(a)The Agency of Education shall review and publish guidance on universal reading screeners based on established criteria that are based on technical adequacy, attention to linguistic diversity, administrative usability, and valid measures of the developmental skills in early literacy, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The Agency shall include in its guidance instances in which schools can leverage assessments that meet overlapping requirements and guidelines to maximize the use of assessments that provide the necessary data to understand student needs while minimizing the number of assessments used and the disruption of instructional time.
(b)Each public and approved independent school that is eligible to receive public tuition shall screen a
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(a) The Agency of Education shall review and publish guidance on universal reading screeners based on established criteria that are based on technical adequacy, attention to linguistic diversity, administrative usability, and valid measures of the developmental skills in early literacy, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The Agency shall include in its guidance instances in which schools can leverage assessments that meet overlapping requirements and guidelines to maximize the use of assessments that provide the necessary data to understand student needs while minimizing the number of assessments used and the disruption of instructional time.
(b) Each public and approved independent school that is eligible to receive public tuition shall screen all students in kindergarten through grade three, at least annually, using age and grade-level appropriate universal reading screeners. The universal screeners shall be given in accordance with best practices and the technical specifications of the specific screener used.
(c)(1) If such screenings determine that a student is significantly below relevant benchmarks as determined by the screener’s guidelines for age-level or grade-level typical development in specific literacy skills, the school shall determine which actions within the general education program will meet the student’s needs, including differentiated or supplementary evidence-based reading instruction and ongoing monitoring of progress. Within 30 calendar days following a screening result that is significantly below the relevant benchmarks, the school shall inform the student’s parent or guardian of the screening results and the school’s response.
(2) Additional diagnostic assessment and evidence-based curriculum and instruction for students demonstrating a substantial deficit in reading or dyslexia characteristics shall be determined by data-informed decision making within existing processes in accordance with required federal and State law.
(d) Evidence-based reading instructional practices, programs, or interventions provided pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be effective, explicit, systematic, and consistent with federal and State guidance and shall address the foundational concepts of literacy proficiency, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
(e)(1) Each supervisory union and approved independent school that is eligible to receive public tuition shall annually report to the Agency, in a format prescribed by the Agency, the following information and prior year performance, by school:
(A) the number and percentage of students in kindergarten through grade three performing below proficiency on local and statewide reading assessments, as applicable; and
(B) the universal reading screeners utilized.
(2) The Agency shall provide guidance to supervisory unions and approved independent schools that are eligible to receive public tuition on whether, and if so, how, the data provided pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection may be disaggregated based on poverty, the provision of special education services, or any other category the Agency deems relevant to understanding the status of the State’s progress to improve literacy learning.
(f) On or before January 15 of each year, the Agency shall issue a written report to the Governor and the Senate and House Committees on Education on the status of State progress to improve literacy learning. The report shall include the information required pursuant to subdivision (e)(1) of this section. (Added 2023, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 30, 2024.)