1     
INTERVENTIONS FOR READING DIFFICULTIES SUNSET

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AMENDMENTS

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2019 GENERAL SESSION

4     
STATE OF UTAH

5     
Chief Sponsor: Ann Millner

6     
House Sponsor: Val L. Peterson

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8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This bill amends the Interventions for Reading Difficulties Pilot Program, including
11     extending the sunset date.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸     renames the Interventions for Reading Difficulties Pilot Program as the
15     Interventions for Reading Difficulties Program (program);
16          ▸     repeals outdated provisions related to the program;
17          ▸     modifies requirements related to the program;
18          ▸     extends the sunset date for the program from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2024; and
19          ▸     makes technical and conforming changes.
20     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21          None
22     Other Special Clauses:
23          None
24     Utah Code Sections Affected:
25     AMENDS:
26          53F-5-203, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 22 and renumbered and
27     amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 2
28          63I-1-253, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapters 107, 117, 385, 415, and
29     453
30     

31     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
32          Section 1. Section 53F-5-203 is amended to read:
33          53F-5-203. Interventions for Reading Difficulties Program.
34          (1) As used in this section:
35          (a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
36          (b) "Dyslexia" means a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and
37     characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and
38     decoding abilities that typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language
39     that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective
40     classroom instruction.
41          (c) "Local education agency" or "LEA" means:
42          (i) a school district;
43          (ii) a charter school; or
44          (iii) the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
45          (d) "Multi-Tier System of Supports" or "MTSS" means a framework integrating
46     assessment and intervention that:
47          (i) provides increasingly intensive interventions for students at risk for or experiencing
48     reading difficulties, including:
49          (A) tier II interventions that, in addition to standard classroom reading, provide
50     supplemental and targeted small group instruction in reading using evidence-based curricula;
51     and
52          (B) tier III interventions that address the specific needs of students who are the most at
53     risk or who have not responded to tier II interventions by providing frequent, intensive, and
54     targeted small group instruction using evidence-based curricula; and
55          (ii) is developed to:
56          (A) maximize student achievement;
57          (B) reduce behavior problems; and
58          (C) increase long-term success.
59          (e) "Program" means the Interventions for Reading Difficulties [Pilot] Program.
60          (f) "Reading difficulty" means an impairment, including dyslexia, that negatively
61     affects a student's ability to learn to read.
62          (2) There is created the Interventions for Reading Difficulties [Pilot] Program to
63     provide:
64          (a) specific evidence-based literacy interventions using an MTSS for students in
65     kindergarten through grade 5 who are at risk for or experiencing a reading difficulty, including
66     dyslexia; and
67          (b) professional development to educators who provide the literacy interventions
68     described in Subsection (2)(a).
69          (3) (a) An LEA may submit a proposal to the board to participate in the program.
70          (b) An LEA proposal described in Subsection (3)(a) shall:
71          (i) specify:
72          (A) a range of current benchmark assessment in reading scores described in Section
73     53E-4-307 that the LEA will use to determine whether a student is at risk for a reading
74     difficulty; and
75          (B) other reading difficulty risk factors that the LEA will use to determine whether a
76     student is at risk for a reading difficulty;
77          (ii) describe the LEA's existing reading program;
78          (iii) describe the LEA's MTSS approach; and
79          (iv) include any other information requested by the board.
80          (c) The board may:
81          (i) specify the format for an LEA proposal; and
82          (ii) set a deadline for an LEA to submit a proposal.
83          (4) The board shall:
84          (a) define criteria for selecting an LEA to participate in the program;
85          (b) [during fiscal year 2016, select five] select LEAs to participate in the program:
86          (i) on a competitive basis; and
