Analyzing state dyslexia legislation through the lens of oral language: an exploratory study

Recent advocacy efforts have resulted in 49 out of 50 U.S. states passing some form of dyslexia legislation. This legislation may serve as a starting point for educators, clinicians, and parents to advocate for universal oral language screening as well as dyslexia screening. The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate the degree to which oral language skills are already included in existing policies. We used deductive and inductive coding procedures to identify key words related to oral language skills. We then performed document analysis on 156 legislative documents related to dyslexia to describe the following: (a) to what extent states include "language disorder" or other related terms in their descriptions of disorders encompassed by the legislation; (b) to what extent legislation includes keywords related to oral language; and (c) how language keywords are distributed across screening, intervention, preservice preparation, and professional development requirements. Two states include "language disorder" in the scope of dyslexia legislation. An additional eight states have legislation with terms that could encompass a language disorder. Out of the 49 states with dyslexia legislation, 29 include at least one language-related keyword. The most common language keywords found in such legislation were "comprehension" and "vocabulary." Keywords were mentioned across screening, intervention, preservice preparation, and professional development requirements. In many states, existing legislation lays the groundwork for implementing universal oral language skill screening. Further legislation dedicated to universal oral language screening is also necessary to ensure children with language disorders are identified early.