SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL 724
52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE; ENACTING THE READING SUCCESS ACT; ALLOWING RETENTION OF STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH SECOND GRADE WHO DO NOT DEMONSTRATE READING PROFICIENCY; REQUIRING INTERVENTION, REMEDIATION AND READING IMPROVEMENT PLANS FOR STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE WHO DO NOT DEMONSTRATE READING PROFICIENCY; REQUIRING RETENTION OF CERTAIN STUDENTS IN THIRD GRADE WHO DO NOT DEMONSTRATE READING PROFICIENCY, WITH EXCEPTIONS; REQUIRING INTERVENTION AND REMEDIATION FOR STUDENTS IN FOURTH THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE WHO DO NOT DEMONSTRATE PROFICIENCY IN READING; PROVIDING FOR ASSESSMENT OF READING AND ACADEMIC GROWTH OF STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE; REQUIRING MAINTENANCE OF STUDENT INTERVENTION FILES IN ACCOUNTABILITY REPORTS; REQUIRING REPORTING TO THE LEGISLATURE; REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Reading Success Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Reading Success Act:
A. "English language learner" means a student whose first or heritage language is not English and who is unable to read, write, speak or understand English at a level comparable to grade level English-proficient peers and native English speakers;
B. "intensive targeted instruction" means extra instruction for individual students or small groups of students that shall be no less than twenty minutes per day and five days per week or the weekly equivalent;
C. "intervention" means intensive targeted instruction for individual students or small groups of students aligned with the results of a valid and reliable assessment and, if applicable, response to intervention;
D. "reading improvement plan" means a written document developed by the student assistance team that describes the specific reading standards required for a certain grade level that a student has not achieved and that prescribes specific intervention and remediation that have demonstrated effectiveness and may include, if appropriate, retention in kindergarten and first and second grades;
E. "reading proficiency" or "proficient in reading" means a state score on the statewide standards-based assessment or reading assessment or reading screening assessment that is higher than the lowest level established by the department;
F. "reading screening assessment" means a school-district-determined and developmentally appropriate assessment that measures the acquisition of reading skills, including phonological awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. For English language learners, the screening shall be a school-district-determined and developmentally appropriate English language assessment that is the same for all school districts and approved by the department;
G. "remediation" includes summer school, extended- day or -week programs, tutoring, progress-based monitoring and other research-based models for student improvement;
H. "school district" includes both a school district and a locally chartered or state-chartered charter school;
I. "student assistance team" means a collaborative group consisting of a student's:
(1) teacher;
(2) school counselor;
(3) school administrator;
(4) parent; and
(5) if the student or parent wishes, a student advocate chosen by the parent; and
J. "valid and reliable assessment" means an assessment that:
(1) is appropriate to targeted populations; and
(2) is thoroughly tested, peer-reviewed and accepted by authorities and practitioners in the field."
SECTION 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE PROMOTIONS--INTERVENTION--REMEDIATION--RETENTION POLICIES.--
A. Effective with the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, school districts shall provide reading improvement plans that include intervention and remediation for students in kindergarten through third grade who have not demonstrated reading proficiency. Beginning in kindergarten and through third grade, intervention and reading improvement plans and promotion policies shall be adopted and aligned with the reading screening assessment results and state standards.
B. The reading screening assessment shall be given in kindergarten through third grade and, if appropriate, may be given in the student's first or second language. If a student does not demonstrate reading proficiency, a reading improvement plan shall be implemented for that student. The process for assessing students in kindergarten through third grade is as follows:
(1) at the end of the first nine weeks of the school year, school districts shall administer the reading screening assessment to students enrolled in kindergarten;
(2) at the beginning of the school year, school districts shall administer the reading screening assessment to students enrolled in first through third grade; and
(3) if the reading screening assessment results for a student in kindergarten through third grade indicate that a student is not proficient in reading, the parent shall be given notice that the student shall be provided with intensive targeted instruction. The student assistance team shall develop a reading improvement plan for the student that clearly delineates the student's reading deficiencies and the intervention and remediation that shall be included in the plan, including the specific strategies for a parent to use in helping the student achieve reading proficiency. If a parent refuses to allow the student to participate in any prescribed intervention or remediation, the school district shall provide an appropriate form that must be signed by the parent that clearly indicates the parent's refusal to allow the student to participate in the prescribed intervention or remediation.
C. Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, a student who is not proficient in reading at the end of kindergarten, first or second grade may be retained pursuant to the student assistance team recommendation. If a parent does not allow the student to be retained in accordance with the student assistance team recommendation, the school district shall provide an appropriate form that must be signed by the parent that clearly indicates the parent's refusal to allow the student to be retained.
