Text: SF02239 Text: SF02241 Text: SF02200 - SF02299 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 280.26 IOWA READING INITIATIVE
1 2 PROGRAM.
1 3 1. There shall be established within the department of
1 4 education an Iowa reading initiative program. The intent of
1 5 the program is to provide the necessary resources to support
1 6 additional small group reading instruction to third grade
1 7 students who are determined not to be reading at a rate and
1 8 comprehension level appropriate to the first semester of the
1 9 third grade. The goal of the program is the acceleration of
1 10 the reading rate and comprehension level of students receiving
1 11 additional small group instruction, so that by the end of the
1 12 first semester of fourth grade those students involved in the
1 13 program will have made substantial progress toward, or be
1 14 reading at, a reading level appropriate to the first semester
1 15 of the fourth grade.
1 16 2. Program participants shall be identified based on the
1 17 results of a reading assessment test developed and
1 18 administered by the department of education and given to each
1 19 third grade student enrolled in the public school system
1 20 across the state during the month of September upon entering
1 21 the third grade. Those students scoring one semester or more
1 22 below the reading rate and comprehension level determined
1 23 appropriate for the first semester of the third grade shall
1 24 receive an additional forty minutes of small group reading
1 25 instruction during each school day. A small group receiving
1 26 additional reading instruction shall consist of between three
1 27 to five students per teacher. To supplement the additional
1 28 reading instruction time during the school day, parents of a
1 29 child participating in the program shall agree to commit to
1 30 spending a minimum of twenty minutes each night, during the
1 31 school week, reading to or with their child.
1 32 3. The department shall develop a sample curriculum for
1 33 the additional reading instruction program, incorporating
1 34 strategies practiced and proven to be effective in the reading
1 35 recovery and the early literacy initiative programs at Ohio
2 1 state university. Students in the program shall undergo
2 2 regular assessment and receive reading assignments which
2 3 increase in difficulty as the student progresses through the
2 4 program. Overall progress for each student shall be assessed
2 5 every nine weeks utilizing an assessment tool or mechanism
2 6 developed by the department. Student achievement of more than
2 7 nine weeks of progress in reading rate and comprehension level
2 8 over a nine week period of small group additional reading
2 9 instruction, as determined by the small group instructor, and
2 10 more than one semester of growth in reading rate and
2 11 comprehension during the course of a semester are considered
2 12 indicators of program success. Students involved in the
2 13 program who are determined not to have achieved a reading rate
2 14 and comprehension level appropriate to the first semester of
2 15 the fourth grade by the time the child has completed the
2 16 program shall be evaluated for additional special needs
2 17 testing.
2 18 4. Each area education agency shall receive, out of the
2 19 funds appropriated in section 280.27, funding to employ or
2 20 train as specialists two reading trainers to train third grade
2 21 teachers to provide additional small group reading
2 22 instruction.
2 23 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 280.27 IOWA READING INITIATIVE
2 24 PROGRAM – APPROPRIATION.
2 25 1. There is appropriated annually from the general fund of
2 26 the state to the department of education the sum of seventeen
2 27 million dollars to establish, maintain, and administer an Iowa
2 28 reading initiative program pursuant to section 280.26.
2 29 2. Moneys appropriated in subsection 1 shall be allocated
2 30 to area education agencies to employ two small group reading
2 31 instruction trainers per area education agency, and to school
2 32 districts throughout the state on a per pupil basis. The
2 33 amount of moneys allocated to school districts shall be in the
2 34 proportion that the basic enrollment of a district bears to
2 35 the sum of the basic enrollments of all school districts in
3 1 the state for the budget year.
3 2 3. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered and
3 3 unobligated funds appropriated pursuant to this section which
3 4 are available at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
3 5 to the general fund of the state but shall remain available
3 6 for expenditure for the purposes designated in this section
3 7 during the succeeding fiscal year.
3 8 EXPLANATION
3 9 This bill provides for the establishment of an Iowa reading
3 10 initiative program. The intent of the program shall be to
3 11 provide additional small group reading instruction to third
3 12 grade students who are determined not to be reading at a rate
3 13 and comprehension level appropriate to their grade level. The
3 14 goal of the program shall be the acceleration of the reading
3 15 rate and comprehension level of students receiving additional
3 16 small group instruction, so that by the end of the first
3 17 semester of fourth grade those students involved in the
3 18 program will have made substantial progress toward, or be
3 19 reading at, a reading level appropriate to their grade level.
3 20 Participants in the program shall be identified based on
3 21 the results of a reading assessment test administered to each
3 22 third grade student enrolled in the public school system
3 23 across the state during the month of September upon entering
3 24 the third grade. A student scoring one semester or more below
3 25 the reading rate and comprehension level determined
3 26 appropriate shall receive an additional 40 minutes of reading
3 27 instruction each school day in a small group of approximately
3 28 three to five students per teacher. Parents would agree to
3 29 supplement the additional reading instruction by spending a
3 30 minimum of 20 minutes each school night reading to or with
3 31 their child.
3 32 The department of education shall develop a sample
3 33 curriculum for the additional reading instruction program,
3 34 incorporating strategies practiced and proven to be effective
3 35 in the reading recovery and early literacy initiative programs
4 1 at Ohio state university. Student progress shall be assessed
4 2 on a regular basis, and assignments shall increase in
4 3 difficulty as the student advances through the program.
4 4 Overall progress for each student shall be assessed every nine
4 5 weeks utilizing an assessment tool or mechanism to be
4 6 developed by the department. Student achievement of more than
4 7 nine weeks of progress in reading rate and comprehension level
4 8 over a nine week period of small group additional reading
4 9 instruction, as determined by the small group instructor, and
4 10 more than one semester of growth in reading rate and
4 11 comprehension during the course of a semester are considered
4 12 indicators of success. Students involved in the program who
4 13 are determined not to have achieved a reading rate and
4 14 comprehension level appropriate to the first semester of the
4 15 fourth grade by the time the child has completed the program
4 16 shall be evaluated for additional special needs testing.
4 17 The bill provides for an appropriation from the general
4 18 fund to the department of education the sum of $17 million to
4 19 establish and administer the program. Each area education
4 20 agency shall receive funding to employ two reading trainers to
4 21 train third grade teachers to provide additional small group
4 22 reading instruction. School districts shall receive funding
4 23 on a per pupil basis, in the proportion that the basic
4 24 enrollment of a district bears to the sum of the basic
4 25 enrollments of all school districts in the state for the
4 26 budget year. The bill provides that unencumbered and
4 27 unobligated funds appropriated pursuant to this section which
4 28 are available at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
4 29 to the general fund but shall remain available for expenditure
4 30 for the purposes designated during the succeeding fiscal year.
4 31 LSB 3834XS 77
4 32 rn/jw/5
Text: SF02239 Text: SF02241 Text: SF02200 - SF02299 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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