H.F. 2413 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 31, paragraph a, Code 1 2016, is amended to read as follows: 2 a. By July 1, 2013, adopt Adopt by rule guidelines for 3 school district implementation of section 279.68 , including 4 but not limited to basic levels of reading proficiency on 5 approved locally determined or statewide assessments and 6 identification of tools that school districts may use in 7 evaluating and reevaluating any student who may not be or who 8 is determined not to be deficient reading proficiently and is 9 persistently at risk in reading, including but not limited to 10 initial assessments and subsequent assessments, alternative 11 assessments, and portfolio reviews. The state board shall 12 adopt standards that provide a reasonable expectation that a 13 student’s progress toward reading proficiency under section 14 279.68 is sufficient to master appropriate grade four level 15 reading skills prior to the student’s promotion to grade four. 16 Sec. 2. Section 279.68, Code 2016, is amended to read as 17 follows: 18 279.68 Student progression —— remedial intensive reading 19 instruction —— reporting requirements —— promotion. 20 1. Reading deficiency and proficiency, assessments, parental 21 notification , and promotion . 22 a. A school district shall assess all students enrolled 23 in kindergarten through grade three at the beginning of each 24 school year for their level of reading or reading readiness on 25 locally determined or statewide assessments, as provided in 26 section 256.7, subsection 31 . A If a student is not reading 27 proficiently and is persistently at risk in reading, based 28 upon the assessments administered in accordance with this 29 paragraph, the school district shall provide intensive reading 30 instruction to any the student who exhibits a substantial 31 deficiency in reading, based upon the assessment or through 32 teacher observations . The student’s reading proficiency shall 33 be periodically reassessed by locally determined or statewide 34 assessments including periodic universal screening and annual 35 -1- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 1/ 9

H.F. 2413 standard-based assessments . The student shall continue to be 1 provided with intensive reading instruction until the student 2 is reading deficiency is remedied at grade level, as determined 3 by the student’s consistently proficient performance on valid 4 and reliable measures of reading ability . For purposes of 5 this section, “persistently at risk” means the student has not 6 met the grade-level benchmark on two consecutive screening 7 assessments administered under this paragraph. 8 b. The parent or guardian of any student in kindergarten 9 through grade three who exhibits a substantial deficiency in 10 is persistently at risk in reading , as described in paragraph 11 “a” , shall be notified at least annually in writing and shall be 12 provided all of the following: 13 (1) That the child has been identified as having a 14 substantial deficiency in reading. 15 (2) (1) A description of the services currently provided to 16 the child student . 17 (3) (2) A description of the proposed supplemental 18 instructional services and supports that the school district 19 will provide to the child student that are designed to 20 remediate the identified area of areas in which the student is 21 persistently at risk in reading deficiency . 22 (4) (3) Strategies for parents and guardians to use in 23 helping the child succeed in reading proficiency student read 24 proficiently , including but not limited to the promotion of 25 parent-guided home reading. 26 (4) Regular updates regarding the student’s progress 27 toward reaching or exceeding the targeted level of reading 28 proficiency. 29 c. Beginning May 1, 2017, unless the school district is 30 granted a waiver pursuant to subsection 2 , paragraph “e” , if the 31 student’s student is persistently at risk in reading deficiency 32 is not remedied by the end of grade three, as demonstrated by 33 scoring on a locally determined or statewide assessment as 34 provided in section 256.7, subsection 31 , the school district 35 -2- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 2/ 9

H.F. 2413 shall notify the student’s parent or guardian that the parent 1 or guardian may enroll the student in an intensive summer 2 reading program offered in accordance with subsection 2 , 3 paragraph “e” . If the parent or guardian does not enroll the 4 student in the intensive summer reading program and the student 5 is ineligible for the good cause exemption under subsection 6 5 , the student shall be retained in grade three pursuant to 7 subsection 3 . If the student is exempt from participating in 8 an intensive summer reading program for good cause, pursuant 9 to subsection 5 , or completes the intensive summer reading 10 program but is not reading proficient proficiently upon 11 completion of the program, the student may be promoted to grade 12 four, but the school district shall continue to provide the 13 student with intensive reading instruction until the student is 14 proficient in reading proficiently as demonstrated by scoring 15 on locally determined or statewide assessments administered 16 under paragraph “a” . 17 2. Successful progression for early readers. If funds 18 are appropriated by the general assembly for purposes of 19 implementing this subsection , a school district shall do all 20 of the following: 21 a. Provide students who are identified as having a 22 substantial deficiency persistently at risk in reading under 23 subsection 1 , paragraph “a” , with intensive instructional 24 services and supports, free of charge, to remediate the 25 identified areas of reading deficiency in which students are 26 not proficient in reading , including a minimum of ninety 27 minutes daily of scientific, research-based reading instruction 28 and other strategies prescribed by the school district which 29 may include but are not limited to the following: 30 (1) Small group instruction. 31 (2) Reduced teacher-student ratios. 32 (3) More frequent progress monitoring. 33 (4) Tutoring or mentoring. 34 (5) Extended school day, week, or year. 35 -3- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 3/ 9

