NC Dyslexia Laws

Statutes, DPI guidance, and proposed legislation — for parents, teachers, and DDNC advocates.

Current Mandates

Official NC statutes and session laws currently enforced in North Carolina.

  • G.S. 115C-83.12 — Read to Achieve — Starting with the 2023-2024 school year, NC public schools are banned from using the three-cueing system or any curriculum that relies primarily on visual memory to teach reading t
  • G.S. 115C-83.2 — Read to Achieve — This law sets out the core goals of North Carolina's Read to Achieve program: find reading difficulties early, provide the right help to students who struggle, keep parents informe
  • G.S. 115C-83.3 — Read to Achieve — This section defines the key terms used in North Carolina's Read to Achieve law, including what counts as reading proficiency, what Science of Reading means, and what tools like In
  • G.S. 115C-83.5 — Read to Achieve — Every child entering kindergarten must receive a developmental screening within 30 days and a full kindergarten entry assessment within 60 days of starting school. The assessment c
  • G.S. 115C-83.6 — Read to Achieve — Starting with the 2022-2023 school year, every kindergarten through third grade student in North Carolina must be given valid, reliable reading assessments, and any student who str
  • G.S. 115C-83.7 — Read to Achieve — North Carolina law requires that third graders who do not show reading proficiency on a state-approved test must be held back (retained), but certain students may qualify for a 'go
  • G.S. 115C-83.8 — Read to Achieve — When a third-grader is held back for not reading at grade level, the school must place that student with a skilled reading teacher for at least 90 minutes of daily, uninterrupted S
  • G.S. 115C-83.9 — Read to Achieve — Schools must notify parents in writing — promptly — any time a K-3 student is struggling with reading or reading below grade level, and must explain in writing why a child is being
  • SL 2017-127 (HB 149) — Foundational Dyslexia Definition — This 2017 law requires North Carolina's State Board of Education to officially define dyslexia in its special education policies and to make professional development and parent inf
  • SL 2021-8 (SB 387) — Excellent Public Schools Act (Read to Achieve overhaul) — The Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021 overhauled North Carolina's Read to Achieve program by requiring all K-3 reading instruction, teacher training, and educator preparation pr
  • G.S. 115C-83.4 — Read to Achieve — The State Board of Education is required to create, carry out, and regularly update a comprehensive plan to improve reading in public schools, based on research-proven instructiona
  • G.S. 115C-83.6A — Read to Achieve — Every school district must submit a yearly plan to the NC Department of Public Instruction describing how it will run literacy interventions, including reading camps, and that plan
  • G.S. 115C-83.7A — Read to Achieve — This law sets up summer reading camps for struggling readers and creates financial incentives for high-performing teachers to lead them. Local school districts must run camps with
  • G.S. 115C-12 — Powers and Duties of the State Board (incl. dyslexia screening review at (39b)) — This statute defines the broad powers and duties of the NC State Board of Education, covering everything from financial oversight and teacher salaries to school accountability repo
  • G.S. 115C-83.10 — Read to Achieve — Every local school district must collect and publish detailed data each year on how third graders are reading, who was held back, who attended reading camp, and how many students h
  • G.S. 115C-83.11 — Read to Achieve — Third-grade students who already read at grade level and second-grade students developing on track may attend a summer reading camp, but their families can be charged a fee of up t
  • G.S. 115C-83.15 — Read to Achieve — This law tells the State Board of Education how to calculate and assign letter grades (A–F) to every public school in North Carolina based on student test scores (80%) and student
  • G.S. 115C-83.16 — Read to Achieve — This statute requires North Carolina's State Board of Education to use school performance scores and grades to meet federal ESSA requirements for annually rating schools. For K-8 s
  • G.S. 115C-83.1 — Read to Achieve — This statute sets North Carolina's overall reading goal: every student should be reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade, and should keep improving so they can ha

DPI Guidance

NC Department of Public Instruction interpretation and recommended practices. Not binding law.

Advocacy Corner — Proposed Legislation

Bills not yet enacted. For advocacy tracking only.