Texas: 600+% increase in dyslexia in 6 yrs with 100K kids waiting for Dx; MORE ROBUST TESTING
- The end of childhood
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Jan 29, 2026, KXAN, Austin, TX: Texas dyslexic students in special ed surges more than 600%, report says
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A massive increase in the number of students with dyslexia within Texas special education programs is one of the stories coming out of the 2025 Texas Education Agency (TEA) annual report released Wednesday.
The number of students with dyslexia in special education surged more than 600% in six years.
During timed cold and hot reads of stories, KXAN watched as Gloria Ruston, a dyslexia teacher for the Hays Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD), worked with students with dyslexia. . . .
She is one of the 26 dyslexia therapists with HCISD.
It’s a position in demand statewide. The TEA report showed a 600+ percent increase in the number of dyslexia students in special education classrooms across a six-year period, with just more than 212,000 in the 2024-25 school year.
The TEA said statewide classrooms are working to keep up.
“As you have more students identified, and you are providing those evidence-based programs, you obviously have to train and get those individuals, you know, equipped to then teach those students,” TEA Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Special Populations and Student Supports Kristin McGuire said.
Texas HB 3928 passed in 2023 and made special education now cover dyslexia in the Lone Star State. Districts get funding per dyslexic student in the program, meaning more opportunities for help. That accounts for the astronomical increase of kids in the program.
But overall, there’s still about 100,000 more kids diagnosed with dyslexia in Texas compared to six years ago. Educators agree it’s not that there’s something in the water, it is that testing is more robust.
“Prior to our intentional screening it would be more of a teacher coming forward and saying this student is in need of an assessment or a parent saying, ‘I think my child is struggling we need to assess them,'” Debbie Brown, director of Academic Support for HCISD, said. . . .
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