (A) the impact of practices put in place 

3 under the Pilot Program, including the practice 

4 of instructing teachers on the science of read5 ing; 

6 (B) the value of the inclusion of the 

7 science of reading courses for teacher licensing 

8 and certification; and 

9 (C) how students perform when taught by 

10 teachers who have received instruction on the 

11 science of reading; and 

12 (2) based on the data collected as part of the 

13 Program, whether the Secretary recommends recon14 vening the National Reading Panel. 

15 (c) RESOURCE SHARING.—Not later than January 1, 

16 2025, the Secretary shall use the report required under 

17 subsection (a) and the results of the study under sub18 section (b) to create and make available an online platform 

19 to provide State and local educational agencies with re20 sources to identify and best serve students in kindergarten 

21 through grade 3 who are identified as being at risk for, 

22 suspected of having, or having early reading deficiencies 

23 or dyslexia, which shall include— 

24 (1) evidence-based methods of screening de25 signed specifically for students identified as being at 


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1 risk for, suspected of having, or having early reading 

2 deficiencies or dyslexia; 

3 (2) methods of targeted instruction for early 

4 reading deficiencies and dyslexia; 

5 (3) guidance on developing instructional plans 

6 for students identified as having early reading defi7 ciencies or dyslexia; 

8 (4) developmentally appropriate curricula and 

9 engaging instructional materials and practices for 

10 students identified as having early reading defi11 ciencies or dyslexia; 

12 (5) structured multisensory approaches to teach 

13 language and reading skills to all students, including 

14 students identified as being at risk for, suspected of 

15 having, or having early reading deficiencies or dys16 lexia; and 

17 (6) a list of suggested training programs for 

18 teachers on effective reading instruction methods. 

19 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to award 

21 grants to State educational agencies in accordance with 

22 this Act, not more than $2,500,000 for each year of the 

23 Pilot Program. 

Æ 


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