IL dyslexia screening takes effect Jan. 1, drawing reading instruction debate

(The Center Square) – As Illinois rolls out a new law requiring early literacy screenings beginning Jan. 1, some educators question whether it will solve reading issues or just mislabel children as dyslexic.

Senate Bill 1672 requires public school districts to conduct early literacy screening testing and report data for students in kindergarten through third grade. Supporters say the mandate will catch reading problems earlier, while critics argue it risks mislabeling students as dyslexic instead of fixing flawed reading instruction.

Sarah Fletcher, head of school at White Horse Academy, said many signs of dyslexia stem from how reading is taught, not a learning disorder.

“I think it goes back to whole language learning, where students look at parts of words or letter patterns and use context or picture clues to figure out a word, instead of phonics,” she said. “They see a few familiar letters and guess what word might make sense in the sentence, and as crazy...