Texas Dyslexia Handbook: What Parents Need to Know

Texas has one of the most comprehensive dyslexia frameworks in the United States. Unlike states where dyslexia policy is vague or scattered across multiple statutes, Texas publishes the Texas Dyslexia Handbook—a document adopted by the State Board of Education and incorporated into 19 Texas Administrative Code §74.28, with requirements that school districts must implement alongside state law. If your child attends a Texas public school, this handbook is one of your most powerful advocacy tools.

What the Texas Dyslexia Handbook Is

The Texas Dyslexia Handbook is developed and adopted by the State Board of Education and provides detailed requirements for identifying, evaluating, and instructing students with dyslexia and related disorders. Texas Education Code §38.003 requires public schools to screen or test students for dyslexia and related disorders at appropriate times; 19 Texas Administrative Code §74.28 incorporates the Handbook's requirements for screening, evaluation, and instruction.

The handbook defines dyslexia, establishes screening and evaluation timelines, specifies the characteristics of appropriate reading instruction, and outlines the procedural rights parents have throughout the process. It is updated periodically; the most current version is available from the TEA website.

The handbook's authority matters: when a Texas school district fails to follow the Handbook's requirements, it may be failing applicable state requirements, not merely making a pedagogical choice.

Dyslexia Screening Requirements in Texas

Texas law requires screening for students in kindergarten and first grade. The Texas Dyslexia Handbook specifies screening at the end of kindergarten and during first grade, with first-grade screening completed no later than January 31.

The screening must identify characteristics associated with dyslexia, including:

• Difficulty with phonological awareness (manipulating sounds in spoken words)
• Difficulty with rapid automatized naming (quickly naming letters, numbers, colors, or objects)
• Difficulty learning letter-sound correspondences

If a student is identified as at risk based on screening, the school must provide reading instruction using an evidence-based program. If the student does not make adequate progress, the school must proceed to a formal evaluation.

Parents can also initiate a referral for dyslexia evaluation at any time. You do not have to wait for the school's universal screening cycle. A written request triggers specific response timelines under the handbook.

Evaluation Requirements and Timelines

The Texas Dyslexia Handbook requires that once a student is identified as at risk or referred for evaluation, the school must:

1. Provide parents with written notice before evaluation
2. Obtain written parental consent
3. Complete the evaluation within 45 school days from the date of consent (Texas uses this state timeline instead of IDEA's default 60-calendar-day federal timeline)

The evaluation must assess the student's phonological awareness, word attack skills, word identification, reading fluency, and listening comprehension, among other areas. A generic reading assessment that only reports grade-level achievement is insufficient.

If the school refuses to evaluate, they must provide written notice of the refusal, including the reasons. Parents who disagree with the school's evaluation have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense.

What Appropriate Instruction Looks Like Under the Handbook

The Texas Dyslexia Handbook is specific about what constitutes appropriate reading instruction for students with dyslexia. Instruction must be:

• Structured, sequential, and cumulative: Following a logical phonics scope and sequence from simplest to most complex
• Explicit: Directly teaching phoneme-grapheme relationships, syllable types, and morphology—not expecting the student to discover them through reading exposure
• Multisensory: Using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-motor pathways simultaneously
• Phonics-based: Grounded in decoding instruction, not guessing strategies or whole-word memorization

The handbook describes the instructional principles schools must implement; it does not require a particular commercial program. Programs that rely on balanced literacy, whole-language strategies, or the three-cueing system may not meet those requirements if they do not provide explicit, systematic, and multisensory instruction.

This is significant leverage. If your child's school is using Fountas & Pinnell, Reading Workshop, or another balanced literacy program as the primary reading instruction for a student with dyslexia, the program may not meet TEA's described requirements.

How to Use the Handbook in Advocacy

In writing: When requesting evaluation, cite Texas Education Code §38.003 and reference the Texas Dyslexia Handbook's evaluation timelines. Frame requests as compliance requirements, not requests for favors.

In IEP meetings: The handbook's description of appropriate instruction gives you standing to reject interventions that don't meet its standards. If the school proposes "additional small group reading support" with no named program and no trained specialist, ask: "How does this comply with the Texas Dyslexia Handbook's requirements for structured, multisensory, explicit phonics instruction?"

When no progress is being made: If DIBELS or other progress monitoring data shows no growth over two to three months, cite the handbook's requirement that instruction result in adequate progress. Stagnation supports a request to re-evaluate and adjust the program.

When the school claims the student "doesn't qualify": The handbook explicitly warns against using average academic performance or high IQ scores to deny identification of dyslexia. Students who compensate with intelligence may still have dyslexia and may qualify for services when the evaluation shows the disability and need for specially designed instruction.

Section 504 vs. IEP in Texas

Texas students with dyslexia may receive services through either an IEP under IDEA (as students with a Specific Learning Disability) or through a Section 504 plan. The handbook covers both pathways.

The difference matters: an IEP includes specialized instruction delivered by specially trained personnel and carries more robust procedural protections. A 504 plan typically provides accommodations (extended time, read-aloud, text-to-speech) but may not include the intensive structured literacy intervention that dyslexic students need.

Many Texas schools default to offering a 504 plan because it requires fewer resources and less personnel training. For a student with significant dyslexia who needs intensive reading intervention—not just accommodations—an IEP may be the appropriate vehicle, depending on whether the student needs specially designed instruction.

The existing posts texas-dyslexia-504-to-iep-transition-without-attorney and texas-dyslexia-services-schools cover the broader Texas dyslexia services landscape. This post focuses specifically on the handbook as a compliance tool.

The Handbook Is Not Self-Enforcing

The most important thing to understand: the Texas Dyslexia Handbook sets clear standards, but it does not enforce itself. Schools routinely fail to follow it. Parents who don't know the handbook exists can't cite it.

If your Texas school district has failed to screen your child, failed to evaluate when referral criteria were met, or is providing instruction that doesn't meet the handbook's standards, you have options: filing a complaint with the Texas Education Agency's Division of Complaints Management and Investigative Resolution, requesting mediation, or pursuing a due process hearing.

The Dyslexia Support & Reading Intervention Kit includes templates for written evaluation requests, meeting scripts for IEP and 504 negotiations, and the specific language to cite state and federal standards when schools resist. The handbook gives you the law; the toolkit helps you use it.