BY SENATOR(S) Kolker and Mullica, Amabile, Baisley, Ball, Bright, Carson, Catlin, Cutter, Danielson, Daugherty, Exum, Frizell, Gonzales J., Hinrichsen, Jodeh, Kirkmeyer, Liston, Marchman, Michaelson Jenet, Pelton B., Pelton R., Rich, Roberts, Rodriguez, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman, Winter F., Coleman;
also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Hamrick and Soper, Bacon, Bird, Boesenecker, Brown, Caldwell, Camacho, Carter, Duran, English, Froelich, Garcia Sander, Gilchrist, Gonzalez R., Jackson, Joseph, Keltie, Lindsay, Lukens, Mabrey, Martinez, Mauro, McCormick, Paschal, Phillips, Pugliese, Rutinel, Rydin, Sirota, Smith, Stewart K., Stewart R., Velasco, Zokaie, McCluskie.
Concerning targeted measures to encourage early elementary academic success, and, in connection therewith, updating methods for assessing certain skills, identifying struggling readers, and supporting students with dyslexia.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(a) Early identification and targeted intervention for students showing signs of dyslexia are vital to ensure academic success and prevent the long-term consequences of poor reading skills. Dyslexia, which affects approximately one in 5 individuals, according to data from the Yale center for dyslexia and creativity, is among the most common learning disabilities. Without strategic, evidence-based support, students with dyslexic traits often fall behind, hindering their academic growth, limiting future employment prospects, and increasing the risk of negative socioeconomic outcomes.
(b) While the "Colorado READ Act" has improved early literacy assessment statewide, persistent gaps remain in pinpointing and assisting students who exhibit specific deficits in phonemic awareness, word decoding, and spelling. Many children pass overall literacy tests, yet harbor hidden reading struggles that compound over time.
(c) Pursuant to section 22-7-1205, Colorado Revised Statutes, local education providers currently rely on state board-approved interim reading assessments to identify students with significant reading deficiencies. Approved assessments yield a composite test score that may mask deficits in key sub-skills.
(d) In contrast, universal dyslexia screening pinpoints precisely where a learner may struggle. Universal dyslexia screeners measure reading competency skills such as phonological awareness, sound-symbol knowledge, rapid naming, word decoding, and encoding, reflecting proven best practices. Requiring each local education provider to adopt or create a plan for universal dyslexia screening in kindergarten through third grade helps ensure that every child, especially those at the most risk, receives timely, targeted help.
(e) While the Colorado department of education regularly updates its approved reading assessments, requiring future evaluations to include rigorous standards for identifying students with dyslexic traits promotes validity and consistency over time.
(f) Because strong family engagement is critical to reading intervention success, schools must also inform parents and guardians if universal dyslexia screening results suggest dyslexia risk factors, provide a clear explanation of findings, and propose practical ways to support reading progress at home. These steps mirror successful protocols in other states in which early, transparent collaboration between educators and families has significantly improved outcomes. Although teachers do not formally diagnose dyslexia, they can detect when specialized support is warranted, helping avert a cycle of frustration and academic decline.
(2) The general assembly finds, therefore, that to support the mission of the "Colorado READ Act", it is essential to highlight dyslexia risk factors early, offer data-driven remediation, and engage families as partners, ensuring every Colorado child can read proficiently and achieve success in school and beyond.
SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1203, amend (1); and add (1.5), (3.5), (3.7), (7.6), (7.7), (9.5), (9.7), (9.9), (10.5), (10.6), (18), and (19) as follows:
22-7-1203. Definitions. As used in this part 12, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Body of evidence" means a collection of information about a student's academic performance which, when considered in its entirety, documents the level of a student's academic performance. A body of evidence, at a minimum, shallmust include scores on formative or interim assessments and work that a student independently produces in a classroom, including, but not limited to, the school readiness assessments adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1004 (2)(a). A body of evidence may include scores on summative assessments if a local education provider decides that summative assessments are appropriate and useful in measuring students' literacy skills. For the purposes of identifying students with significant reading deficiencies, "body of evidence" may include the additional elements identified in section 22-7-1205 (1)(b)(II).
