MN Rules & Statutes

MN Administrative Rules

Minnesota ELA Academic Standards and Teacher Standards:

MN Administrative Rules for qualifying for an IEP:

  • Minnesota Administrative Rule 3525.1341 follows the Federal IDEA law and outlines the qualifying criteria for eligibility under SLD. Note that a child can qualify in two ways  — either from a 1.75 standard deviation below the mean (see Subp. 2. C) or from an inadequate rate of progress (see Subp. 2. D). A child must meet criteria in Subp. 2. A, B, and C or A, B, and D.
  • Minnesota Administrative Rule 3525.1354 “Team Override on Eligibility Decisions”.
  • Chapter 3525 outlines rules for “Children with a Disability”

Statutes

125A.01 defines dyslexia.

MN Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act Replaces the Read Well by Third Grade, legislation signed 2023.

120B.12 outlines READ Act Goal and Interventions. This includes the Local Literacy Plan that every school district must develop and post on its website. A district must administer a reading screener to students in kindergarten through grade 3 within the first six weeks of the school year and again within the last six weeks of the school year. Schools, at least biannually after administering each screener, must give the parent of each student who is not reading at or above grade level timely information.

125A.56, subdivision 1 describes alternate instruction to be provided to a child not reading at grade level. If a child does not respond well to intervention, see MN Rule 3525.1341 listed in the section below for IEP qualification guidelines.

122A.06 subdivision 4  defines terms for phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.

122A.092 Teacher preparation programs must include instruction on dyslexia and evidenced-based best practices in reading.

120B.122 MDE employed Dyslexia Specialist

120A Minnesota’s Education Code

120A.03 The MN Department of Education’s Mission Statement:

“The mission of public education in Minnesota, a system for lifelong learning, is to ensure individual academic achievement, an informed citizenry, and a highly productive work force. This system focuses on the learner, promotes and values diversity, provides participatory decision making, ensures accountability, models democratic principles, creates and sustains a climate for change, provides personalized learning environments, encourages learners to reach their maximum potential, and integrates and coordinates human services for learners. The public schools of this state shall serve the needs of the students by cooperating with the students’ parents and legal guardians to develop the students’ intellectual capabilities and lifework skills in a safe and positive environment. It is part of the department’s mission that within the department’s resources the commissioner shall endeavor to:

(1) prevent the waste or unnecessary spending of public money;

(2) use innovative fiscal and human resource practices to manage the state’s resources and operate the department as efficiently as possible;

(3) coordinate the department’s activities wherever appropriate with the activities of other governmental agencies;

(4) use technology where appropriate to increase agency productivity, improve customer service, increase public access to information about government, and increase public participation in the business of government;

(5) utilize constructive and cooperative labor-management practices to the extent otherwise required by chapters 43A and 179A;

(6) report to the legislature on the performance of agency operations and the accomplishment of agency goals in the agency’s biennial budget according to section 16A.10, subdivision 1; and

(7) recommend to the legislature appropriate changes in law necessary to carry out the mission and improve the performance of the department.” (current as of Jan 2021)

My school doesn’t say dyslexia.

In 2015, the definition of dyslexia was passed into MN Statute 125A.01, Subd 2.

Our school doesn’t have any resources on dyslexia.

A comprehensive guide was developed by MDE with collaboration with Decoding Dyslexia MN called “Navigating the School System when a Child is Struggling with Reading or Dyslexia.”

In 2017, MDE hired a Dyslexia Specialist to provide technical assistance for dyslexia, serve as the primary source of information, support schools in addressing the needs of students with dyslexia, and increase professional awareness and instructional competencies to meet the needs of these students (MN Statute 120B.122).

In 2023 MDE hired a Literacy Specialist (MN Statute 120B.12, Subd. 7d) to provide support to districts implementing the Read Act and coordinate duties assigned to the department under the Read Act. They stated a district must employ, contract, or be supporting a specialist through the process to become a literacy lead by August 30, 2025 (MN Statute 120B.12, Subd. 6a).

How are schools identifying and serving students that have characteristics of dyslexia?

MN Statute 120B.12, Subd. 2, states that twice per year, each school district must screen every student enrolled in K-3, including multilingual learners and students receiving special education services, for mastery of foundational reading skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, oral language, and for characteristics of dyslexia as measured by a screening tool approved by MDE. The screening for characteristics of dyslexia may be integrated with universal screening for mastery of foundational skills and oral language. A district must submit data on student performance in K-3 in the annual local literacy plan submission due on June 15. Students identified​ ​must​ ​be​ ​provided with alternative instruction under MN Statute 125A.56 Subd. 1, that is multi-sensory, systematic, sequential, cumulative, and explicit.

MN Statute 120B.12, Subd 3b, was changed to state that a “district or charter school is strongly encouraged to provide a Personal Learning Plan for a student who is unable to demonstrate grade-level proficiency, as measured by the statewide reading assessment in grade 3 or a screener identified by the Department of Education under section 120B.123. and should be developed in consultation with the student’s parent or guardian. The personal learning plan must include targeted instruction that is evidence-based and ongoing progress monitoring, and address knowledge gaps and skill deficiencies through strategies such as specific exercises and practices during and outside of the regular school day, group interventions, periodic assessments or screeners. The district or charter school must determine the format of the personal learning plan in collaboration with the student’s educators and other appropriate professionals. The school must develop the learning plan in consultation with the student’s parent or guardian, and reasonable timelines.”

My school wants to stop reading intervention since my child is past 3rd grade.

In 2023, The READ Act replaced the “Read Well by 3rd Grade.” MN Statute 120B.12, Subd 3, now states that “if a student does not read at or above grade level by the end of the current school year, the district must continue to provide reading intervention until the student reads at grade level.” This is for each and every grade level.

How do I know what assessments our elementary school provides to track reading progress?

Each school district must have a Local Literacy Plan posted on its website, per MN Statute 120B.12, Subd. 4a, and explains the school’s plan is “to have every child reading at or above grade level every year beginning in kindergarten and to support multilingual learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals.” If you can’t find the Local Literacy Plan on your district’s website, ask for it.

The following resources are for parents beginning their dyslexia journey. We hope these resources will assist you in advocating for your child and inspire you to take further action on behalf of all children.

  1. Navigating the School System When a Student is Struggling with Reading or Dyslexia by Minnesota Department of Education.
  2. What to do if your child’s school isn’t teaching reading right? by Emily Hanford, APM Reports.
  3. Ways to communicate with your school board using a speech like the Dyslexia Training Institute’s example or a template letter.
  4. Send this resource to your school, Dyslexia in the Classroom – What Every Teacher Needs to Know by International Dyslexia Association.
  5. This letter, by Michael Yudin, clarifies that there is nothing in IDEA that proits the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in the evaluation, eligibility determinations, and IEP documents.
  6. In November 2015, Michael Yudin wrote another letter stating that children with disabilities must be held to high expectations of a State’s academic content standards.

These resources are to help you get started. Your next steps should include checking out our Education Planning Resources tab in the top navigation.