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
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