D. Except as provided in Section 5 of the Reading Success Act, beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, at the end of third grade, grade promotion and retention decisions for each student shall be based upon the determination that the student is:
(1) proficient in reading and shall enter the fourth grade;
(2) not proficient in reading and may participate in remediation opportunities that may be available to the student before the beginning of the next school year. Upon certification by the school district that the student is proficient in reading, the student shall enter the fourth grade; or
(3) not proficient in reading after completion of the prescribed intervention and remediation and shall be retained in the same grade with an appropriate reading improvement plan that is different from the prior year's reading improvement plan developed by the student assistance team or the same plan for the following year if the student is showing growth, and the student shall be referred to the principal, who, in consultation with the teacher and the student assistance team, may recommend promotion to the fourth grade; provided that the student:
(a) is not habitually truant; and
(b) has completed at least two reading improvement plans that are different from each other or a single reading improvement plan that has demonstrated growth in two successive years of implementation.
E. No student shall be retained more than once in kindergarten through third grade as a result of not having attained reading proficiency."
SECTION 4. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] FOURTH THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE PROMOTIONS-- INTERVENTION--REMEDIATION.--
A. In fourth through eighth grades, the cost of reading improvement plans shall be borne by the school district. Reading proficiency plans and promotion policies shall be aligned with the school-district-approved valid and reliable assessment and state standards of excellence.
B. A parent shall be notified in writing no later than the end of the second grading period of each school year in fourth through eighth grades that the parent's student is not proficient in reading, and a conference with the student assistance team shall be held to discuss strategies, including intervention and remediation available to assist the student in becoming proficient in reading. The student's specific reading deficiencies and the available strategies, intervention and remediation shall be presented orally or in writing to the student's parent and an improvement plan shall be developed that contains time lines, expectations and the measurements to be used to verify that a student has overcome reading deficiencies. The parent shall be provided with specific strategies to use in helping the student achieve reading proficiency. The reading improvement plan shall be implemented immediately.
C. At the end of fourth through eighth grades, promotion decisions for each student shall be based on the determination that the student is:
(1) proficient in reading and shall enter the next highest grade; or
(2) not proficient in reading and shall participate in the required level of remediation. A reading proficiency plan shall be developed by the student assistance team outlining time lines and monitoring activities to ensure progress toward overcoming the student's deficiencies in reading. Students who have been evaluated to determine the nature of their deficiencies in reading and who have received intervention and remediation that are different from the previous year's intervention and remediation but fail to become proficient in reading at the end of that year, as measured by grades, performance on screening assessments and other measures identified by the school district, shall be provided with an alternate program that shall be implemented immediately.
D. The cost of summer school and extended day intervention and remediation programs offered in ninth through twelfth grades shall be borne by the parent; provided, however, that in cases in which parents are determined to be indigent according to guidelines established by the department, the school district shall bear those costs.
E. A student in fourth through eighth grades who does not demonstrate reading proficiency for two successive school years shall be referred to the student assistance team for placement in an alternate program designed by the school district. Alternate program plans shall be filed with the department."
SECTION 5. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] EXCEPTIONS.--The provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Reading Success Act do not apply to a student who:
A. scores at least at the fiftieth percentile on a department-approved, norm-referenced assessment or at the proficient level on an alternative school-district-approved criterion-referenced assessment;
B. demonstrates reading proficiency on a teacher-developed portfolio that is equal to at least a proficient performance on the statewide standards-based assessments;
C. shows sufficient academic growth by meeting acceptable levels of academic performance specified by the department;
D. is an English language learner who is proficient in a language other than English on a valid and reliable reading assessment or, for a speaker of another language, who has had less than two years of instruction in English; or
E. is a student with a disability who shall be assessed, promoted or retained in accordance with the provisions of the student's individualized education program."
SECTION 6. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] STUDENT INTERVENTION FILE--REPORTING.--
A. For each student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency in kindergarten through eighth grade, the school shall maintain a student intervention file that contains a copy of the written notice to the student's parent and a description of the implemented reading improvement plan that includes intervention and remediation. The student intervention file shall be maintained as part of the student's permanent record.
B. By May 15 of each year, each school district shall include in its annual accountability report:
(1) the number and percentage of students in each grade identified as requiring intervention;
(2) the number and percentage of students in each grade who received intervention and remediation and:
(a) achieved reading proficiency within the school year; or
(b) did not achieve reading proficiency within the school year, were recommended for retention and: 1) were retained in the same grade; or 2) were not retained having met at least one of the conditions in Section 5 of the Reading Success Act;
(3) reading proficiency data for students who did not achieve reading proficiency and were promoted to the next higher grade due to a parental waiver;
(4) reading proficiency data for student assistance team promotion and retention decisions regarding students who previously were promoted to the next higher grade because of a parental waiver; and
(5) reading proficiency data for students for whom the student assistance team recommended retention in the prior year, who were retained and who are currently being promoted to the next higher grade for the subsequent year.
C. The department shall develop a report to be presented to the legislative education study committee at its October meeting to include the data derived from the accountability reports received from each school district."
SECTION 7. REPEAL.--Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 7, as amended) is repealed.
SECTION 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2015.
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