As used in this part 12, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) Body of evidence means a collection of information about a student's
academic performance which, when considered in its entirety, documents the level
of a student's academic performance. A body of evidence, at a minimum, must
include scores on formative or interim assessments and work that a student
independently produces in a classroom, including, but not limited to, the school
readiness assessments adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1004 (2)(a). A body of
evidence may include scores on summative assessments if a local education
provider decides that summative assessments are appropriate and useful in
measuring students' literacy skills. For the purposes of identifying students with
significant reading deficiencies, body of evidence may include the additional
elements identified in section 22-7-1205 (1)(b)(II).
(1.5) Characteristics of dyslexia means commonly accepted features of
dyslexia, including difficulty with phonological processing, lack of oral reading
fluency, difficulty with spelling, and difficulty with rapid naming.
(2) Department means the department of education created and existing
pursuant to section 24-1-115, C.R.S.
(3) District charter school means a charter school authorized by a school
district pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title.
(3.5) Dyslexia means a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in
origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and
by poor spelling and word-decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from
a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in
relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom
instruction. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include problems in reading
comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of
vocabulary and background knowledge.
(3.7) Encoding means the process of translating spoken sounds into
written letters that reflects an understanding of sound-symbol relationships and
conventional spelling patterns.
(4) Evidence based means the instruction or item described is based on
reliable, trustworthy, and valid evidence and has demonstrated a record of success
in adequately increasing students' reading competency in the areas of phonemic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills,
and reading comprehension.
(5) Institute charter school means a charter school authorized by the state
charter school institute pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.
(6) Local education provider means a school district, a board of cooperative
services, a district charter school, or an institute charter school.
(7) Master settlement agreement means the master settlement
agreement, the smokeless tobacco master settlement agreement, and the consent
decree approved and entered by the court in the case denominated State of
Colorado, ex rel. Gale A. Norton, Attorney General v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.;
American Tobacco Co., Inc.; Brown &Williamson Tobacco Corp.; Liggett & Myers, Inc.;
Lorillard Tobacco Co., Inc.; Philip Morris, Inc.; United States Tobacco Co.; B.A.T.
Industries, P.L.C.; The Council For Tobacco Research--U.S.A., Inc.; and Tobacco
Institute, Inc., Case No. 97 CV 3432, in the district court for the city and county of
Denver.
(7.5) Multi-tiered systems of supports means a systemic preventive
approach that addresses the academic and social-emotional needs of all students
at the universal, targeted, and intensive levels. Through the multi-tiered systems of
supports, a teacher provides high-quality, scientifically based or evidence-based
instruction and intervention that is matched to student needs; uses a method of
monitoring progress frequently to inform decisions about instruction and goals; and
applies the student's response data to important educational decisions.
(7.6) Oral reading fluency means the ability to read text orally with
accuracy, expression, and at an appropriate rate in order to facilitate reading
comprehension.
(7.7) Oral skills means aptitude with expressive and receptive oral
language, including vocabulary, syntax, language comprehension, oral reading
fluency, and comprehension.
(8) (a) Parent means a student's biological or adoptive parent, stepparent,
foster parent, or legal guardian.
(b) As provided in section 2-4-102, C.R.S., the singular use of parent
includes the plural, and local education providers shall, to the extent practicable,
involve both of a student's parents, as defined in this subsection (8), in
implementing the provisions of this part 12.
(9) Per-pupil intervention money means the money calculated and
distributed to local education providers pursuant to section 22-7-1210.5.
(9.5) Phonemic awareness means the ability to segment a word into the
word's component sounds, or phonemes.
(9.7) Phonics means explicit and systematic instruction in sound-symbol
recognition that teaches the relationships between the letters and letter patterns
of written language and the individual sounds of spoken language. Phonics
instruction includes the development of alphabetic knowledge, word-decoding
skills, and encoding skills, supporting accurate and automatic word recognition and
oral reading fluency.
(9.9) Phonological processing means the ability to recognize and
manipulate a word's component sounds through phonological awareness,
phonological memory, and phonological retrieval or rapid naming.
(10) Reading competency means a student meets the grade level
expectations in reading adopted by the state board.
(10.5) Reading competency skill means a student meets the student's
grade level expectations in reading skills as adopted by the state board pursuant to
section 22-7-1209 (1)(a).
(10.6) Reading comprehension means the ability to understand and
interpret written language.
(11) Reading to ensure academic development plan or READ plan means
an intervention plan created pursuant to section 22-7-1206 to remediate a student's
significant reading deficiency.
(12) Repealed.
(13) School district means a school district, other than a local college
district, organized and existing pursuant to law.
(14) Scientifically based means that the instruction or item described is
based on research that applies rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to
obtain valid knowledge that is relevant to reading development, reading instruction,
and reading difficulties.
(15) Significant reading deficiency means that a student does not meet the
minimum skill levels for reading competency in the areas of phonemic awareness,
phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading
comprehension established by the state board pursuant to section 22-7-1209 for
the student's grade level.
(16) State board means the state board of education created pursuant to
section 1 of article IX of the state constitution.
(17) Teacher means the educator who is the main instructor for a class of
students or an educator who provides specific literacy instruction to selected
students.
(18) Vocabulary development means the process of learning new words
and their meanings.
(19) Word decoding means the ability to accurately and efficiently
translate written letters and letter patterns into their corresponding sounds in
spoken language, using knowledge of sound-symbol relationships.