H.B. 67

1

CHILDREN'S READING SKILLS
2 1997 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: J. Brent Haymond
5 AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR THE
6 ADMINISTRATION OF A READING PROFICIENCY TEST IN THE FIFTH GRADE;
7 REQUIRING STUDENTS TO PASS THE TEST IN ORDER TO ADVANCE TO THE SIXTH
8 GRADE; PROVIDING FOR EXEMPTIONS; PROVIDING FOR AN ASSESSMENT OF
9 EMERGING AND EARLY READING SKILLS OF CHILDREN ENTERING
10 KINDERGARTEN AND THE FIRST GRADE; PROVIDING THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS
11 MAKE AVAILABLE MATERIALS TO PARENTS TO ASSIST THEM IN HELPING THEIR
12 CHILDREN TO MASTER EMERGING READING SKILLS AND EARLY READING
13 SKILLS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
14 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
15 AMENDS:
16 53A-1-606, as enacted by Chapter 267, Laws of Utah 1990
17 53A-1-609, as enacted by Chapter 267, Laws of Utah 1990
18 ENACTS:
19 53A-3-402.9, Utah Code Annotated 1953
20 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
21 Section 1. Section 53A-1-606 is amended to read:
22 53A-1-606. Conducting of testing programs.
23 (1) (a) Each local school board shall, in accordance with rules adopted by the State Board
24 of Education, conduct a testing program within the school district.
25 (b) (i) In conjunction with the testing program required in grade five, each school shall
26 administer a reading proficiency test involving basic skills courses.
27 (ii) A student must pass the reading proficiency test in order to advance from grade five

1 to grade six.
2 (iii) The local school board may provide exceptions from Subsection (1)(b)(ii) for students
3 with disabilities and students with hardships, such as residing in a nonEnglish speaking household.
4 (2) Each board shall provide for district evaluation of the test results and use the
5 evaluations in setting goals and establishing programs for the district and schools within the
6 district.
7 (3) The local board may also administer other tests.
8 Section 2. Section 53A-1-609 is amended to read:
9 53A-1-609. Construction of part.
10 [Nothing] Except as otherwise provided in Subsection 53A-1-606(1), nothing in this part
11 shall be construed to mean or represented to require that graduation from a high school or
12 promotion to another grade is in any way dependent upon successful performance of any test
13 administered as a part of the testing program established under this part.
14 Section 3. Section 53A-3-402.9 is enacted to read:
15 53A-3-402.9. Assessment of emerging and early reading skills -- Resource provided
16 by school districts.
17 (1) The Legislature recognizes that:
18 (a) well-developed reading skills help to form the basis of children who have positive
19 self-esteem, young adults who have the necessary tools for developing learning independence, and
20 adults who are productive members of a rapidly advancing technology-based society;
21 (b) elementary teachers in the lower grades cannot bear the sole responsibility for teaching
22 basic reading skills; and
23 (c) parents represent the most fundamental resource to constructively model and reinforce
24 the emerging and early reading processes to their children, even though many parents may not feel
25 sufficiently knowledgeable or skilled to help their children learn to read.
26 (2) (a) Therefore, each local board of education shall offer free of charge to parents of each
27 child beginning kindergarten within the school district an assessment of the child's emerging
28 reading skills.
29 (b) Except for the time constraints of the first year of the program, the board shall provide
30 the service three months prior to the child entering kindergarten.
31 (c) As used in this section, "emerging reading skills" means a child's ability to understand

- 2 -

1 that:
2 (i) print forms letters, words, and sentences;
3 (ii) letters represent sounds, sounds form words, and words form ideas;
4 (iii) books are read from front to back and left to right;
5 (iv) questions are sentences needing answers; and
6 (v) reading and being read to is an enjoyable activity.
7 (d) (i) Based upon available resources, the school district shall provide parents with
8 materials to assist them in helping their child master the emerging reading skills in the child's own
9 home in the months prior to the child's first day in Kindergarten.
10 (ii) The board shall make the materials fun for the children and easy to use for all parents,
11 especially for those parents who:
12 (A) are functionally illiterate;
13 (B) do not speak English as their primary language; or
14 (C) are unsure of how to assist their child in developing emerging reading skills.
15 (3) (a) Each local school board shall offer free of charge to parents of each child entering
16 first grade within the school district an assessment of the child's early reading skills.
17 (b) Except for the time constraints of the first year of the program, the board shall provide
18 the service three months prior to the child entering the first grade.
19 (c) As used in this section, "early reading skills" means a child's ability to:
20 (i) recognize and verbally produce and sustain short vowel sounds and simple sustainable
21 consonant sounds;
22 (ii) perform the blending process for two and three-letter words which are phonetically
23 pure;
24 (iii) read simple sight words;
25 (iv) read simple sentences made of simple decodable words and sight words;
26 (v) read and understand questions made of simple decodable words and sight words; and
27 (vi) understand that reading and being read to is an enjoyable, enriching activity that leads
28 to the discovery of new ideas and opens the door to independent learning.
29 (d) (i) Based upon available resources, the school district shall provide the parents with
30 materials to assist them in helping their child master early reading skills in the child's own home
31 in the months prior to the child's first day in first grade.

- 3 -

1 (ii) The board shall make the materials fun for the children and easy to use for all parents,
2 especially those parents who:
3 (A) are functionally illiterate;
4 (B) do not speak English as their primary language; or
5 (C) are unsure of how to assist their child in reinforcing early reading skills.
6 Section 4. Effective date.
7 This act takes effect on July 1, 1997.




Legislative Review Note
as of 12-20-96 7:53 AM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

- 4 -