House Study Bill 650 - Introduced
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BY (PROPOSED GOVERNOR BILL)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to elementary literacy by modifying teacher
2 preparation program requirements and teacher licensing
3 requirements, requiring personalized reading plans for
4 certain students, and providing parent and guardian
5 discretion for their students to be retained at grade level.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 256.16, subsection 1, Code 2024, is
2 amended by adding the following new paragraph:
3 NEW PARAGRAPH. m. (1) Administer, prior to a student’s
4 completion of the approved practitioner preparation program, an
5 examination identical to the foundations of reading assessment
6 administered in 2012 as part of the Massachusetts tests
7 for educator licensure, or the most current version of such
8 assessment. To successfully complete the program, a student
9 must attain a score on the assessment that is at or above
10 the minimum passing score established by the department. In
11 establishing the minimum passing score for purposes of this
12 paragraph, the department shall consider the minimum passing
13 score recommended by the developer of the assessment and the
14 current teaching standards in this state.
15 (2) The higher education institution shall report to the
16 department no later than August 1 annually, in the form and
17 manner prescribed by the department, the percentage of students
18 whose scores on the assessment administered during the prior
19 school year were above, at, and below the passing score, and
20 shall report any services or opportunities to retake the
21 assessment the institution may make available to a student
22 who fails the assessment. The department shall compile the
23 reports submitted under this subparagraph and publish on the
24 department’s internet site the compiled reports related to
25 students enrolled in the practitioner preparation program who
26 plan to teach in kindergarten through grade six.
27 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256.166 Literacy instruction
28 assessment.
29 1. The board shall require all teachers who provide
30 instruction in kindergarten through grade six to take and pass
31 the assessment described in section 256.16, subsection 1,
32 paragraph “m”, on or before July 1, 2027. This subsection shall
33 not apply to any of the following:
34 a. Teachers who took and passed the assessment during a
35 practitioner preparation program.
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1 b. Teachers who have previously taken and passed the
2 assessment administered pursuant to this subsection.
3 2. When determining whether a teacher has passed the
4 assessment administered pursuant to subsection 1, the board
5 shall utilize the current minimum passing score established by
6 the department.
7 Sec. 3. Section 279.68, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
8 by adding the following new paragraphs:
9 NEW PARAGRAPH. c. (1) Each school district shall provide
10 written notice to the parent or guardian of any student in
11 grade three who is not reading proficiently of the student’s
12 level of reading or reading readiness. The written notice
13 shall contain a description of the parent’s or guardian’s
14 authority to request that the student be retained in grade
15 three pursuant to subparagraph (2).
16 (2) A school district shall not promote a student who is
17 not reading proficiently to grade four, and shall retain the
18 student in grade three for the subsequent school year, if the
19 student’s parent or guardian submits to the school district a
20 request that the student be retained in grade three pursuant to
21 subparagraph (1).
22 (3) Notwithstanding subparagraph (2), if during the
23 student’s grade three year, the administrator and the student’s
24 classroom teacher provide evidence to the student’s parent
25 or guardian that the student has made adequate progress and
26 is reading at grade level, as determined by the student’s
27 consistently proficient performance on valid and reliable
28 measures of reading ability, the student’s parent or guardian
29 may withdraw the request and the school district may promote
30 the student to grade four.
31 NEW PARAGRAPH. d. A school district shall provide to
32 students who are not reading proficiently at the start of
33 the student’s grade three school year with a personalized
34 reading plan. The school district shall continue to provide
35 personalized reading plans to students in grade three through
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1 the end of grade six if necessary, until the student is reading
2 at grade level, as determined by the student’s consistently
3 proficient performance on valid and reliable measures of
4 reading ability.
5 Sec. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection
6 3, shall not apply to this Act.
7 EXPLANATION
8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
9 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
10 This bill relates to elementary literacy by modifying
11 teacher preparation program requirements and teacher licensing
12 requirements, requiring personalized reading plans for certain
13 students, and providing parent and guardian discretion for
14 their students to be retained at grade level.
15 The bill requires higher education institutions providing
16 practitioner preparation programs to administer, prior to a
17 student’s completion of the program, an examination identical
18 to the foundations of reading assessment administered in 2012
19 as part of the Massachusetts tests for educator licensure,
20 or the most current version of such assessment. The bill
21 establishes that, to successfully complete the program,
22 a student must attain a score on the assessment that is
23 at or above the minimum passing score established by the
24 department. In establishing the minimum passing score, the
25 bill requires the department to consider the minimum passing
26 score recommended by the developer of the assessment and the
27 current teaching standards in this state. The bill requires
28 higher education institutions to report to the department
29 annually the scores students receive on the assessment and
30 any services or opportunities the institution makes available
31 to students who fail the assessment. Additionally, the bill
32 requires the department to compile these reports and publish
33 on the department’s internet site the compiled reports related
34 to students enrolled in the program who plan to teach in
35 kindergarten through grade six.
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1 The bill establishes that the board of educational examiners
2 shall require all teachers who provide instruction in
3 kindergarten through grade six to take and pass the assessment
4 on or before July 1, 2027. The bill provides that this
5 requirement does not apply to teachers who took and passed the
6 assessment during a practitioner preparation program or to
7 teachers who have previously taken and passed the assessment
8 administered pursuant to this provision.
9 The bill requires a school district to provide written
10 notice to the parent or guardian of any student in grade
11 three who is not reading proficiently of the student’s level
12 of reading or reading readiness. The bill provides that the
13 written notice shall indicate that if the parent or guardian
14 submits a request that the student be retained in grade three,
15 the school district shall not promote the student to grade four
16 but shall retain the student at grade three for the subsequent
17 school year. However, the bill establishes that, if during the
18 student’s grade three year, the administrator and the student’s
19 classroom teacher provide evidence to the student’s parent or
20 guardian that the student has made adequate progress and is
21 reading at grade level, the student’s parent or guardian may
22 withdraw the request and the school district may promote the
23 student to grade four.
24 The bill requires a school district to provide to students
25 who are not reading proficiently at the start of the student’s
26 grade three school year with a personalized reading plan.
27 The bill provides that the school district shall continue to
28 provide such plans to students in grade three through the end
29 of grade six if necessary.
30 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
31 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2,
32 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from
33 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of
34 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore,
35 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state
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1 mandate included in the bill.
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Statutes affected: Introduced: 256.16