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Sub. S. B. No. 21 As Reported by the Senate Education CommitteeAs Reported by the Senate Education Committee
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Sawyer, Gardner
A BILL
To amend section 3313.608 of the Revised Code to
revise the requirements for reading teachers under
the Third-Grade Reading Guarantee and to declare
an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 3313.608 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3313.608. (A)(1) Beginning with students who enter
third grade in the school year that starts July 1, 2009, and until
June 30, 2013, unless the student is excused under division (C) of
section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code from taking the assessment
described in this section, for any student who attains a score in
the range designated under division (A)(3) of section 3301.0710 of
the Revised Code on the assessment prescribed under that section
to measure skill in English language arts expected at the end of
third grade or who does not attain at least the equivalent level
of achievement under that section as determined by the department
of education, each school district, in accordance with the policy
adopted under section 3313.609 of the Revised Code, shall do one
of the following:
(a) Promote the student to fourth grade if the student's
principal and reading teacher agree that other evaluations of the
student's skill in reading demonstrate that the student is
academically prepared to be promoted to fourth grade;
(b) Promote the student to fourth grade but provide the
student with intensive intervention services in fourth grade;
(c) Retain the student in third grade.
(2) Beginning with students who enter third grade in the
2013-2014 school year, unless the student is excused under
division (C) of section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code from taking
the assessment described in this section, no school district shall
promote to fourth grade any student who attains a score in the
range designated under division (A)(3) of section 3301.0710 of the
Revised Code on the assessment prescribed under that section to
measure skill in English language arts expected at the end of
third grade or who does not attain at least the equivalent level
of achievement under that section as determined by the department,
unless one of the following applies:
(a) The student is a limited English proficient student who
has been enrolled in United States schools for less than two full
school years and has had less than two years of instruction in an
English as a second language program.
(b) The student is a child with a disability entitled to
special education and related services under Chapter 3323. of the
Revised Code and the student's individualized education program
exempts the student from retention under this division.
(c) The student demonstrates an acceptable level of
performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment as
determined by the department of education.
(d) All of the following apply:
(i) The student is a child with a disability entitled to
special education and related services under Chapter 3323. of the
Revised Code.
(ii) The student has taken the third grade English language
arts achievement assessment prescribed under section 3301.0710 of
the Revised Code.
(iii) The student's individualized education program or plan
under section 504 of the "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," 87 Stat.
355, 29 U.S.C. 794, as amended, shows that the student has
received intensive remediation in reading for two school years but
still demonstrates a deficiency in reading.
(iv) The student previously was retained in any of grades
kindergarten to three.
(e)(i) The student received intensive remediation for reading
for two school years but still demonstrates a deficiency in
reading and was previously retained in any of grades kindergarten
to three.
(ii) A student who is promoted under division (A)(2)(e)(i) of
this section shall continue to receive intensive reading
instruction in grade four. The instruction shall include an
altered instructional day that includes specialized diagnostic
information and specific research-based reading strategies for the
student that have been successful in improving reading among
low-performing readers.
(B)(1) Beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, to assist
students in meeting the third grade guarantee established by this
section, each school district board of education shall adopt
policies and procedures with which it annually shall assess the
reading skills of each student, except those students with
significant cognitive disabilities or other disabilities as
authorized by the department, enrolled in kindergarten to third
grade by the thirtieth day of September and shall identify
students who are reading below their grade level. Each district
shall use the diagnostic assessment to measure reading ability for
the appropriate grade level adopted under section 3301.079 of the
Revised Code, or a comparable tool approved by the department of
education, to identify such students. The policies and procedures
shall require the students' classroom teachers to be involved in
the assessment and the identification of students reading below
grade level.
(2) For each student identified by the diagnostic assessment
prescribed under this section as having reading skills below grade
level, the district shall do both of the following:
(a) Provide to the student's parent or guardian, in writing,
all of the following:
(i) Notification that the student has been identified as
having a substantial deficiency in reading;
(ii) A description of the current services that are provided
to the student;
(iii) A description of the proposed supplemental
instructional services and supports that will be provided to the
student that are designed to remediate the identified areas of
reading deficiency;
(iv) Notification that if the student attains a score in the
range designated under division (A)(3) of section 3301.0710 of the
Revised Code on the assessment prescribed under that section to
measure skill in English language arts expected at the end of
third grade, the student shall be retained unless the student is
exempt under division (A) of this section. The notification shall
specify that the assessment under section 3301.0710 of the Revised
Code is not the sole determinant of promotion and that additional
evaluations and assessments are available to the student to assist
parents and the district in knowing when a student is reading at
or above grade level and ready for promotion.
(b) Provide intensive reading instruction services and
regular diagnostic assessments to the student immediately
following identification of a reading deficiency until the
development of the reading improvement and monitoring plan
required by division (C) of this section. These intervention
services shall include research-based reading strategies that have
been shown to be successful in improving reading among
low-performing readers and instruction targeted at the student's
identified reading deficiencies.
(3) For each student retained under division (A) of this
section, the district shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide intense remediation services until the student is
able to read at grade level. The remediation services shall
include intensive interventions in reading that address the areas
of deficiencies identified under this section including, but not
limited to, not less than ninety minutes of reading instruction
per day, and may include any of the following:
(i) Small group instruction;
(ii) Reduced teacher-student ratios;
(iii) More frequent progress monitoring;
(iv) Tutoring or mentoring;
(v) Transition classes containing third and fourth grade
students;
(vi) Extended school day, week, or year;
(vii) Summer reading camps.
(b) Establish a policy for the mid-year promotion of a
student retained under division (A) of this section who
demonstrates that the student is reading at or above grade level;
(c) Provide each student with a teacher who satisfies one or
more of the applicable criteria set forth in division (H) of this
section.
