Text: SF02245                           Text: SF02247
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Senate File 2246

Partial Bill History

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256D.9, Code Supplement 2003, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    256D.9  FUTURE REPEAL.
  1  4    This chapter is repealed effective July 1, 2004 2005.
  1  5    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  279.60  STUDENT PROMOTION OR
  1  6 RETENTION.
  1  7    1.  A student enrolled in grade three who at the completion
  1  8 of grade three is more than one year below grade level in
  1  9 reading as determined by reading assessments administered
  1 10 pursuant to this section, shall not be promoted to grade four
  1 11 unless determined not to be in the best interest of the child
  1 12 as provided in the student promotion policy adopted by the
  1 13 school in accordance with this section.  The board of
  1 14 directors of each school district shall adopt a student
  1 15 promotion policy that facilitates collaboration among
  1 16 teachers, parents, and guardians of the students, and the
  1 17 school district to support student reading at grade level.
  1 18 The policy shall address the assessment of, and the
  1 19 establishment of performance levels for, a student identified
  1 20 as limited English proficient and a student identified as a
  1 21 child requiring special education.  The policy shall be
  1 22 developed, and annually updated, with input from school
  1 23 administrators, teachers, parents, and guardians.  Annually,
  1 24 by the first day of school, the school district shall notify
  1 25 the parents and guardians of students in grades kindergarten
  1 26 through grade three of the district's student promotion
  1 27 policy.
  1 28    2.  a.  To identify students at risk of reading failure,
  1 29 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade three of a
  1 30 school district shall be assessed at the beginning of each
  1 31 school year and throughout the school year as necessary by
  1 32 ongoing assessments of their reading skills or early literacy
  1 33 development including, but not limited to, phonological
  1 34 awareness, reading fluency, and alphabetic principle.  At
  1 35 least annually, within the first three months of the school
  2  1 year, the school district shall provide written notice to the
  2  2 parent or guardian of the student's Iowa grade equivalency.
  2  3    b.  The department of education shall establish by
  2  4 administrative rule a list of approved reading or early
  2  5 literacy development assessments, which shall be provided to
  2  6 each school district.  This list shall include the dynamic
  2  7 indicators of basic early literacy skills (DIBELS), a
  2  8 standardized, individually administered measure of early
  2  9 literacy development, and the Iowa test of basic skills.
  2 10    c.  The director of the department of education shall
  2 11 establish a committee to assist with the development of rules
  2 12 required pursuant to paragraph "b", to review and recommend
  2 13 reading and early literacy development assessments that
  2 14 measure a student's reading skills or early literacy
  2 15 development, including assessments relating to the following:
  2 16    (1)  To assess a student's reading skills or early literacy
  2 17 development progress throughout the school year.
  2 18    (2)  To indicate grade level competencies that have been
  2 19 attained.
  2 20    (3)  To review and recommend reading skill or early
  2 21 literacy development assessments that have been developed or
  2 22 utilized by other states to the extent that the tests are
  2 23 appropriate for use under this section.
  2 24    The majority of members appointed shall be supportive of
  2 25 research-based reading instruction described in the center for
  2 26 the improvement of early reading achievement report issued in
  2 27 2001 titled "Put Reading First:  The Research Building Blocks
  2 28 for Teaching Children to Read".
  2 29    The assessments recommended shall be thoroughly researched
  2 30 and demonstrated to be reliable and valid indicators of
  2 31 reading progress.  In developing its recommendations, the
  2 32 committee shall review the requirements of the federal No
  2 33 Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, and any
  2 34 federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Act, to
  2 35 align the committee's recommendations with the requirements of
  3  1 the federal Act when possible in order to minimize any
  3  2 additional burden the committee's recommendations may place on
  3  3 a school district.  The committee shall provide a progress
  3  4 report to the chairpersons of the house and senate standing
  3  5 committees on education, annually until July 1, 2008, and
  3  6 biennially thereafter.
  3  7    3.  The board of directors of each school district shall