(1.5) "Characteristics of dyslexia" means commonly accepted features of dyslexia, including difficulty with phonological processing, lack of oral reading fluency, difficulty with spelling, and difficulty with rapid naming.
(3.5) "Dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and word-decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
(3.7) "Encoding" means the process of translating spoken sounds into written letters that reflects an understanding of sound-symbol relationships and conventional spelling patterns.
(7.6) "Oral reading fluency" means the ability to read text orally with accuracy, expression, and at an appropriate rate in order to facilitate reading comprehension.
(7.7) "Oral skills" means aptitude with expressive and receptive oral language, including vocabulary, syntax, language comprehension, oral reading fluency, and comprehension.
(9.5) "Phonemic awareness" means the ability to segment a word into the word's component sounds, or phonemes.
(9.7) "Phonics" means explicit and systematic instruction in sound-symbol recognition that teaches the relationships between the letters and letter patterns of written language and the individual sounds of spoken language. Phonics instruction includes the development of alphabetic knowledge, word-decoding skills, and encoding skills, supporting accurate and automatic word recognition and oral reading fluency.
(9.9) "Phonological processing" means the ability to recognize and manipulate a word's component sounds through phonological awareness, phonological memory, and phonological retrieval or rapid naming.
(10.5) "Reading competency skill" means a student meets the student's grade level expectations in reading skills as adopted by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1209 (1)(a).
(10.6) "Reading comprehension" means the ability to understand and interpret written language.
(18) "Vocabulary development" means the process of learning new words and their meanings.
(19) "Word decoding" means the ability to accurately and efficiently translate written letters and letter patterns into their corresponding sounds in spoken language, using knowledge of sound-symbol relationships.
SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1205, amend (1)(b), (2)(b)(II), (2)(b)(IV), and (2)(b)(V) as follows:
22-7-1205. Reading competency - assessments - READ plan creation - parental involvement. (1) (b) (I) If a teacher finds, based on a student's scores on the approved reading assessments, that the student may have a significant reading deficiency, the teacher shall administer to the student one or more diagnostic assessments within sixty days after the previous assessment to determine the student's specific reading skill deficiencies. Each local education provider shall select from the list of approved assessments adopted by rule of the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1209 (1) those assessments it uses to determine a student's specific reading skill deficiencies. A local education provider may choose to use other diagnostic reading assessments in addition to but not in lieu of the approved assessments.
(II) A teacher may conclude that a student has a significant reading deficiency if the student's body of evidence supports the conclusion. A student's body of evidence for the purposes of identifying the student as having a significant reading deficiency may include:
(A) Results from various formal and informal diagnostic assessments, as developmentally appropriate for the student's grade level, in the areas of phonological and phonemic awareness, sound-symbol recognition, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, rapid naming, encoding, and oral reading fluency;
(B) Results from additional diagnostic assessments for identifying relevant literacy skill weaknesses, as developmentally appropriate for the student's grade level, that may include oral language, vocabulary, language comprehension, and reading comprehension;
(C) Direct or indirect observational assessments from teachers and parents, as available, that may contribute to a fuller understanding of a student's academic performance or scores;
(D) Relevant student demographic information, English language proficiency, or language spoken at home;
(E) The student's educational and developmental history, including access to preschool education; and
(F) Consideration of potential errors in assessment, including administration and scoring.
(2) (b) The teacher and the other personnel shall communicate and discuss with the parent the following information:
(II) The nature of the student's significant reading deficiency, including a clear explanation of what the significant reading deficiency is, whether or not the significant reading deficiency may include characteristics of dyslexia, and the basis upon which the teacher identified the significant reading deficiency;
(IV) Reading skills are critical to success in school. Under state law, the student qualifies for and the local education provider is required to provide targeted, scientifically based or evidence-based interventions to remediate the student's specific, diagnosedidentified reading skill deficiencies, which interventions are designed to enable the student to achieve reading competency and attain the skills necessary to achieve the state's academic achievement goals.
