Wisconsin Act 20 Dyslexia Screening: What the "At Risk" Letter Means for Your Child's IEP

Your child came home with a letter saying they scored below the 25th percentile on the state reading screener and are "at risk to not progress to the next grade level." Now the school is talking about a Personal Reading Plan. But no one explained whether this triggers a formal evaluation, whether your child needs a 504 plan or an IEP, or whether the school is actually required to do anything beyond sending you a form letter.

Here is what Wisconsin's Act 20 actually requires — and what you need to know to advocate effectively.

What Wisconsin Act 20 Requires Schools to Do

2023 Wisconsin Act 20 is the most significant overhaul of early literacy instruction in the state in decades. Starting with the 2024–2025 school year, every Wisconsin public school must administer a universal reading screener — currently aimswebPlus — to all students in 4-year-old Kindergarten through Grade 3. Critically, students with disabilities are not exempt from this screening. There are no blanket waivers based on disability category.

If a student scores below the 25th percentile, the school must develop a Personal Reading Plan (PRP). For students without an IEP, the PRP is a separate document. But for students who already have an IEP, the law requires that the PRP components — the identified skill deficiencies, the specific reading intervention deployed, and weekly progress monitoring — be integrated directly into the IEP itself, specifically in the goals and services sections of Form I-4.

Act 20 also bans the use of "three-cueing" instructional materials (strategies that teach kids to guess words from context, pictures, or sentence structure). Wisconsin districts are now required to use phonics-based, science-of-reading aligned instruction.

What an "At Risk" Result Does Not Automatically Do

An Act 20 screening result below the 25th percentile does not automatically:

• Qualify your child for special education services
• Trigger a formal IEP evaluation
• Create a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) determination
• Guarantee any particular reading program

The screener flags kids who are behind. What happens next depends almost entirely on what you and the school do with that information.

Many districts will respond with Tier 2 intervention under their Multi-Level System of Supports (MLSS) — small group reading instruction — and a PRP. For a lot of children, that is appropriate. But if your child has been struggling with reading for more than one school year, or if there is a family history of dyslexia, or if you have already seen signs beyond simple "reading behind," the Act 20 result may be the lever you need to push for a formal evaluation.

How Act 20 Data Connects to an IEP Evaluation Request

Under Wisconsin law, a school district cannot use a child's participation in Tier 2 or Tier 3 reading interventions to delay or deny your request for a special education evaluation. This is a firm federal and state rule.

Here is how to use Act 20 data strategically:

If your child does not yet have an IEP: An "at risk" screener result — combined with documentation of continued reading struggles — strengthens a formal written evaluation request considerably. You are now asking the district to look at whether your child has a Specific Learning Disability under Wisconsin Administrative Code PI 11.36(6), which requires documented evidence of inadequate classroom achievement and insufficient progress in response to appropriate instruction.

Send your request in writing. Reference the Act 20 screening result, note the date of the screener, include any prior report cards showing reading difficulty, and ask the district to initiate a comprehensive evaluation for Specific Learning Disability. The district then has 15 business days to issue a notice about whether they will evaluate, and 60 calendar days from your signed consent to complete the evaluation.

If your child already has an IEP: Request that the IEP team meet to integrate the PRP components into the existing IEP. At that meeting, ask specifically what evidence-based reading intervention will be added to your child's specially designed instruction, how progress will be measured weekly, and what criteria would trigger a more intensive evaluation.

What "Dyslexia" Means Under Wisconsin Law

Wisconsin does not have a separate "dyslexia" eligibility category in special education. Students with dyslexia are evaluated under the Specific Learning Disability category (PI 11.36(6)), which covers disorders in basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language — including reading, writing, and spelling.

As of 2024–2025, 26,080 students in Wisconsin were identified under the SLD category, representing 20.56% of all students with IEPs. It is the most common disability category in the state.

A medical or private evaluation that labels your child as "dyslexic" does not automatically create an SLD determination under PI 11. The school must conduct its own educational evaluation to determine whether the condition creates an educational impairment — meaning it significantly affects the child's access to and progress in the general education curriculum. The Act 20 screener data, intervention records, and classroom performance data all become evidence in that determination.

What a Reading Intervention IEP Looks Like in Wisconsin

If your child is found eligible under the SLD category, the IEP must include:

• Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) for reading — this must be explicit, systematic phonics-based instruction aligned with the science of reading, not generic "reading time"
• Measurable annual goals tied directly to the identified reading deficits, with a clear baseline and target metric
• Progress monitoring at the frequency required by the PRP (at minimum weekly for students on a Personal Reading Plan)
• Accommodations that allow the student to access content while reading skills are being built — such as text-to-speech, audiobooks, or extended time

If the school offers only a 504 plan after an Act 20 flag, ask whether the child has been formally evaluated for SLD. A 504 plan provides accommodations. It does not provide the Specially Designed Instruction that can actually change a child's reading trajectory. If the child's reading disability is significant enough to require an alternative approach to instruction — not just more time on tests — an IEP is likely the appropriate document.

What to Do in the Next 30 Days

If your child received an Act 20 "at risk" notification and you are concerned it reflects a more significant reading disability:

1. Request the screening data in writing — ask for the aimswebPlus score, percentile, and the specific skill areas flagged (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension)
2. Document your child's current reading level — ask the teacher for current classroom performance data, report card grades, and any progress monitoring from interventions already in place
3. Decide whether to request a formal special education evaluation — you do not need the school's permission; submit a written request, keep a copy, and note the date

If you already have an IEP, request an IEP team meeting to incorporate the PRP into existing goals and services, and ask what changes to Specially Designed Instruction are being made in response to the screener result.

The Wisconsin IEP & 504 Blueprint at specialedstartguide.com/us/wisconsin/iep-guide/ walks through how to use evaluation timelines, write a formal request letter, and understand what an appropriate reading IEP looks like under Wisconsin's PI 11 eligibility criteria.

The Bottom Line

Wisconsin Act 20 created a mandatory early warning system for reading struggles. An "at risk" result is not a verdict — it is a data point. But it is a powerful one. Schools are now required to intervene, and that intervention has to be documented and integrated into any existing IEP.

If your child has been struggling with reading and the Act 20 screener just confirmed what you already suspected, this is the moment to push for a formal evaluation. The 60-day timeline starts the day you submit your written consent — not the day you first asked.

Get the complete toolkit at specialedstartguide.com/us/wisconsin/iep-guide/ for evaluation request templates, PI 11 eligibility plain-language guides, and IEP meeting prep checklists built specifically for Wisconsin families.

See more United States guides →