First Substitute H.B. 145

Representative Karen W. Morgan proposes to substitute the following bill:

1 READING ACHIEVEMENT IN ELEMENTARY
2 SCHOOLS - KINDERGARTEN THROUGH
3 GRADE THREE
4 2001 GENERAL SESSION
5 STATE OF UTAH
6 Sponsor: Karen W. Morgan
7 This act modifies provisions related to the State System of Public Education by setting a goal
8 of having 90% or more of all third graders reading on or above grade level by the end of the
9 third grade by 2006. The act requires an annual report on the percentage of students
10 reading on or above grade level in the first, second, and third grades by school and by school
11 district. The act requires each elementary school to develop a plan to achieve the reading
12 goal and requires the plan to have assessment, intervention, and reporting components.
13 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
14 AMENDS:
15 53A-1-606.5, as enacted by Chapter 57, Laws of Utah 1999
16 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
17 Section 1. Section 53A-1-606.5 is amended to read:
18 53A-1-606.5. Reading achievement in grades one through three -- Monitoring --
19 Reporting -- Additional instruction.
20 (1) (a) The Legislature recognizes that:
21 (i) reading is the most fundamental skill, the gateway to knowledge and lifelong learning;
22 (ii) there is an ever increasing demand for literacy in the highly technological society we
23 live in;
24 (iii) students who do not learn to read will be economically and socially disadvantaged;
25 (iv) reading problems exist in almost every classroom;

26 (v) almost all reading failure is preventable if reading difficulties are diagnosed and treated
27 by no later than the end of the third grade; and
28 (vi) early identification and treatment of reading difficulties can result in students learning
29 to read by the end of the third grade.
30 (b) It is therefore [a]:
31 (i) the long-term goal of the state to have every student in the state's public education
32 system reading on or above grade level by the end of the third grade[.]; and
33 (ii) the short-term goal of the state to have 90% or more of all third graders reading on or
34 above grade level by the end of the third grade in 2006.
35 (c) (i) The superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee shall make
36 an annual report to the State Board of Education and to the Legislature's Education Interim
37 Committee on the goals established in Subsection (1)(b).
38 (ii) The information shall be reported as part of the U-PASS testing program as required
39 under Section 53A-3-602.5 , beginning with the 2001-02 school year, and include the following
40 for each school district and elementary school:
41 (A) the number and percent of all students reading on or above grade level at the end of
42 the first, second, and third grades;
43 (B) the annual reading achievement growth from the prior year and cumulative reading
44 achievement growth from the base year of 2001-02 in the percent of students reading on or above
45 grade level for each year;
46 (C) those schools that reach the 90% reading achievement goal or achieve a sufficient
47 magnitude of gain each year as determined by the State Board of Education from the 2001-02 base
48 year or do both; and
49 (D) those elementary schools that fail to achieve a sufficient magnitude of gain each year
50 as determined by the State Board of Education from the 2001-02 base year.
51 (d) The State Board of Education, through the superintendent of public instruction, shall
52 determine as part of the U-PASS testing program:
53 (i) the appropriate statewide tests to assess reading levels at the end of each year in the
54 first, second, and third grades;
55 (ii) an appropriate standard or cut score on each assessment for determining grade level
56 reading mastery; and

57 (iii) the actual percent of students reading on or above grade level in the first, second, and
58 third grades at each public elementary school as required under Subsection (1)(c)(i) by dividing
59 the headcount enrollment of students reading on or above grade level at that grade by the
60 headcount enrollment of students in the building at that grade on the date that the reading
61 assessment is administered.
62 (2) [In order to ensure that all students are reading on or above the third grade level by the
63 end of the third grade, the State Board of Education and local] Local school boards shall [work
64 with the Legislature, through its interim committees and any task force that may be created to study
65 and review accountability in public education] annually review the U-PASS data regarding reading
66 at school and district levels and shall work with districts and schools to review and revise plans
67 as needed to meet the goal set in Subsection (1)(b).
68 (3) (a) Each school district shall [work with] require the elementary schools within its
69 district boundaries to develop, in conjunction with all other school planning processes and
70 requirements, a [school] reading achievement plan at each school [focused on having all students
71 reading at the third grade level by the end of the third grade] for its kindergarten, first, second, and
72 third graders to reach the reading goals set in Subsection (1)(b).
73 (b) The goals shall be the top priority of each elementary school for its kindergarten, first,
74 second, and third grade students.
75 (c) The school principal shall take primary responsibility to provide leadership and allocate
76 resources and support for teachers and students, most particularly for those who are reading below
77 grade level, to achieve the reading goals.
78 (d) Each reading achievement plan shall include:
79 (i) an assessment component that:
80 (A) identifies those students who are reading below grade level;
81 (B) uses U-PASS and local assessment information throughout the year to determine
82 students' instructional needs; and
83 (C) is consistent with the exemption provisions of Subsection 53A-1-603 (3)(c) regarding
84 such students as students with disabilities or limited English proficiency;
85 (ii) an intervention component:
86 (A) that provides adequate and appropriate interventions focused on bringing each student
87 up to reading at or above grade level and which would permit retention in the grade level of a

88 student reading below grade level based on a joint determination made by the principal or the
89 principal's designee, the student's teacher and the student's parent;
90 (B) based on best practices identified through proven researched-based methods;
91 (C) that includes parental participation; and
92 (D) that, as resources allow, involves a reading specialist; and
93 (iii) a reporting component consistent with the data to be included in the school
94 performance report required under Section 53A-3-602.5 :
95 (4) The school district shall approve each school's plan prior to its implementation and
96 review each plan annually.