The district shall offer the option for students to receive
applicable services from one or more providers other than the
district. Providers shall be screened and approved by the district
or the department of education. If the student participates in the
remediation services and demonstrates reading proficiency in
accordance with standards adopted by the department prior to the
start of fourth grade, the district shall promote the student to
that grade.
(4) For each student retained under division (A) of this
section who has demonstrated proficiency in a specific academic
ability field, each district shall provide instruction
commensurate with student achievement levels in that specific
academic ability field.
As used in this division, "specific academic ability field"
has the same meaning as in section 3324.01 of the Revised Code.
(C) For each student required to be provided intervention
services under this section, the district shall develop a reading
improvement and monitoring plan within sixty days after receiving
the student's results on the diagnostic assessment or comparable
tool administered under division (B)(1) of this section. The
district shall involve the student's parent or guardian and
classroom teacher in developing the plan. The plan shall include
all of the following:
(1) Identification of the student's specific reading
deficiencies;
(2) A description of the additional instructional services
and support that will be provided to the student to remediate the
identified reading deficiencies;
(3) Opportunities for the student's parent or guardian to be
involved in the instructional services and support described in
division (C)(2) of this section;
(4) A process for monitoring the extent to which the student
receives the instructional services and support described in
division (C)(2) of this section;
(5) A reading curriculum during regular school hours that
does all of the following:
(a) Assists students to read at grade level;
(b) Provides scientifically based and reliable assessment;
(c) Provides initial and ongoing analysis of each student's
reading progress.
(6) A statement that if the student attains a score in the
range designated under division (A)(3) of section 3301.0710 of the
Revised Code on the assessment prescribed under that section to
measure skill in English language arts expected by the end of
third grade or if the student does not attain at least the
equivalent level of achievement under that section as determined
by the department, the student may be retained in third grade.
Each student with a reading improvement and monitoring plan
under this division who enters third grade after July 1, 2013,
shall be assigned to a teacher who satisfies one or more of the
applicable criteria set forth in division (H) of this section.
The district shall report any information requested by the
department about the reading improvement monitoring plans
developed under this division in the manner required by the
department.
(D) Each school district shall report annually to the
department on its implementation and compliance with this section
using guidelines prescribed by the superintendent of public
instruction. The superintendent of public instruction annually
shall report to the governor and general assembly the number and
percentage of students in grades kindergarten through four reading
below grade level based on the diagnostic assessments administered
under division (B) of this section and the achievement assessments
administered under divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of section
3301.0710 of the Revised Code in English language arts, aggregated
by school district and building; the types of intervention
services provided to students; and, if available, an evaluation of
the efficacy of the intervention services provided.
(E) Any summer remediation services funded in whole or in
part by the state and offered by school districts to students
under this section shall meet the following conditions:
(1) The remediation methods are based on reliable educational
research.
(2) The school districts conduct assessment before and after
students participate in the program to facilitate monitoring
results of the remediation services.
(3) The parents of participating students are involved in
programming decisions.
(F) Any intervention or remediation services required by this
section shall include intensive, explicit, and systematic
instruction.
(G) This section does not create a new cause of action or a
substantive legal right for any person.
(H)(1) Prior to July 1, 2014, each Each student described in
division (B)(3) or (C) of this section who enters third grade for
the first time on or after July 1, 2013, shall be assigned a
teacher who has been actively engaged in the reading instruction
of students for the previous three years and who satisfies one or
more of the following criteria:
(a) The teacher holds a reading endorsement on the teacher's
license and has attained a passing score on the corresponding
assessment for that endorsement.
(b) The teacher has completed a master's degree program with
a major in reading.
(c) The teacher has demonstrated evidence of a credential
earned completion of a program from a list of scientifically
research-based reading instruction programs approved by the
department.
(d) The teacher was rated "above value added," which means
most is an effective in reading instructor, as determined by
criteria established by the department, for the last two school
years.
(2) Effective July 1, 2014, each student described in
divisions (B)(3) and (C) of this section shall be assigned a
teacher who has been actively engaged in the reading instruction
of students for the previous three years and who satisfies one or
more of the following criteria:
(a) The teacher holds a reading endorsement on the teacher's
license and has attained a passing score on the corresponding
assessment for that endorsement.
(b) The teacher has completed a master's degree program with
a major in reading.
(c) The teacher was rated above "above value added," which
means most effective for the last two school years.
(d)(e) The teacher has earned a passing score on a rigorous
test of principles of scientifically research-based reading
instruction. This test shall be selected through a competitive
bidding process and shall be as approved by the state board.
(3)(2) If, on the effective date of this amendment, a school
district or community school cannot furnish the number of teachers
needed who satisfy one or more of the criteria set forth in
division (H)(1) of this section for the 2013-2014 school year, the
school district or community school shall develop and submit a
plan by June 30, 2013, in a manner determined by the department
indicating the criteria that will be used to determine those
teachers in the school district or community school who will teach
during that school year and how the school district or community
school will meet the requirements set forth in division (H)(2)
divisions (B)(3)(c) and (C)(6) of this section in subsequent
school years.
A school district or community school may include in this
plan the option to contract with another school district or
private provider that has been screened and approved by the
department to provide intervention services. If the school
district or community school's plan is not approved by the
department by August 15, 2013, the school district or community
school shall use a private contractor from a list approved by the
department or contract with another district to provide
intervention services for these students.
Section 2. That existing section 3313.608 of the Revised
Code is hereby repealed.
Section 3. Section 3313.608 of the Revised Code, as amended
by this act, shall take effect on March 22, 2013.
Section 4. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency
measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is to
facilitate timely implementation of the act's revisions regarding
reading intervention and to coordinate those revisions with other
recently enacted amendments regarding reading intervention.
Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.
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