Jeanne Jeup, the co-founder of IMSE, called the news a “great new partnership.” Jeup added that she’s “thrilled to start working more closely with Oregon schools and getting to know the administrators and teachers in that state.”

“Over the last 20 years we’ve seen really exciting success in schools applying our Orton-Gillingham approach,” Jeup said. “We’ve worked with schools focusing on both intervention and prevention strategies, including some of the largest districts in the country, which often have a complex problem to solve.”

IMSE is currently one of five approved vendors for dyslexia-related training opportunities, according to Carrie Thomas Beck, the Dyslexia Specialist for the Oregon Department of Education.

Beck said each approved vendor went through a rigorous evaluation process that included providing powerpoint presentations, outlines, agendas, handouts and other information that showed a vendor would be able to meet Oregon’s requirements for dyslexia training opportunities, including alignment with International Dyslexia Association Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading.

“They are really rigorous standards,” Beck said.

Gulley and her partner picked Portland, Oregon, as their next home after deciding to leave Texas — where Gulley was a dyslexia therapist for a school district outside Dallas.

When moving to the West Coast last year, Gulley was aware that Oregon was in the process of changing its laws to require teacher training in the area of dyslexia. The laws also required the Department of Education to develop a plan to ensure every kindergarten public school student would be screened for risk factors of dyslexia.

The legislation — Senate Bill 612 — went into effect in July 2015 and also required the state to hire a dyslexia specialist to provide school districts with support and resources that are necessary to assist students with dyslexia and their families. That specialist was Beck, who was hired in January 2016.

Gulley originally reached out to Beck after moving to Portland, and, after striking up a conversation, learned the state was looking for official vendors for dyslexia-related training opportunities. That led to IMSE applying, and, after a several-month process, IMSE was officially approved this summer.

“It’s such a big deal,” Gulley said. “It’s just a really, really proud moment that shows we are really successful at what we do.”

The Oregon Department of Education oversees the education of more than 560,000 students in the state’s public K-12 education system, according to its website.

Watch this video to learn about The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education and the work they do to bring practical, multi-sensory, structured professional development in literacy to all teachers.