Recently, another state has approved Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia as a recommended dyslexia intervention for use in public schools. Along with Arkansas and parts of Colorado, Alabama is the latest state where the program has been approved.
This is an important distinction because many products are available for literacy education that do not address the specific needs of students with dyslexia. State approval affords school administrators, educators, trustees and especially parents the confidence needed to allow their students to receive this specific assistance. This approval also satisfies a legislative mandate.
Decades of scientific evidence regarding how the brain learns to read and, consequently, how to effectively teach reading, have traditionally not been incorporated systematically in the education system, particularly in the legislation surrounding instructional practices. Several states (and many more in the pipeline) have recently passed initiatives concerning the importance of the “Science of Reading” (SOR) and have mandated that public schools must use a curriculum based in the SOR for both reading instruction and intervention. This is a critical change because although many education systems mandate dyslexia identification and intervention policies, very few of them outline precisely what methods to use.
A key feature of this recent legislation is the thorough vetting of curricula before they are recommended for approval at the state level. Departments of education call for and review very extensive applications from publishers regarding curriculum content and structure, as well as scientific theory and empirical evidence supporting their program’s effectiveness. Members from our Center for Dyslexia completed the required applications and were notified that we were one of only four intervention programs were recommended by Alabama’s Literacy Task Force as meeting requirements of the Alabama Literacy Act – and Take Flight received the highest score of all intervention programs reviewed by the state. Our team will continue to seek state-level approval for Take Flight as legislature is passed in other states and the opportunity arises.
State approval of Take Flight is a reflection of the powerful efficacy of the curriculum and of the commitment to educational excellence by the State of Alabama.
