§ 70-1210.508F — Reading competencies for special education teachers

Oklahoma § 70-1210.508F

• Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
• Title 70: Schools

Text

— Training requirements. A. The Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability shall ensure that the reading competencies for elementary teachers are included in the competencies for special education teachers. B. The Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shall ensure that all teachers and adjuncts of early childhood education, elementary education, and special education are provided quality training in intervention, instruction, and remediation strategies in the science of reading to provide explicit and systematic instruction in phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension and implement reading strategies that research has shown to be successful in improving reading among students with reading difficulties. In addition, quality education for prospective teachers shall be provided in research-based instructional strategies for instruction, assessment, and intervention for literacy development for all students including advanced readers, typically developing readers, and struggling readers who are coping with a range of challenges including, but not limited to, English learners and learners with handicapping conditions and learning disabilities, including dyslexia. Quality training shall include guidance from professional resources such as the Report of the National Reading Panel, Response to Intervention guidelines, and professional organizations such as the Council for Exceptional Children, International Dyslexia Association, International Literacy Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and National Association for the Education of Young Children. C. All institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education that offer elementary, early childhood education, or special education programs approved by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability shall incorporate into those programs the requirement that teacher candidates study the five elements of reading instruction which are phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Teacher candidates shall study strategies including, but not limited to, instruction that is explicitly taught, sequenced, multimodal (reading, writing, speaking, listening, hands-on, etc.), multidisciplinary, and reflective to adapt for individual learners. D. Effective July 1, 2025, any person seeking initial certification in a special education, early childhood education, or elementary education program in this state shall be required to successfully complete a comprehensive reading instruction assessment approved by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability as a condition for certification. The assessment shall evaluate the certification applicant’s knowledge and understanding of the five elements of reading instruction which are phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. E. Candidates applying for adjunct positions, an alternative placement teaching certificate, or an emergency teaching certificate in elementary education shall complete instruction in the science of reading as determined by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability and the State Board of Education.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 2005, c. 431, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2005. Amended by Laws 2009, c. 97, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2017, c. 60, § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; Laws 2019, c. 208, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019; Laws 2024, c. 411, § 8, eff. July 1, 2024; Laws 2025, c. 297, § 3, eff. July 1, 2025.