Dyslexia Support in Israel: Schools, Assessments, and What Nitzan and Kol Koreh Actually Do

Your child was assessed and supported for dyslexia back in the US, Canada, or the UK. The school had a reading specialist, a 504 Plan or IEP in place, and services running smoothly. Then you made Aliyah. Now you're staring at a Hebrew school circular and wondering whether Israel even has a word for dyslexia — let alone services to address it.

It does. But the path to accessing those services looks nothing like what you're used to.

How Israel Classifies Dyslexia in the School System

In Hebrew, dyslexia falls under the umbrella term lekuyot lemida — learning disabilities (LD). This is the single largest disability category in Israel's special education system, representing nearly 50% of all students receiving special education services. The Ministry of Education does not use the word dyslexia as a formal diagnostic label in the same way US schools do under IDEA. Instead, a child is assessed for a psycho-didactic profile that identifies specific processing deficits — phonological awareness, reading fluency, orthographic processing — and the severity of those deficits determines what support the school is obligated to provide.

This matters practically: your child's US psychoeducational report labeled "dyslexia, severe" does not automatically trigger any Israeli school intervention. You will need a new Israeli ivchun psikho-didakti (psycho-didactic evaluation) conducted by a licensed Israeli professional to open the door to formal support.

Getting a Dyslexia Assessment in Israel

The public route is through the municipality's School Psychological Service (Sherut Psychologi Chinuchi). If the school agrees to refer your child, the municipal psychologist or educational psychologist handles the evaluation. The problem: waiting lists at public psychological services in most municipalities stretch for months. If you're trying to meet the spring committee deadline (paperwork must be filed by March 31 for services to begin the following September), a public referral that gets delayed until December is functionally useless.

Most families in this situation go private. A private psycho-didactic evaluation in Israel typically costs between 800 and 1,500 NIS for a standard assessment, or 2,000 to 4,000 NIS for a comprehensive multi-disciplinary evaluation depending on the evaluator and the city. The Ministry of Education is legally required to accept private evaluations conducted by certified Israeli professionals, but the report must be in Hebrew — if your child was assessed abroad, you will need a certified Hebrew translation before submitting it.

What Kol Koreh Does

Kol Koreh (kolkoreh.org) is an Israeli nonprofit focused specifically on dyslexia and reading difficulties. Their primary work is in early identification and structured literacy intervention. They train educators, run awareness campaigns, and advocate for earlier screening in Israeli schools. They are not a service delivery organization in the way a therapy center is — they won't directly assess or tutor your child. But they are the most credible source for dyslexia-specific information in Hebrew and have pushed for Israel to adopt more systematic early screening practices in schools.

For Anglo parents, Kol Koreh's English-language resources are limited, but their existence matters: if you're trying to explain to a school principal why your child needs a structured phonics-based reading intervention rather than just "extra reading time," Kol Koreh's position papers give you institutional backing.

What Nitzan Does

Nitzan (nitzan-israel.org.il) is the largest and most comprehensive learning disabilities organization in Israel. They operate a national network of didactic assessment centers, run intensive intervention programs, train teachers, and advocate at the policy level. If you want a credentialed private evaluation, Nitzan is one of the most widely recognized sources — reports from Nitzan evaluators carry significant weight with municipal placement committees.

Nitzan also provides school-based intervention support in many municipalities and operates specific programs for immigrant families. They have English-language resources on their website and staff who work with Anglo families. If your child has a suspected learning disability and you want to understand your options before approaching the school, contacting your nearest Nitzan branch is a reasonable first step.

What the School is Required to Provide

Once a formal learning disability is documented, what schools must provide depends entirely on the level of support determined by the Va'adat Ifyun V'Zakaut (Eligibility and Characterization Committee). For learning disabilities that fall into the "standard LD" category — as opposed to severe, complex disabilities — the support typically comes through the school's institutional basket (sal mosadi) rather than a personal basket (sal ishi). This means services are allocated to the school pool, not attached individually to your child, which can make it harder to track and enforce.

Practically, support may include pull-out sessions with a special education teacher, classroom accommodations such as extended time or read-aloud support, and eventually — for high school students — formal Bagrut (matriculation exam) accommodations. Olim also qualify for specific immigrant leniencies on the Bagrut, including extended time and dictionary use, for up to ten years after Aliyah. If your child has both a documented LD and is an oleh, these protections stack.

What to Do First

If your child has an existing dyslexia diagnosis from abroad, don't wait for the school to act. Get the foreign evaluation translated into Hebrew, contact Nitzan or a private evaluator to have an Israeli assessment done, and submit a written request for a placement committee directly to the municipality — bypassing the school principal if needed. Parents have the legal right to do this. Missing the March 31 deadline means waiting another full year for formal support.

The Israel Special Education Blueprint walks through this process step by step, including the exact documents you need, the committee timeline, and how to advocate effectively at every stage. Get the full guide at /il/iep-guide/

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