87          (ii) using criteria described in Subsection (4)(a); and
88          (c) subject to legislative appropriations, provide each LEA, selected as described in
89     Subsection (4)(b), up to $30,000 per school within the LEA.
90          [(5) During fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019, if funding allows, the board may select
91     additional LEAs to participate in the program.]
92          [(6) An LEA that participates in the program:]
93          [(a) shall, beginning with the 2016-17 school year, provide the interventions described
94     in Subsection (7)(c) from the time the LEA is selected until the end of the 2018-19 school year;
95     and]
96          [(b) may provide the professional development described in Subsections (8)(a) and (b)
97     beginning in fiscal year 2016.]
98          [(7)] (5) An LEA that participates in the program shall:
99          (a) select at least one school in the LEA to participate in the program;
100          (b) identify students in kindergarten through grade 5 for participation in the program
101     by:
102          (i) using current benchmark assessment in reading scores as described in Section
103     53E-4-307; and
104          (ii) considering other reading difficulty risk factors identified by the LEA;
105          (c) provide interventions for each student participating in the program using an MTSS
106     implemented by an educator trained in evidence-based interventions;
107          (d) include the LEA's proposal submitted under Subsection (3)(b) in the reading
108     achievement plan described in Section 53E-4-306 for each school in the LEA that participates
109     in the program; [and]
110          (e) participate in training provided by the state board; and
111          [(e)] (f) report annually to the board on:
112          (i) individual student outcomes in changes in reading ability;
113          (ii) school level outcomes; and
114          (iii) any other information requested by the board.
115          [(8)] (6) Subject to funding for the program, an LEA may use the funds described in
116     Subsection (4)(c) for the following purposes:
117          (a) to provide for ongoing professional development in evidence-based literacy
118     interventions;
119          (b) to support educators in earning a reading interventionist credential that prepares
120     teachers to provide a student who is at risk for or experiencing reading difficulty, including
121     dyslexia, with reading intervention that is:
122          (i) explicit;
123          (ii) systematic; and
124          (iii) targeted to a student's specific reading difficulty; and
125          (c) to implement the program.
126          [(9)] (7) The board shall contract with an independent evaluator to evaluate the
127     program on:
128          (a) whether the program improves reading outcomes for a student who receives the
129     interventions described in Subsection [(7)] (5)(c);
130          (b) whether the program may reduce [future special education costs] the need for a
131     student to be referred for possible special education services; and
132          (c) any other student or school achievement outcomes requested by the board.
133          [(10) (a) The board shall make a final report on the program to the Education Interim
134     Committee on or before November 1, 2018.]
135          [(b) In the final report described in Subsection (10)(a), the board shall include the
136     results of the evaluation described in Subsection (9).]
137          Section 2. Section 63I-1-253 is amended to read:
138          63I-1-253. Repeal dates, Titles 53 through 53G.
139          The following provisions are repealed on the following dates:
140          [(1) Subsection 53-10-202(18) is repealed July 1, 2018.]
141          [(2) Section 53-10-202.1 is repealed July 1, 2018.]
142          [(3)] (1) Title 53B, Chapter 17, Part 11, USTAR Researchers, is repealed July 1, 2028.
143          [(4)] (2) Section 53B-18-1501 is repealed July 1, 2021.
144          [(5)] (3) Title 53B, Chapter 18, Part 16, USTAR Researchers, is repealed July 1, 2028.
145          [(6)] (4) Section 53B-24-402, Rural residency training program, is repealed July 1,
146     2020.
147          [(7)] (5) Subsection 53C-3-203(4)(b)(vii), which provides for the distribution of money
148     from the Land Exchange Distribution Account to the Geological Survey for test wells, other
149     hydrologic studies, and air quality monitoring in the West Desert, is repealed July 1, 2020.
150          [(8)] (6) Section 53E-3-515 is repealed January 1, 2023.
151          [(9)] (7) Section 53F-2-514 is repealed July 1, 2020.
152          [(10)] (8) Section 53F-5-203 is repealed July 1, [2019] 2024.
153          [(11)] (9) Title 53F, Chapter 5, Part 6, American Indian and Alaskan Native Education
154     State Plan Pilot Program, is repealed July 1, 2022.
155          [(12)] (10) Section 53F-6-201 is repealed July 1, 2019.
156          [(13)] (11) Section 53F-9-501 is repealed January 1, 2023.
157          [(14)] (12) Subsection 53G-8-211(4) is repealed July 1, 2020.