Thank you so much to every person who signed and shared this petition and to the parents who joined us on Thursday at the State Board of Education meeting for the screener vote. Despite an impassioned effort from Board members Helen Rice and Lisa Kinnemore to call for a vote on the original list of four Deal Center-recommended screeners*, and an incredible public testimony from DDGA Education Chair and member of the Literacy Screener Advisory Council, Missy Purcell (Watch her powerful testimony and read her thoughts here!), the majority of the Board instead voted to approve a list of five screeners that includes the Deal Center recommended four, along with iReady, a subpar screener that was not recommended by the Deal Center. We are frustrated for each and every student who will be impacted by this decision. If you live in a district that uses iReady as the universal reading screener, please continue to advocate for change locally. We will help you with resources and information! You can attend your district board meetings and make public comment, send emails to your district superintendent and board, help us continue to raise awareness for this crucial issue in your district, and never give up! 

Please continue to share this petition so that the powers-that-be know where parents stand on this issue. 

Thank you to Dr. Lindee Morgan, Executive Director of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy, for your brilliant leadership throughout this screener vetting process. Thank you to all members of the Deal Center Literacy Screener Advisory Group (LSAG), including our own Decoding Dyslexia Georgia Education Chair, Missy Purcell. We are grateful for your dedication and effort in this exhaustive, rigorous  vetting process that resulted in a full-consensus recommendation of  four top-tier reading screeners for our state. Thank you to Board Members Helen Rice (Third Congressional District), Lisa Kinnemore (Fourth Congressional District), Kenneth Mason (Fifth Congressional District) and Jason Downey (Eighth Congressional District) for your vote to approve only the Deal Center recommendation of the 4 top-tier screeners and to reject subpar screeners. Thank you for putting Georgia’s CHILDREN first. 

We have one more important call to action to share with you! 

Please help us support state Board member Helen Rice, who is up for reappointment on the state Board of Education this year. Helen has been a champion for literacy and for students with dyslexia during her tenure on the Board of Education. Very fittingly, she recently received the Leadership in Literacy Award from the International Dyslexia Association of Georgia. Please let Governor Kemp know how grateful we are that Helen Rice is a member of the State Board of Education and we hope he will reappoint her to represent the Third Congressional District. The phone number to leave this message with the Governor’s office is: (404) 656-1776.  PLEASE take 5 minutes to call and voice your support for Helen Rice’s reappointment. 

THANK YOU! 

*The Deal Center’s LSAG’s four top-tier screeners: Amira ISIP (1), EPS Reading Assistant (2), STAR Universal Reading Suite (3) and mClass with DIBELS 8th Edition (4).