Notification to Parents/Guardians of
Universal Reading & Dyslexia Screening

To the Parents and Guardians of Our Students in Grades Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade,

The Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB538) requires that all Kindergarten through 3rd grade students in
public schools are administered a universal reading screener three times per year to monitor student
progress in foundational literacy skills. Measuring these foundational literacy skills assists teachers
with targeting instruction to meet the needs of individual students no matter their level of reading
proficiency, identifying students who may have a significant reading deficiency, and developing
intervention plans to address any recognized deficits in foundational literacy skills.

Georgia’s Dyslexia Law (SB48) requires that all Kindergarten through 3rd grade students in public
schools are administered a qualified dyslexia screener one time per year. To be clear, this single
screener does not provide a diagnosis of dyslexia. Rather it screens students for characteristics
of dyslexia as it measures a student’s ability to demonstrate phonological awareness, phonemic
decoding efficiency, sight word reading efficiency, rapid automatic naming, and accuracy of word
reading on grade-level text.

Amira is the comprehensive screening tool used by SCCPSS to meet the requirements of both
HB538 as its universal reading screener and SB48 as its qualified dyslexia screener. Communication
regarding the exact day that your child will take the assessment will come directly from your child’s
school.

Following the assessment, you will receive a report of your child’s results on the Amira benchmark
assessment from the school. Should the screener raise concerns about a significant reading
deficiency, including, but not limited to characteristics of dyslexia, an educator from your child’s
school will reach out regarding either the development of an intervention plan or the manner of
continuation for an intervention plan that may already exist.

Should you have any questions regarding the assessment, the requirements of the laws, or your
child’s reading proficiency, please reach out to your child’s school.