  3  8 establish a committee, composed of stakeholders, to develop
  3  9 reading instruction programs that meet the requirements of
  3 10 this section.  The reading instruction programs shall include,
  3 11 but may not be limited to:
  3 12    a.  Curriculum using systematic and explicit phonics
  3 13 instruction.
  3 14    b.  Sufficient additional in-school instructional time for
  3 15 the acquisition of phonological awareness, reading fluency,
  3 16 and alphabetic principle.
  3 17    c.  Tutorial instruction.
  3 18    d.  Periodic reassessments to measure the reading skills or
  3 19 early literacy development including, but not limited to,
  3 20 phonological awareness, reading fluency, and alphabetic
  3 21 principle, as identified in the student's individualized
  3 22 reading instruction program.
  3 23    e.  Additional in-school instructional time during the
  3 24 summer.
  3 25    4.  If the results of assessments administered indicate
  3 26 intervention is necessary, the school district shall provide
  3 27 written notice to the parent or guardian of the student's Iowa
  3 28 grade equivalency and the options available to the parent or
  3 29 guardian as provided in subsection 3.  A parent or guardian of
  3 30 a student shall be included in the development of an
  3 31 individualized program of reading instruction for the student.
  3 32    5.  If the results of assessments administered indicate the
  3 33 student is reading above grade level, the school district
  3 34 shall provide written notice to the parent or guardian of the
  3 35 options available to the parent for enrichment activities for
  4  1 the child.
  4  2    6.  For any grade three student found reading more than one
  4  3 year or more below grade level as determined by reading
  4  4 assessments administered pursuant to this section, a new
  4  5 intensive reading instruction plan, which shall include
  4  6 specialized tutoring by the school district, shall be
  4  7 developed and implemented.  The school district is encouraged
  4  8 to provide tutorial instruction in a manner that would
  4  9 minimize interference with a student's instructional time in
  4 10 the classroom.  Tutorial instruction may be offered before or
  4 11 after regular school hours.
  4 12    7.  A school district shall notify a parent or guardian in
  4 13 writing of the ability of the parent or guardian to appeal a
  4 14 school's decision to deny promotion of a student to the school
  4 15 board.  The school board shall decide in favor of a student's
  4 16 promotion only if the school board concludes, using standards
  4 17 adopted by the school board, that if promoted and provided
  4 18 with additional or continued interventions, the student is
  4 19 likely to perform at grade level.  However, a school board
  4 20 shall not deny a promotion to a student under the provisions
  4 21 of this section more than once.  A decision of the school
  4 22 board to deny promotion is subject to appeal under section
  4 23 290.1.
  4 24    8.  The director of the department of education shall
  4 25 conduct a review of school district student promotion
  4 26 policies, including the number of students in need of
  4 27 remediation in reading in kindergarten through grade three,
  4 28 and the number of students who successfully completed their
  4 29 individualized reading instruction program.  The director
  4 30 shall evaluate the data reported pursuant to this subsection
  4 31 and shall submit a report of the findings and recommendations
  4 32 resulting from the review to the senate and house standing
  4 33 committees on education and the joint appropriations
  4 34 subcommittee on education by December 1, 2006, and biennially
  4 35 thereafter.
  5  1    9.  The state board of education shall submit its
  5  2 recommendations for modifications to this section relating to
  5  3 student promotion in a report to the senate and house standing
  5  4 committees on education and the joint appropriations
  5  5 subcommittee on education by December 1, 2006.
  5  6    Sec. 3.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT.  Section 25B.2, subsection
  5  7 3, shall not apply to this Act.
  5  8    Sec. 4.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  The section of this Act amending
  5  9 section 256D.9, being deemed of immediate importance, takes
  5 10 effect upon enactment.
  5 11    Sec. 5.  PROMOTION DENIAL APPLICABILITY DATE.  Provisions
  5 12 relating to promotion of a student in section 279.60,
  5 13 subsections 1 and 7 of this Act, if enacted, are applicable
  5 14 commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 2007.  
  5 15 SF 2246
  5 16 kh/cc/26
     

Text: SF02245                           Text: SF02247
Text: SF02200 - SF02299                 Text: SF Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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