Text: HF00013 Text: HF00015 Text: HF00000 - HF00099 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256.17 EARLY ELEMENTARY READING
1 2 GRANT PROGRAM – APPROPRIATION.
1 3 1. The director shall establish an early elementary
1 4 reading grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to
1 5 enable school districts to meet the requirements of this
1 6 section, enhance teachers' skills in using teaching methods to
1 7 teach reading that have proven results gathered through
1 8 quantitative research, and to assist students in beginning
1 9 reading.
1 10 2. The director shall develop or identify a collection of
1 11 assessment tools that can be used to measure the reading
1 12 accuracy and fluency skills of children in kindergarten
1 13 through grade two. The assessments shall be designed to
1 14 provide diagnostic assessments of reading accuracy and fluency
1 15 skills to assist teachers with ongoing assessment of a child's
1 16 graphonemic awareness, phonemic awareness, oral reading
1 17 ability, and comprehension skills. The purposes of the
1 18 assessments are to prevent reading failure and improve a
1 19 struggling student's ability to achieve. The director shall
1 20 determine the appropriate intervals for the administration of
1 21 the assessments by school districts.
1 22 3. School districts shall administer the assessments
1 23 developed or identified by the director at intervals
1 24 determined by the director. A school district shall make
1 25 assessment results available for parent-teacher conferences.
1 26 At the parent-teacher conference, school districts shall
1 27 inform parents of their child's performance on the assessment.
1 28 If a child's score indicates intervention is appropriate, the
1 29 school district shall inform the parents of the actions the
1 30 school district intends to take to improve the child's reading
1 31 and fluency skills and provide the parents with strategies to
1 32 enable the parents to improve their child's score.
1 33 4. From the moneys appropriated in subsection 7, for each
1 34 fiscal year in which moneys are appropriated, the amount of
1 35 moneys allocated to school districts shall be in the
2 1 proportion that the basic enrollment of a district bears to
2 2 the sum of the basic enrollments of all school districts in
2 3 the state for the budget year. However, a district shall not
2 4 receive less than ten thousand dollars in a fiscal year.
2 5 5. For each year in which an appropriation is made to the
2 6 early elementary reading grant program, the department of
2 7 education shall notify the department of revenue and finance
2 8 of the amount of the allocation to be paid to each school
2 9 district as provided in subsection 4. The allocation to each
2 10 school district shall be made in one payment on or about
2 11 October 15 of the fiscal year in which the appropriation is
2 12 made, taking into consideration the relative budget and cash
2 13 position of the state resources. Moneys received under this
2 14 section shall not be commingled with state aid payments made
2 15 under section 257.16 to a school district and shall be
2 16 accounted for by the local school district separately from
2 17 state aid payments. Payments made to school districts under
2 18 this section are miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter
2 19 257 or are considered encumbered. Each local school district
2 20 shall maintain a separate listing within its budget for
2 21 payments received and expenditures made pursuant to this
2 22 section. Moneys received under this section shall not be used
2 23 for payment of any collective bargaining agreement or
2 24 arbitrator's decision negotiated or awarded under chapter 20.
2 25 6. School districts shall expend funds received pursuant
2 26 to this section for the acquisition and administration of
2 27 assessments required pursuant to this section; the
2 28 implementation of reading academies or other intensive,
2 29 structured, research-based reading and reading intervention
2 30 programs; the acquisition of instructional or diagnostic
2 31 reading materials; necessary reading materials for school
2 32 libraries and media centers; instructional staff for reading;
2 33 and related professional staff development. Moneys received
2 34 under this section shall supplement, not supplant, moneys a
2 35 school district budgets for staffing, professional
3 1 development, services, or materials related to reading
3 2 instruction.
3 3 7. There is appropriated from the general fund of the
3 4 state to the department for each fiscal year the sum of nine
3 5 million dollars for the early elementary reading grant
3 6 program. For each fiscal year, the department shall not use
3 7 more than five percent of the total amount available in the
3 8 fund to pay for the costs of administration of the program.
3 9 8. School districts shall submit an annual report to the
3 10 department describing student and school district progress
3 11 made as a result of implementation of the grant program.
3 12 9. The state board of education shall adopt rules under
3 13 chapter 17A to implement the early elementary reading grant
3 14 program.
3 15 10. The appropriation made in subsection 7 shall be deemed
3 16 to meet all the state funding-related requirements of section
3 17 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be
3 18 necessary for the full implementation of this section by and
3 19 enforcement of this section against all affected school
3 20 districts.
3 21 EXPLANATION
3 22 This bill appropriates $9 million from the general fund of
3 23 the state to the department of education for purposes of
3 24 establishing and implementing an early elementary reading
3 25 grant program. The purpose of the grant program is to enable
3 26 school districts to meet the reading assessment requirements
3 27 of the bill, enhance teachers' skills in using teaching
3 28 methods to teach reading that have proven results gathered
3 29 through quantitative research, and to assist students in
3 30 beginning reading.
3 31 The bill directs the director of the department of
3 32 education to develop or identify a collection of assessment
3 33 tools that can be used to measure the reading accuracy and
3 34 fluency skills of children in kindergarten through grade two.
3 35 The assessments shall be designed to provide diagnostic
4 1 assessments of reading accuracy and fluency skills to assist
4 2 teachers with ongoing assessment of a child's graphonemic
4 3 awareness, phonemic awareness, oral reading ability, and
4 4 comprehension skills.
4 5 School districts are required under the bill to administer
4 6 the reading assessments at intervals determined by the
4 7 director. At parent-teacher conferences, schools districts
4 8 shall inform parents of their child's performance on the
4 9 assessment. If a child's score indicates intervention is
4 10 appropriate, the school district shall inform the parents of
4 11 the actions the school district intends to take to improve the
4 12 child's reading and fluency skills and provide the parents
4 13 with strategies to enable the parents to improve their child's
4 14 score.
4 15 The bill provides for per pupil distribution of the grant
4 16 moneys. However, a district shall not receive less than
4 17 $10,000 in a fiscal year.
4 18 School districts can expend grant funds for the acquisition
4 19 and administration of reading assessments, the acquisition of
4 20 instructional or diagnostic reading materials, necessary
4 21 reading materials for school libraries and media centers,
4 22 instructional staff for reading, and related professional
4 23 staff development. Moneys received under this section shall
4 24 supplement, not supplant, moneys a school district budgets for
4 25 staffing, professional development, services, or materials
4 26 related to reading instruction.
4 27 The department is permitted to use up to 5 percent of the
4 28 moneys appropriated for the program to pay for the costs of
4 29 administration of the program.
4 30 School districts are required to submit an annual report to
4 31 the department describing student and school district progress
4 32 made as a result of implementation of the grant program.
4 33 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
4 34 section 25B.3. The bill also includes a standing
4 35 appropriation to comply with the state mandate funding-related
5 1 requirements of Code section 25B.2. The inclusion of the
5 2 appropriation is intended to reinstate the requirement of
5 3 school districts to comply with any state mandates included in
5 4 the bill.
5 5 LSB 1362YH 78
5 6 kh/jw/5
Text: HF00013 Text: HF00015 Text: HF00000 - HF00099 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
webmaster@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Wed Jan 12 05:55:23 CST 2000
URL: /DOCS/GA/78GA/Legislation/HF/00000/HF00014/990111.html
jhf