Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Literacy Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves K–3 bundled literacy materials, cites new state GELDA requirements
Summary
On July 15 the Forsyth County Board approved high‑quality, bundled instructional materials for kindergarten through third grade that the district says align with Georgia’s new Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act (GELDA); staff also reported statewide screening and teacher training metrics and extended some K–3 requirements to K–5 locally.
The Forsyth County Board of Education on July 15 approved a bundled set of high‑quality instructional materials for kindergarten through third grade and heard staff explain how those materials and testing align with new state guidance under the Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act (GELDA).
The decision matters because the changes implement state requirements for screening, teacher training and evidence‑based instructional materials intended to identify students with reading difficulties early and provide tiered interventions.
District presenters summarized state legislation and local reporting. "Starting in 02/2019, Senate Bill 48, which is referred to as the Dyslexia Law..." and later the district reported work implementing the 2023 Georgia Literacy Act, followed by the 2025 Georgia Early Literacy and Dyslexia Act (GELDA). Staff said the district used an approved screener (i‑Ready) for universal screening in grades K–3 last year and that 885 certified staff were trained to administer it. Reported winter‑window results showed roughly 82%–85% of K–3 students at or above benchmark by grade.
Staff described reading supports and screening follow‑ups: 3,179 K–3 students participated in reading interventions last year; 395 of those received additional, teacher‑administered diagnostic tasks; 240 were identified with characteristics of dyslexia in that process. The board heard that the district extended the state’s K–3 teacher training requirement to K–5 certified elementary staff: 218 staff held reading endorsements, 132 had completed the district’s dyslexia endorsement pathway, six completed an International Dyslexia Association (IDA)‑approved program and 1,554 completed the Georgia Learns Literacy Academy modules.
District ELA staff described three instructional shifts in the new state standards—expanded definitions of “text” (including multimedia), literacy practices to support discourse and the reciprocity of reading and writing—and recommended a bundled approach because no single resource met every domain on the state vetting rubric. Staff also said the one‑to‑one diagnostic tasks used for additional screening take about 10 minutes per student and will be administered three times in the coming year.
A motion to approve the literacy high‑quality instructional materials was made by Mr. Usherwood and seconded by Mrs. Hoyes; the board voted unanimously to approve the recommendation.