H.F. 2413 (6) Summer reading programs. 1 b. At regular intervals, apprise the parent or guardian of 2 academic and other progress being made by the student and give 3 the parent or guardian other useful information. 4 c. In addition to required reading enhancement and 5 acceleration strategies, provide parents of students who are 6 identified as having a substantial deficiency persistently at 7 risk in reading under subsection 1 , paragraph “a” , with a plan 8 outlined in a parental contract, including participation in 9 regular parent-guided home reading. 10 d. Establish a reading enhancement and acceleration 11 development initiative designed to offer intensive accelerated 12 reading instruction to each kindergarten through grade three 13 student who is assessed as exhibiting a substantial deficiency 14 persistently at risk in reading. The initiative shall comply 15 with all of the following criteria: 16 (1) Be provided to all kindergarten through grade 17 three students who exhibit a substantial deficiency in are 18 persistently at risk in reading under this section . The 19 assessment initiative shall measure phonemic awareness, 20 phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 21 (2) Be provided during regular school hours in addition to 22 the regular reading instruction. 23 (3) Provide a reading curriculum that meets guidelines 24 adopted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 31 , and at a 25 minimum has the following specifications: 26 (a) Assists students assessed as exhibiting a substantial 27 deficiency in who are persistently at risk in reading to 28 develop the skills to read at grade level. Assistance shall 29 include but not be limited to strategies that formally address 30 dyslexia, when appropriate. For purposes of this subparagraph 31 division (a), “dyslexia” means a specific and significant 32 impairment in the development of reading, including but not 33 limited to phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, 34 and comprehension, that is not solely accounted for by 35 -4- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 4/ 9

H.F. 2413 intellectual disability, sensory disability or impairment, or 1 lack of appropriate instruction. 2 (b) Provides skill development in phonemic awareness, 3 phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 4 (c) Includes a scientifically based and reliable 5 assessment. 6 (d) Provides initial and ongoing analysis of each student’s 7 reading progress. 8 (e) Is implemented during regular school hours. 9 (f) Provides a curriculum in core academic subjects to 10 assist the student in maintaining or meeting proficiency levels 11 for the appropriate grade in all academic subjects. 12 e. Offer each summer, beginning in the summer of 2017, 13 unless the school district receives a waiver from this 14 requirement from the department of education for the summer of 15 2017, an intensive summer literacy reading program for students 16 assessed as exhibiting a substantial deficiency in who are 17 persistently at risk in reading. The program shall meet the 18 criteria and follow the guidelines established pursuant to 19 section 256.9, subsection 53 , paragraph “c” , subparagraph (1), 20 subparagraph division (g). 21 f. Report to the department of education the specific 22 intensive reading interventions and supports implemented by the 23 school district pursuant to this section . The department shall 24 annually prescribe the components of required or requested 25 reports. 26 3. Promotion to grade four. In determining whether to 27 promote a student in grade three to grade four, a school 28 district shall place significant weight on any area in which 29 the student is persistently at risk in reading deficiency 30 identified pursuant to subsection 1 , paragraph “a” , that is 31 not yet remediated . The school district shall also weigh 32 the student’s progress in other subject areas, as well as 33 the student’s overall intellectual, physical, emotional, and 34 social development. A decision to retain a student in grade 35 -5- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 5/ 9

