Dyslexia IEP in Maryland: Getting the Right Evaluation, Label, and Services

If your child struggles to read despite classroom instruction and interventions, and you suspect dyslexia, you are navigating one of the most complicated and most common special education advocacy situations in Maryland. Schools frequently identify these children under the broad label "Specific Learning Disability in Reading" without ever formally using the word "dyslexia" — and the services they receive often bear little resemblance to what the research says actually works.

Here is what Maryland parents of children with dyslexia need to know about evaluations, IEP eligibility, and fighting for appropriate services.

Maryland Recognizes Dyslexia — But Schools Often Don't Use the Word

Maryland law explicitly recognizes dyslexia as a condition schools must address. The Maryland Reading Roadmap and state guidance acknowledge dyslexia as a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, poor spelling, and poor decoding abilities that reflect inadequate phonological processing.

The problem is implementation. Many Maryland schools continue to use the diagnostic label "Specific Learning Disability (Reading)" on IEPs without specifying dyslexia, and they sometimes provide generic reading support rather than the structured, systematic, explicit literacy instruction that students with dyslexia actually require.

Under IDEA, IEPs must be based on each student's unique needs — and for a student with dyslexia, that means the IEP should specifically address phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and reading comprehension through a structured literacy approach. If your child's IEP says "reading support 3x per week" with no description of the instructional methodology, that is not adequate.

The Evaluation: What Must Be Included

To properly identify and plan for a student with dyslexia, the evaluation must assess the right areas. A standard academic achievement battery that produces reading scores is not sufficient. A comprehensive dyslexia evaluation should include:

Phonological processing. This is the core deficit in dyslexia — the ability to process the sound structure of language. The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2) or equivalent should be administered.

Rapid automatized naming (RAN). A predictor of fluency difficulties that is often underassessed.

Word reading and decoding. Both real words and nonsense words (nonword decoding) — WRMT-III, KTEA-3, or WJ-IV are common measures.

Spelling. Often severely impaired in dyslexia and frequently omitted from brief assessments.

Reading fluency. Words per minute and accuracy on connected text.

Phonemic awareness. The ability to isolate, blend, and segment individual sounds in spoken words.

Under COMAR 13A.05.01.05, a Maryland SLD evaluation cannot rely on a single test or procedure. If the school's evaluation used only a broad achievement battery and found a "reading deficit" without assessing phonological processing specifically, that evaluation is inadequate for diagnosing the profile of dyslexia.

You can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense if you disagree with the district's evaluation. Under Maryland Education Article § 8-405, the district has 30 days to fund the IEE or file for due process. An IEE by a licensed educational psychologist or neuropsychologist experienced with dyslexia — outside the school district's employ — is often the pivotal document in getting appropriate services.

SLD Eligibility Requires a Classroom Observation

One Maryland-specific requirement for SLD eligibility: COMAR requires that at least one IEP team member conduct a direct observation of the student's academic performance in the general education classroom. This is in addition to the standard assessment battery.

If your child's SLD eligibility meeting occurred without any documented classroom observation, raise this as a procedural concern — in writing, to the special education coordinator. This requirement exists to ensure eligibility is grounded in the student's actual learning context, not just test scores.

What "Appropriate Services" Looks Like for Dyslexia

This is where many Maryland IEPs fall short. Research on dyslexia intervention is unambiguous: structured literacy instruction — which is systematic, explicit, sequential, and phonics-based — is the only intervention shown to be effective. Programs like Wilson Reading System, Barton Reading and Spelling, SPIRE, or Orton-Gillingham based programs are the standard of care.

Your child's IEP should specify:

• The specific reading program or methodology being used (not just "multisensory reading support")
• The frequency and duration of sessions
• Measurable goals tied to phonological processing, decoding accuracy, and reading fluency — with specific baseline data and growth targets

If the IEP says "the student will improve reading skills with 80% accuracy" without specifying baseline, instructional approach, or how progress will be measured, that goal is not legally adequate under the post-Endrew F. standard. Goals must be ambitious and tied to specific, measurable outcomes.

Accommodations for Dyslexia

Students with dyslexia who have IEPs are entitled to accommodations that level the playing field. Common accommodations in Maryland IEPs for dyslexia include:

• Extended time on tests and assignments
• Text-to-speech tools and access to audiobooks
• Oral response options in lieu of written work where the disability is the barrier
• Reduced spelling requirements in non-spelling assignments
• Access to word prediction software
• Accommodation on Maryland state assessments (MCAP)

Section 504 plans can also provide accommodations for students who do not qualify for special education services under IDEA but have a dyslexia profile that substantially limits their reading. However, 504 plans do not provide specialized instruction — only accommodations. If your child needs structured literacy instruction, an IEP is the appropriate vehicle.

Common Roadblocks Maryland Parents Face

"We use a multi-tiered system of supports — let's see how intervention goes first." Maryland districts often use Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) frameworks before referring for evaluation. While these frameworks have value, they cannot be used to deny or indefinitely delay a special education evaluation for a parent who formally requests one in writing. The law is clear: a written evaluation request starts the 90-day clock regardless of where the student is in the RTI process.

"She reads below grade level but qualifies under our criteria" — or, conversely, "He doesn't meet our discrepancy threshold." Maryland allows multiple methods for determining SLD eligibility, including response to intervention and pattern of strengths and weaknesses models. If the district's eligibility criteria seem to be applied in a way that denies a clearly struggling child, request an IEE.

Insufficient service hours. A student with dyslexia typically needs intensive, frequent structured literacy instruction — often 60-90 minutes per day in early grades. An IEP that provides 30 minutes of "reading support" three times per week is almost certainly not providing FAPE for a child with significant phonological processing deficits.

Building the Case

The most effective advocacy for a student with dyslexia combines a strong private evaluation, data from private tutors or reading specialists, and a clear written record of the school's failures to make progress over time. Parent forums in Maryland communities consistently describe the same trajectory: years of generic reading support with no progress, followed by a private neuropsychological evaluation that finally named dyslexia, followed by the battle to get the IEP to reflect what the research says works.

If you are at any stage of this process — awaiting an evaluation, fighting inadequate services, or trying to get structured literacy written into the IEP — the Maryland IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook covers the evaluation request process, IEE procedure, and IEP meeting scripts grounded in COMAR and Maryland's specific dyslexia guidance.

See more United States guides →