(V) The student's READ plan will include targeted, scientifically based or evidence-based intervention instruction to address and remediate the student's specific, diagnosedidentified reading skill deficiencies;
SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1208, add (9) as follows:
22-7-1208. Local education providers - procedures - plans - training - rules. (9) (a) By the beginning of the 2027-28 school year, a local education provider shall:
(I) Implement a universal dyslexia screener that is included in an interim assessment recommended pursuant to section 22-7-1209 (2.5) or that is administered separately from an interim assessment, but in all cases the universal dyslexia screener must meet the criteria specified in section 22-7-1209 (2.5)(a) for recommended reading assessments that include a universal dyslexia screener; or
(II) Create auniversal dyslexia screening process for identifying students who display characteristics of dyslexia. A process created pursuant to this subsection (9)(a)(II) must include, but is not limited to, universal screening of kindergarten, first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade students on reading competency skills to identify risk factors for dyslexia using interim, diagnostic, and various formal and informal assessments, including rapid automatized naming, as appropriate for each grade level. Kindergarten risk factors include, but are not limited to, weaknesses in phonological awareness, sound-symbol recognition, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, and oral language skills. First-grade risk factors include, but are not limited to, weaknesses in phonological awareness, sound-symbol recognition, word decoding, encoding, and oral reading fluency. Second-grade and third-grade risk factors include, but are not limited to, weaknesses in word decoding, encoding, oral reading fluency, and vocabulary skills.
(b) The universal dyslexia screener or universal dyslexia screening process for identifying students who display characteristics of dyslexia that is implemented or created pursuant to subsection (9)(a) of this section must be given to students enrolled in kindergarten during the last ninety days of the school year and be given to students enrolled in the first, second, and third grades during the first ninety days of the school year.
(c) If the universal dyslexia screener or universal dyslexia screening process for identifying students who display characteristics of dyslexia that is implemented or created pursuant to subsection (9)(a) of this section identifies risk factors for dyslexia, a teacher shall administer one or more diagnostic assessments pursuant to section 22-7-1205 (1)(b) and proceed with READ plan implementation or alternative procedures as required pursuant to sections 22-7-1205 and 22-7-1206.
SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1209, amend (1)(a), (2)(a)(I), (3) introductory portion, (3)(b), and (8)(c)(I); and add (2.5) as follows:
22-7-1209. State board - rules - department - duties. (1) The state board shall promulgate rules in accordance with the "State Administrative Procedure Act", article 4 of title 24, as necessary to implement the provisions of this part 12, which rules must include, but need not be limited to:
(a) The minimum reading competency skill levels in the areas of phonemic awareness; phonics; vocabulary development; reading fluency, includingoral skills, including oral reading fluency; encoding; word decoding; and reading comprehension for kindergarten and first, second, and third grades. The state board shall base the minimum skill levels for second and third grades primarily on scores attained on the assessments approved by the state board pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section. The state board shall describe the minimum skill levels for students as they complete kindergarten and first grade using matrices of appropriate indicators, which indicators may include measures of students' social and emotional development, physical development, language and comprehension development, and cognition and general knowledge. The state board shall adopt the rules described in this subsection (1)(a) by March 31, 2013. The state board shall review the minimum reading competency skill levels on or before July 1, 2019, and every four years thereafter and update them as necessary.
(2) (a) (I) Using the procedure developed pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, the department shall review and recommend to the state board reading assessments, including interim, summative, and diagnostic assessments, for kindergarten and first, second, and third grades that, at a minimum, meet the criteria specified in subsection (2)(a)(II)subsections (2)(a)(II) and (2.5) of this section. Following action by the state board to approve reading assessments pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section, the department shall create a list of the approved reading assessments for kindergarten and first, second, and third grades for use by local education providers. The department shall update the list of approved reading assessments on or before July 1, 2019, and every four years thereafter as necessary. The department shall work with the approved assessment publishers to better align, to the extent practicable, the minimum reading competency levels for third grade, which are based on the scores attained on the approved assessments, with the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards for third-grade reading adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1005.