H.F. 2413 three shall be made only after direct personal consultation 1 with the student’s parent or guardian and after the formulation 2 of a specific plan of action to remedy increase the student’s 3 reading deficiency skills until the student is reading at grade 4 level . 5 4. Ensuring continuous improvement in reading proficiency. 6 a. To ensure all children are reading proficiently by the 7 end of third grade, each school district shall address reading 8 proficiency as part of its comprehensive school improvement 9 plan, drawing upon information about children students from 10 assessments and reassessments conducted pursuant to subsection 11 1 and the prevalence of deficiencies areas in which students 12 are persistently at risk in reading identified by classroom, 13 elementary school, and other student characteristics. As part 14 of its comprehensive school improvement plan, each school 15 district shall review chronic early elementary absenteeism 16 for its impact on literacy development. If more than fifteen 17 percent of an attendance center’s students are not proficient 18 in reading proficiently and are persistently at risk in 19 reading by the end of third grade, the comprehensive school 20 improvement plan shall include strategies to reduce that 21 percentage, including school and community strategies to raise 22 the percentage of students who are proficient in reading at 23 grade level . 24 b. Each school district, subject to an appropriation of 25 funds by the general assembly, shall provide professional 26 development services to enhance the skills of elementary 27 teachers in responding to children’s unique reading issues and 28 needs and to increase the use of evidence-based strategies. 29 5. Good cause exemption. 30 a. The school district shall exempt students from the 31 retention and intensive summer reading program requirements 32 of subsection 1 , paragraph “c” , for good cause. Good cause 33 exemptions shall be limited to the following: 34 (1) Limited English proficient students who have had 35 -6- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 6/ 9

H.F. 2413 less than two years of instruction in an English as a second 1 language program. 2 (2) Students requiring special education whose 3 individualized education program indicates that participation 4 in a locally determined or statewide assessment as provided in 5 section 256.7, subsection 31 , is not appropriate, consistent 6 with the requirements of rules adopted by the state board of 7 education for the administration of chapter 256B . 8 (3) Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of 9 performance on an alternative performance measure approved 10 pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 31 . 11 (4) Students who demonstrate mastery through a student 12 portfolio under alternative performance measures approved 13 pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 31 . 14 (5) Students who have received intensive remediation in 15 reading for two or more years but who are still demonstrate 16 a deficiency persistently at risk in reading and who were 17 previously retained in kindergarten, grade one, grade two, 18 or grade three. Intensive reading instruction for students 19 so promoted must include an altered instructional day that 20 includes specialized diagnostic information and specific 21 reading strategies for each student. The school district 22 shall assist attendance centers and teachers to implement 23 reading strategies that research has shown to be successful in 24 improving reading among low-performing readers. 25 b. Requests For students described in paragraph “a” , 26 subparagraphs (3) and (4), a request for a good cause 27 exemptions exemption from the retention requirement of 28 subsection 1 , paragraph “c” , for students described in 29 paragraph “a” , subparagraphs (3) and (4), shall include 30 documentation from the student’s teacher to the school 31 principal that indicates that the promotion of the student is 32 appropriate and is based upon the student’s academic record. 33 Such documentation shall include but not be limited to the 34 individualized education program, if applicable, report card, 35 -7- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 7/ 9

H.F. 2413 or student portfolio. 1 EXPLANATION 2 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 4 This bill provides that a student in kindergarten 5 through grade three who is not reading proficiently and is 6 persistently at risk in reading based on locally determined 7 or statewide assessments, must be provided intensive reading 8 instruction by the school district and must be reassessed for 9 reading proficiency using locally determined or statewide 10 assessments, including periodic universal screening and annual 11 standard-based assessments before the child is retained in 12 grade three under the provisions of Code section 279.68. 13 The bill also replaces references relating to a student’s 14 “substantial deficiency in reading” with references to a 15 student who is “persistently at risk in reading”, which 16 is defined to mean the student has not met the grade-level 17 benchmark on two consecutive screening assessments administered 18 in accordance with the Code provision, and makes related 19 changes as necessary. For consistency, the bill also replaces 20 one reference to “intensive summer literacy program” with 21 “intensive summer reading program”, and replaces references to 22 “child” with “student”. 23 Currently, the parent or guardian of such a student shall be 24 notified at least annually that the child has been identified 25 as having a substantial deficiency in reading, and shall be 26 given a description of the services currently provided to the 27 child, a description of the proposed supplemental instructional 28 services and supports that the school district will provide 29 to the child to remediate the identified area of reading 30 deficiency, and strategies for parents and guardians to use 31 in helping the child succeed in reading proficiency. The 32 bill strikes the requirement that the information be provided 33 annually, but adds that the school district must provide the 34 parent or guardian of a student who is not reading proficiently 35 -8- LSB 5479HV (1) 86 kh/rj 8/ 9