HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3142        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 463

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Alice Hanlon Peisch

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to providing screening for dyslexia.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Alice Hanlon Peisch

14th Norfolk

1/16/2015

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

8/27/2019

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

8/27/2019

Louis L. Kafka

8th Norfolk

8/27/2019

Jennifer E. Benson

37th Middlesex

8/27/2019

Colleen M. Garry

36th Middlesex

8/27/2019

Cory Atkins

14th Middlesex

8/27/2019

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

8/27/2019


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3142        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 463

By Ms. Peisch of Wellesley, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 463) of Alice Hanlon Peisch and others for legislation to ensure that each student enrolled in a school district is screened for potential indicators of dyslexia or other reading disabilities.  Education.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

 

An Act relative to providing screening for dyslexia.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section 57 the following section:-

SECTION 57A. For the purposes of this section the following word will have the following meaning:

Dyslexia: “a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin with indicators that include but not limited to, difficulty in acquiring language skills; inability to comprehend oral or written language; difficulty in rhyming words; difficulty in naming letters, recognizing letters, matching letters to sounds, and blending sounds when speaking and reading words; difficulty recognizing and remembering sight words; consistent transposition of number sequences, letter reversals, inversions, and substitutes and trouble in replication of content.”

Each district shall ensure that each student enrolled in the school district shall be screened for potential indicators of dyslexia or other reading disabilities no later than the first semester of the second grade.

The  Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate regulations to develop screening procedures or instruments to identify students who possess one or more potential indicators of dyslexia.