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Dyslexia Pilot Project Information and Background
House Bill 96 signed by Governor Kasich in December 2011 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a pilot project involving school districts to provide early screening and intervention services for children with risk factors for dyslexia. The pilot project must operate for three full school years, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year. The specified goal of the pilot project is to evaluate the effectiveness of early screening and reading assistance programs for children at risk for reading failure including those students exhibiting risk factors associated with dyslexia and to evaluate whether those programs can reduce future special education costs.
The table below announces the school and districts awarded projects on June 12, 2012.
2012 Dyslexia Pilot Projects
| Celina City School District |
Mercer County |
| Cincinnati Public School District |
Hamilton County |
| Cleveland Arts Social Science Academy |
Cuyahoga County |
| Edison Local School District |
Jefferson County |
| Indian Creek Local School District |
Jefferson County |
| Medina City School District |
Medina County |
| Shawnee Local School District |
Allen County |
| Trimble Local School District |
Athens County |
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Office for Exceptional Children (OEC) selected eight school districts to participate in the pilot project on a voluntary basis. Requirements of HB 96 specify at least one district must be located in an urban setting, one in a suburban setting and one in a rural setting. Interested public school districts responded to the Plan to Implement and Evaluate the Dyslexia Pilot Project focused on the following outcomes:
- Identify a method of screening children for low phonemic awareness and other risk factors for dyslexia;
- Provide for the enrollment of children identified as having risk factors in a reading program staffed by teachers trained in evidence-based reading instruction and multisensory structured language instruction; and
- Include a methodology for evaluating the reading program's effects on the children's identified risk factors.
OEC will conduct a formal evaluation to determine whether to continue, expand or make changes to the pilot project and report recommendations to the General Assembly in mid-2015. Awardees are required to participate in the evaluation as critical component of their involvement in the Dyslexia Pilot Project.
Districts may be funded up to $40,000 per year for implementation of the pilot project. Funds for years 2 and 3 will be made available contingent upon successful completion of the year one project, submission of required data components for the formal evaluation, review of the second year application and available/continued IDEA Part-B funds.
Questions?
Project Contact: Wendy Stoica, Assistant Director
Ohio Department of Education
Office for Exceptional Children
25 South Front Street, Mail Stop 202
Columbus, Ohio 43215-4183
614.644.7307 (desk)
877.644.6338 (toll-free)
Wendy.Stoica@education.ohio.gov
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