When the Connecticut legislature unanimously voted in 2021 to create the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities (ODRD), parents and educators were hopeful. For the first time, the state had a dedicated office charged with making sure teacher preparation programs, among other things, actuall y prepared educators to identify and teach students with dyslexia using proven, research-based methods. Legislators backed this work with more than $2.5 million in funding and clear statutory deadlines. Four years later, the state has little to show for it. Since ODRD’s creation, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) has repeatedly failed to meet nearly every major requirement legislators put in place. Among the tasks required by law: develop compliance measures, create audit procedures, verify that educator preparation programs are meeting the dyslexia-related requirements, and report the results publicly. All of these were due between 2022 and 2025. Nothing around compliance has been completed. Instead of the firm oversight structure the law demands, CSDE has chosen to engage educator preparation programs in “pre-assessment,” surveys, and “reflection” activities that offer no evidence of whether teacher preparation programs are truly preparing future educators to teach students with dyslexia. These activities are not audits. They are not compliance measures. And they cannot verify whether programs are following Connecticut law. Connecticut is now in its fourth year of delay. Why this matters Dyslexia affects roughly one in five children. Research is crystal clear that structured literacy instruction works. Connecticut acknowledged this when designing the statutes that now sit idle. To ensure this actually happens, the law requires CSDE to develop an oversight system that includes compliance measures, audits, and annual verification. Without that system, teacher preparation programs are essentially operating on the honor system. Families have no way to know whether teachers are being properly trained. And students with dyslexia continue to struggle in classrooms staffed by educators who were never taught how to help them. A pattern of excuses instead of action When Decoding Dyslexia–CT (DDCT) raised concerns with the CSDE this fall, the department responded with assurances that everything is on track. But these assurances don’t match the facts. CSDE claims timelines have been consistent. Yet none of the timelines shared with deans, directors, or advisory committees include dates for creating compliance measures, setting audit procedures, verifying compliance, or publishing required reports. The department now states that compliance measures will be released in January 2026. This is the first time DDCT or many stakeholders have heard that date. It does not appear anywhere in public meeting minutes, advisory committee discussions, or the documents produced under multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. CSDE further argues that delays were caused by FOI requests from DDCT. But those requests came years after the state hired a full-time employee to lead this work, and they were processed within a typical two-month timeframe. If searching for documents that should already have existed slowed progress, that only highlights how little groundwork had been laid. What we know from CSDE’s own records Documents obtained internally and through freedom of information requests show that: As early as November 2023, concerns were raised inside CSDE about the lack of progress on compliance and audit development. A work plan to create these tools was drafted, yet never executed. Contracts intended to support this work were amended to delay deadlines, shifting emphasis toward “capacity building” rather than compliance. A survey was originally communicated as the audit tool until pushback forced CSDE to rebrand it as a “pre-assessment.” In short, CSDE has substituted workshops and self-reflection activities for the legally required oversight system. Connecticut’s teacher preparation programs are now being asked to “plan and implement” curriculum changes without being given the compliance frameworks that will eventually be used to evaluate them. This is like asking districts to build a school without a blueprint and promising to send one later. The result is predictable: confusion, inconsistency, and no accountability. What needs to happen now The solution is not more surveys, more reflection activities, or more vague promises. Connecticut must: Reassign responsibility for this work to experts who understand the intricacies and who were responsible for creating the recommendations that led to the law in the first place—the Dyslexia Task Force and the broader dyslexia community. Charge the task force to immediately complete the compliance measures and audit procedures required by law. Restore transparency by providing stakeholders with clear, public timelines that include statutory deliverables. Conduct the long-overdue audits so that Connecticut finally knows whether teacher preparation programs are preparing educators to meet the needs of students with dyslexia. Families have been patient. Their children cannot be. Connecticut made promises to students with dyslexia and the families who have advocated tirelessly on their behalf. The legislature committed the CSDE to oversight, accountability, and evidence-based teacher preparation. Four years later, none of that has materialized. The families of Connecticut do not want conflict. We want competence. We want transparency. We want a state that honors both its laws and its children. The state must act now. Allison Quirion is the founder of Decoding Dyslexia-CT ...read more read less