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Stewartville schools report first-year REED Act rollout, expand dyslexia screening plans
Summary
Stewartville reported completion of phase 1 REED Act training for 83 educators, routine FastBridge benchmark screening K–3 and introduction of K–1 dyslexia screening; district said it will define how to screen grades 4–12 when the state expands requirements.
Stewartville Public School District administrators reported progress implementing the REED Act at a board meeting, saying the district completed phase 1 training for 83 educators and began new dyslexia screening for early grades.
"We have 83 individuals who have started training," Maggie Mayne, director of curriculum and instruction, told the board, describing the Core OLA nine-module program. Mayne said the district completed five modules this year and thanked the board for adding five work days to the calendar to allow teacher collaboration.
Mayne said the district used FastBridge benchmark testing for universal screening this year for grades K–3 and added a dyslexia screening element: K–1 students took the nonsense word subtest, and second- and third-grade students were screened selectively using a gated approach based on benchmark indicators. "We didn't test everybody for dyslexia unless there was an indicator of their earlier screening," she said.
The state requirement will expand screening next year, Mayne said, noting the district must identify an appropriate screener for grades 4–12 and plan how to provide interventions. "We haven't defined what that looks like for our district quite yet," she said, adding staff will work on intervention plans for students who read below grade level.
Board members asked how new teachers will meet the Core OLA requirement if they arrive from other districts; Mayne said the district can continue staff access to the Core OLA course and noted some universities already use the program. She also said some reading-support staff will receive separate, condensed training in year two.
District materials and Mayne's presentation framed the REED Act work as both professional development and a data/reporting obligation: the district must notify families when students score below grade level and outline intervention steps.
The board did not take a vote on implementation details at the meeting; administrators said additional planning and parent communication are scheduled before expanding the program for secondary students.
