Allison Quirion

Allison is an experienced paralegal who transitioned into education policy when unable to find answers around why many Connecticut schools lacked appropriate support for students with dyslexia.  She is the founder of Decoding Dyslexia-CT, a grassroots movement committed to advancing education reform initiatives designed to improve literacy achievement outcomes for students at-risk for and identified with dyslexia and empowering individuals to advocate at the district and state levels. Since 2013, under her leadership, Decoding Dyslexia-CT successfully advanced several pieces of legislation committed to providing educators with the preparation and training needed to effectively identify and teach students with dyslexia.

Allison served as Coordinator of Educator Training Initiatives with the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), where she helped to shape, manage, and bring to closure key initiatives designed to positively impact global educator training and credentialing practices.  Initiatives included the refinement of the Knowledge and Practice Standards (KPS) for Teachers of Reading; trademarking of the term “Structured Literacy”; the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI) governance structure, certification and alternate route pathways; and the IDA Program Accreditation framework and process.

In 2019, Allison was appointed to serve as Co-Chair for the Task Force to Analyze the Implementation of Laws Governing Dyslexia Instruction and Training.  Her work on this Task Force helped to identify implementation shortcomings due in part to the lack of a standards-based compliance monitoring framework.  In 2021, Task Force recommendations are being brought forward in Connecticut House Bill 6517, which seeks to establish an Office of Training Compliance with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), and intends to provide the CSDE with the expertise and capacity to monitor the implementation of legislation for the benefit of educators, students, and families.