For years, Texas’ public education system was notorious for failing students with disabilities — including those with dyslexia. The U.S. Department of Education, responding to a Houston Chronicle investigation, found in 2018 that Texas had effectively capped the number of students receiving special education services, denying countless children an education to which they were legally entitled.
It’s taken several years and continued federal oversight, but the state has seen steady growth in the number of students identified as dyslexic, resulting in more than 100,000 new students receiving special education services.
State data shows consistent progress across Texas in serving students with dyslexia, though the increase in identifications hasn’t been consistent in all districts.
State on the rise: Texas was once on the forefront of serving students with dyslexia, passing a first-in-the-nation law in 1985 that required public schools to test students for dyslexia.
But over the years, the state lost that momentum and hundreds of thousands of students with dyslexia fell through the cracks.
In the past decade, Texas has reinvested in identifying students with dyslexia under public and federal pressure. During that time, the number of identified students has grown from about 125,000 to nearly 330,000.
An uneven improvement: Within the Greater Houston area, the growth in students with dyslexia receiving support hasn’t been equally shared among the region’s largest districts — though low growth isn’t necessarily a troubling sign.
Over the past five years, some districts have seen increases mirroring trends across the state, including Houston, Katy and Klein ISDs.
Trends in other districts have been relatively flat or declining, though some districts were already identifying students with dyslexia at average or above-average rates. Aldine and Pasadena, for example, both reported about 6 percent of students receiving support for dyslexia, in line with state averages.
See your district: For more specific information about how many students have been identified as having dyslexia in each of Texas’ 1,200 public school districts, as well as what percentage of students that includes, search our database here.
What comes next: Just because a student has been identified as dyslexic doesn’t mean they’re getting everything they need to succeed in school. Families across Texas have reported difficulty securing services for dyslexia, as school districts struggle to hire and retain staff members to serve students.
The Texas Legislature took steps in 2023 to help smooth the process of delivering high-quality support to students with dyslexia, adopting a bipartisan bill requiring changes to the state’s Dyslexia Handbook. They include mandating the adoption of individualized education programs, which outline clear academic goals and instruction plans, for students with dyslexia. The handbook also now sets specific qualifications and training requirements for staff helping students with dyslexia.
However, these changes also come at the cost of school districts already struggling to pay for special education programs. Whether these adjustments will create lasting improvements is yet to be determined.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
