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LaGrange resident and State Board of Education member Helen Rice was recently recognized by the International Dyslexia Association with the Leadership in Literacy Award for her work on dyslexia in the state.

Rice has been instrumental in keeping dyslexia at the forefront in the state, working to ensure that SB48 and literacy legislation in Georgia gets the attention it needs to help students across the state.

Rice represents LaGrange in the Georgia State Board of Education Third District. Since the passage of SB48 in 2019, which provided dyslexia testing for pre-kindergarten through second-grade students, she has invested time and effort in learning about dyslexia and its effect on education.

Now a resident of Troup County, Rice is a native of Dooly County and served as an English teacher in Hall County.

Rice worked on the Georgia Dyslexia Handbook and convened a task force to provide professional insights to the DOE on the formation of the State Board Rule on Screening for the Characteristics of Dyslexia. She also served on the Georgia Dyslexia Task Force, which convened in late 2022 for six months to update the Georgia Dyslexia Handbook and guidance on screening. 

“When I first came on the board,  I met three people in the audience at that board meeting who worked with Georgia Decoding Dyslexia. They asked if they could have a conversation with me because they had children who were dyslexic. Being a teacher, I’ve always had some concerns about kids with reading difficulties.”

Rice spent about 13 years with the group learning what is needed to help kids with dyslexia and screeners that are effective.

“When you have the right screener with the right resources, that can help a student read,” Rice said.

Rice said the 2019 law ensures that every child in our state by this year would be tested for characteristics of dyslexia. 

“[Governor Kemp] saw the importance of learning why kids can’t read. There was a reason. They’re smart, but for some reason, that processing, that neurological processing, is a little bit different for them,” Rice said.

Rice said the screening will help flag kids to get the help they need.

She said another bill, House Bill 538, which is structured literacy, uses phonics, phonemic awareness, spelling, vocabulary, and fluency in a consistent order. 

“That’s the first time in our state that everybody in our districts all across Georgia will be aligned to do this. It’s going to make a difference because every child learns to read that way,” Rice said.