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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||
| 5 | 2-3.161 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (105 ILCS 5/2-3.161) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 2-3.161. Definition of dyslexia; reading instruction | ||||||
| 8 | advisory group; handbook. | ||||||
| 9 | (a) The State Board of Education shall incorporate, in both | ||||||
| 10 | general education and special education, the following | ||||||
| 11 | definition of dyslexia: | ||||||
| 12 | Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is | ||||||
| 13 | neurobiological in origin.
Dyslexia is characterized by | ||||||
| 14 | difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word
recognition | ||||||
| 15 | and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These | ||||||
| 16 | difficulties
typically result from a deficit in the | ||||||
| 17 | phonological component of language
that is often | ||||||
| 18 | unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the
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| 19 | provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary | ||||||
| 20 | consequences may
include problems in reading comprehension | ||||||
| 21 | and reduced reading experience that
can impede growth of | ||||||
| 22 | vocabulary and background knowledge. | ||||||
| 23 | (b) Subject to specific State appropriation or the | ||||||
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| 1 | availability of private donations, the State Board of Education | ||||||
| 2 | shall establish an advisory group to develop a training module | ||||||
| 3 | or training modules to provide education and professional | ||||||
| 4 | development to teachers, school administrators, and other | ||||||
| 5 | education professionals regarding multi-sensory, systematic, | ||||||
| 6 | and sequential instruction in reading. This advisory group | ||||||
| 7 | shall complete its work before December 15, 2015 and is | ||||||
| 8 | abolished on December 15, 2015. The State Board of Education | ||||||
| 9 | shall reestablish the advisory group abolished on December 15, | ||||||
| 10 | 2015 to complete the abolished group's work. The reestablished | ||||||
| 11 | advisory group shall complete its work before December 31, 2016 | ||||||
| 12 | and is abolished on December 31, 2016. The provisions of this | ||||||
| 13 | subsection (b), other than this sentence, are inoperative after | ||||||
| 14 | December 31, 2016.
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| 15 | (c) The State Board of Education shall develop and maintain | ||||||
| 16 | a handbook to be made available on its Internet website that | ||||||
| 17 | provides guidance for pupils, parents or guardians, and | ||||||
| 18 | teachers on the subject of dyslexia. The handbook shall | ||||||
| 19 | include, but is not limited to: | ||||||
| 20 | (1) guidelines for teachers and parents or guardians on | ||||||
| 21 | how to identify signs of dyslexia; | ||||||
| 22 | (2) a description of educational strategies that have | ||||||
| 23 | been shown to improve the academic performance of pupils | ||||||
| 24 | with dyslexia; and | ||||||
| 25 | (3) a description of resources and services available | ||||||
| 26 | to pupils with dyslexia, parents or guardians of pupils | ||||||
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| 1 | with dyslexia, and teachers. | ||||||
| 2 | The State Board shall review the handbook once every 4 | ||||||
| 3 | years to update, if necessary, the guidelines, educational | ||||||
| 4 | strategies, or resources and services made available in the | ||||||
| 5 | handbook. | ||||||
| 6 | (Source: P.A. 99-65, eff. 7-16-15; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-602, | ||||||
| 7 | eff. 7-22-16; 99-603, eff. 7-22-16; 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)
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| 8 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 9 | becoming law.
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