IEPs, 504 plans and dyslexia in Texas

The two routes

Two federal laws can obligate a school to act. They are not tiers of the same thing, and the difference determines whether your child receives specialized instruction or only adjustments.

The practical difference in one line: an IEP changes what is taught and how, while a 504 plan changes the conditions around it. A student who needs to be taught to decode needs the first.

IEPs under IDEA

Dyslexia falls under the category of specific learning disability, and a student who qualifies receives an individualized education program. In Texas the committee that writes it is the ARD committee, standing for Admission, Review and Dismissal. You are a member of that committee with equal standing.

A dyslexia IEP should specify at minimum:

• The specific reading program to be used, by name.
• Minutes per session and sessions per week, written as numbers.
• Group size and setting.
• The qualifications of the person delivering the instruction.
• Measurable annual goals with baseline data.
• How progress will be measured and how often it will be reported to you.
• Accommodations, listed separately from the instruction.

Section 504 plans

A 504 plan comes from civil rights law and guarantees access rather than instruction. For a student whose decoding is solid and who mainly needs adjustments, it can be entirely appropriate.

Accommodations commonly included:

• Extended time on tests and assignments.
• Reduced volume of reading or writing where the volume is not the skill being assessed.
• Text to speech, audiobooks and digital texts.
• Notes or recorded lessons provided.
• Oral testing where reading is not the subject being tested.
• Spelling not penalized outside spelling assessments.
• A quieter setting for testing.

The limitation is straightforward. Accommodations make the current situation survivable. They do not teach a student to read, and a plan that contains only accommodations for a student who cannot decode is managing a problem rather than solving it.

What changed in Texas

Texas historically served many students with dyslexia through Section 504 rather than special education. State rules have since moved toward requiring that students suspected of having dyslexia be evaluated under IDEA, so that those who qualify receive an IEP with specialized instruction rather than accommodations alone.

The practical effect for families is that a school should not route a dyslexia concern straight to a 504 plan without an evaluation. If yours does, it is reasonable to request in writing that the student be evaluated for special education eligibility and to ask for the district’s written explanation if it declines.

Rules change, and districts implement them at different speeds. Ask your district to confirm its current process in writing, and check the Texas Dyslexia Handbook, which is the state document districts are required to follow.

What to get in writing

• The program name. Not a category. A name.
• The dosage. Minutes, days per week, group size, all as numbers.
• The provider’s qualifications. Training in the named program specifically.
• Baseline data. Where your child is starting, so progress is measurable rather than asserted.
• The review date. A calendar date, not at the next review.
• The accommodations. Listed separately, so nobody can count them as intervention.

You can request a meeting at any time, you do not have to sign at the table, and you can ask for the draft in advance. Bringing a second adult is normal and helpful.