§ 59-155-140 — State Reading Proficiency Plan.

(A)(1) The department, with approval by the board, shall develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine a comprehensive state plan to improve reading achievement in public schools. The State Reading Proficiency Plan must be approved by the board annually, and must include, but not be limited to, sections addressing the following components: (a) reading process; (b) professional development to increase teacher reading expertise; (c) professional development to increase reading expertise and literacy leadership of principals and assistant principals; (d) reading instruction; (e) reading assessment; (f) support for struggling readers; (g) early childhood interventions; (h) family support of literacy development; (i) district guidance and support for reading proficiency; (j) state guidance and support for reading proficiency; (k) accountability; and (l) urgency to improve reading proficiency. (2) The state plan must be based on research and evidence-based practices, aligned to the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills, and applied to the conditions prevailing in reading/literacy education in this State, with special emphasis on addressing instructional and institutional deficiencies. The plan must present and explain the scientifically based rationale for state-level actions to be taken. The plan must be updated annually and incorporate a state reading proficiency progress report. (3) The state plan must include specific details and explanations for all substantial uses of state, local, and federal funds promoting reading/literacy and best judgment estimates of the cost of scientifically based, thoroughly analyzed proposals for initiation, expansion, or modification of major funding programs addressing reading and writing. Analyses of funding requirements must be prepared by the department for incorporation into the plan. (B)(1) Each district must prepare a comprehensive annual reading proficiency plan for prekindergarten through fifth grade. (2) Each district reading proficiency plan shall: (a) document how reading and writing assessment and instruction for all PK-5 students are aligned to the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills; (b) document scientifically based interventions being provided to students who have failed to demonstrate grade-level reading proficiency; (c) include a system for helping parents understand how they can support the student as a reader at home; (d) provide for the monitoring of reading achievement and growth at the classroom, school, and district levels with decisions about intervention based on all available data; and (e) explain how the district will provide teacher training based in the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills from an approved list provided by the department. (3)(a) The department shall develop the format for the plan and the deadline for districts to submit their plans for approval. A district that does not submit a plan or whose plan is not approved shall not receive any state funds for reading until it submits a plan that is approved. All district reading plans must be reviewed and approved by the department. The department shall provide written comments to each district on its plan and to all districts on common issues raised in prior or newly submitted district reading plans. (b) The department shall monitor the district and school plans and use their findings to inform the training and support the office provides to districts and schools. (c) The department may direct a district that is persistently unable to prepare an acceptable PK-12 reading proficiency plan or to help all students comprehend grade-level texts to enter into a multidistrict or contractual arrangement to develop an effective intervention plan. (C) Each school serving students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade must prepare, submit to the district, and post on its website prior to the start of each year an implementation plan aligned with the district reading proficiency plan to enable the district to monitor and support implementation at the school level. The school plan must be a component of the school's strategic plan required by Section 59-18-1310. A school implementation plan shall be sufficiently detailed to provide practical guidance for classroom teachers. Proposed strategies for assessment, instruction, and other activities specified in the school plan must be sufficient to provide to classroom teachers and other instructional staff helpful guidance that can be related to the critical reading and writing needs of students in the school. In consultation with the School Improvement Council, each school must include in its implementation plan the training and support that will be provided to parents as needed to maximize their promotion of reading and writing by students at home and in the community. (D) The department shall identify schools serving students in sixth through eighth grade with fifty percent or more of its students scoring at the lowest achievement level on the statewide summative assessment. Each year identified, the school shall prepare, submit to the district, and post on its website prior to the start of the school year a school implementation plan aligned with the district's reading proficiency plan to enable the district to monitor and support implementation at the school level. The school implementation plan shall be sufficiently detailed to provide classroom teachers and instructional staff with strategies based in the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills for assessments, instruction, and other activities related to the critical reading and writing needs of students. In consultation with the School Improvement Council, the implementation plan shall include training and supports provided to parents as needed to maximize the promotion of reading and writing by students at home and in the community.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2014 Act No. 284 (S.516), SECTION 1, eff June 11, 2014; 2024 Act No. 114 (S.418), SECTION 4, eff March 11, 2024. Effect of Amendment 2024 Act No. 114, SECTION 4, rewrote the section.