(2.5) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (2)(a)(II) of this section, during the department's required review of assessments pursuant to this section, the department may recommend interim assessments that include a universal dyslexia screener. Each of the recommended interim assessments must be developmentally appropriate, economical, and efficient to administer. Each recommended interim assessment that includes a universal dyslexia screener must meet the following criteria:
(a) In the identification of students who are at risk of reading difficulties:
(I) Accurately and reliably identify students who are at risk of reading failure or reading disorders; and
(II) Directly measure reading competency skills, including, but not limited to:
(A) Phonological and phonemic awareness;
(B) The alphabetic principle;
(C) Encoding and word-decoding skills;
(D) Letter naming;
(E) Oral reading fluency; and
(F) Rapid automatized naming;
(b) Meet validity and reliability standards by:
(I) Using norm-referenced and criterion-based scores that include, at a minimum:
(A) Validity and reliability measures for grade-level, skill-specific subtests;
(B) Grade-level, skill-specific validity measures, including concurrent validity, predictive validity, and classification accuracy;
(C) Grade-level reliability measures, including test-retest reliability, interrater reliability if the assessment is not computer adaptive, and alternate form reliability; and
(D) Evidence that the assessment is normed and validated using a contemporary multicultural and multilanguage sample of students, with outcome data for students whose home language is a language other than English, as well as students who are native English speakers;
(II) Ensuring the assessment includes a publicly available technical manual; and
(III) Ensuring the publicly available technical manual includes cutoff points for risk, based on research correlating specific skill scores at designated time points with future reading outcomes;
(c) Encourage data-driven instructional decision making by:
(I) Providing universal screening assessment results that allow teachers to determine whether a student is below research-based cutoff points for risk on a composite score and individual subtests;
(II) Permitting the use of subtest scores and risk cutoff points in the selection of diagnostic or formative assessments to further evaluate reading competency skills and inform differentiated instruction; and
(III) Enabling educators to useuniversal screening assessment data to guide subsequent assessment and instructional decisions;
(d) Promote efficient administration and follow-up by:
(I) Minimizing student assessment time;
(II) Providing reliable alternate forms for progress monitoring;
(III) Including timed subtests to measure automaticity and fluency;
(IV) Avoiding redundancy in administration and scoring; and
(V) Supplying guidance and resources for educators regarding how to:
(A) Administer the assessment, interpret results, and explain results to families, including in students' primary languages; and
(B) Determine further educational strategies, assessments, diagnostics, and potential interventions that are specific to each type of student result that may be effective for the specific needs of an individual student and that reflect a tiered interventions model aligned with the multi-tiered systems of supports.
(3) The department shall develop and implement a procedure for identifying the reading assessments it recommends to the state board for the approved list of reading assessments described in subsection (2)(a)subsections (2)(a) and (2.5) of this section and for creating the advisory lists of instructional programming and professional development programs described in subsections (2)(b) and (2)(c) of this section. At a minimum, the procedure must include:
(b) Evaluating the assessments, instructional programming, and professional development programs that the department identifies or receives, which evaluation is based on the criteria specified in subsection (2)subsections (2) and (2.5) of this section and any additional criteria the state board may adopt by rule. The department may contract with an independent, third-party evaluator approved by the state board to evaluate the materials. The department shall recommend to the state board the reading assessments that meet the requirements specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2)subsections (2)(a) and (2.5) of this section.
(8) (c) The multi-year evaluation of the implementation of this part 12 must include:
(I) Review of the approved reading assessments and the items included on the advisory lists of instructional programming in reading and supporting technologies and of professional development programs to ensure that they meet the requirements specified in subsection (2)subsections (2) and (2.5) of this section and a review of the processes by which the department identifies assessments, instructional programming in reading, and professional development programs for inclusion on the lists;
SECTION 6. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-20.5-102, amend (3) as follows:
22-20.5-102. Definitions. As used in this article 20.5, unless the context otherwise requires:
(3) "Dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate andor fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decodingword-decoding abilities, which difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. The secondary consequences of dyslexia may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that may impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
SECTION 7. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.
Signed By: James Rashad Coleman, Sr., President of the Senate
Signed By: Julie McCluskie, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Signed By: Esther van Mourik, Secretary of the Senate
Signed By: Vanessa Reilly, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives
Signed By: Jared S. Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado