H.B. 145 Enrolled

READING ACHIEVEMENT IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS -
KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE THREE
2001 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Karen W. Morgan
This act modifies provisions related to the State System of Public Education by setting a goal
of having 90% or more of all third graders reading on or above grade level by the end of the
third grade by 2006. The act requires an annual report on the percentage of students
reading on or above grade level in the first, second, and third grades by school and by school
district. The act requires each elementary school to develop a plan to achieve the reading
goal and requires the plan to have assessment, intervention, and reporting components.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
AMENDS:
53A-1-606.5, as enacted by Chapter 57, Laws of Utah 1999
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 53A-1-606.5 is amended to read:
53A-1-606.5. Reading achievement in grades one through three -- Monitoring --
Reporting -- Additional instruction.
(1) (a) The Legislature recognizes that:
(i) reading is the most fundamental skill, the gateway to knowledge and lifelong learning;
(ii) there is an ever increasing demand for literacy in the highly technological society we
live in;
(iii) students who do not learn to read will be economically and socially disadvantaged;
(iv) reading problems exist in almost every classroom;
(v) almost all reading failure is preventable if reading difficulties are diagnosed and treated
by no later than the end of the third grade; and
(vi) early identification and treatment of reading difficulties can result in students learning
to read by the end of the third grade.
(b) It is therefore [a]:

(i) the long-term goal of the state to have every student in the state's public education system
reading on or above grade level by the end of the third grade[.]; and
(ii) the short-term goal of the state to have 90% or more of all third graders reading on or
above grade level by the end of the third grade in 2006.
(c) (i) The superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee shall make
an annual report to the State Board of Education and to the Legislature's Education Interim
Committee on the goals established in Subsection (1)(b).
(ii) The information shall be reported as part of the U-PASS testing program as required
under Section 53A-3-602.5 , beginning with the 2001-02 school year, and include the following for
each school district and elementary school:
(A) the number and percent of all students reading on or above grade level at the end of the
first, second, and third grades;
(B) the annual reading achievement growth from the prior year and cumulative reading
achievement growth from the base year of 2001-02 in the percent of students reading on or above
grade level for each year;
(C) those schools that reach the 90% reading achievement goal or achieve a sufficient
magnitude of gain each year as determined by the State Board of Education from the 2001-02 base
year or do both; and
(D) those elementary schools that fail to achieve a sufficient magnitude of gain each year as
determined by the State Board of Education from the 2001-02 base year.
(d) The State Board of Education, through the superintendent of public instruction, shall
determine as part of the U-PASS testing program:
(i) the appropriate statewide tests to assess reading levels at the end of each year in the first,
second, and third grades;
(ii) an appropriate standard or cut score on each assessment for determining grade level
reading mastery; and
(iii) the actual percent of students reading on or above grade level in the first, second, and
third grades at each public elementary school as required under Subsection (1)(c)(i) by dividing the

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headcount enrollment of students reading on or above grade level at that grade by the headcount
enrollment of students in the building at that grade on the date that the reading assessment is
administered.
(2) [In order to ensure that all students are reading on or above the third grade level by the
end of the third grade, the State Board of Education and local] Local school boards shall [work with
the Legislature, through its interim committees and any task force that may be created to study and
review accountability in public education] annually review the U-PASS data regarding reading at
school and district levels and shall work with districts and schools to review and revise plans as
needed to meet the goal set in Subsection (1)(b).
(3) (a) Each school district shall [work with] require the elementary schools within its district
boundaries to develop, in conjunction with all other school planning processes and requirements, a
[school] reading achievement plan at each school [focused on having all students reading at the third
grade level by the end of the third grade] for its kindergarten, first, second, and third graders to reach
the reading goals set in Subsection (1)(b).
(b) The school principal shall take primary responsibility to provide leadership and allocate
resources and support for teachers and students, most particularly for those who are reading below
grade level, to achieve the reading goals.
(c) Each reading achievement plan shall include:
(i) an assessment component that:
(A) identifies those students who are reading below grade level;
(B) uses U-PASS and local assessment information throughout the year to determine
students' instructional needs; and
(C) is consistent with the exemption provisions of Subsection 53A-1-603 (3)(c) regarding
such students as students with disabilities or limited English proficiency;
(ii) an intervention component:
(A) that provides adequate and appropriate interventions focused on bringing each student
up to reading at or above grade level and which would permit retention in the grade level of a student
reading below grade level based on a joint determination made by the principal or the principal's

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designee, the student's teacher, and the student's parent;
(B) based on best practices identified through proven researched-based methods;
(C) that includes parental participation; and
(D) that, as resources allow, involves a reading specialist; and
(iii) a reporting component consistent with the data to be included in the school performance
report required under Section 53A-3-602.5 .
(4) The school district shall approve each school's plan prior to its implementation and
review each plan annually.

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