FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 239
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
0873S.03C
AN ACT
To repeal section 167.645, RSMo 2000, relating to promotion of students, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject, with an emergency clause.
Section A. Section 167.645, RSMo 2000, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 167.645, to read as follows:
167.645. [No public school student shall be promoted to a higher grade level unless that student has a reading ability level at or above one grade level below the student's grade level; except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to students receiving special education services pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999, RSMo.] 1. For purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Reading assessment", a recognized method of judging a public school student's reading ability, with results expressed as reading at a particular grade level. The term reading assessment shall include, but is not limited to, standard checklists designed for use as a public school student reads out loud, paper-and-pencil tests promulgated by nationally recognized organizations and other recognized methods of determining a public school student's reading accuracy, expression, fluency and comprehension in order to make a determination of the public school student's grade-level reading ability. Assessments which do not give a grade-level result may be used in combination with other assessments to reach a grade-level determination. Districts are encouraged but not required to select assessment methods identified pursuant to section 167.346. Districts are also encouraged to use multiple methods of assessment;
(2) "Summer school", for reading instruction purposes, a minimum of forty hours of reading instruction and practice. A school district may arrange the hours and days of instruction to coordinate with its regular program of summer school.
2. For purposes of this section, methods of reading assessment shall be determined by each school district. Unless a student has been determined in the current school year to be reading at grade level or above, each school district shall administer a reading assessment or set of assessments to each student within forty-five days of the end of the third-grade year, except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to students receiving special education services under an individualized education plan pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.999, RSMo. The assessment required by this subsection shall also be required for students who enter a district in grades 4, 5 or 6 unless such student has been determined in the current school year to be reading at grade level or above.
3. Beginning with school year 2002-2003, for each student whose third-grade reading assessment determines that such student is reading below second-grade level, the school district shall design a reading improvement plan for the student's fourth-grade year. Such reading improvement plan shall include, at a minimum, thirty hours of additional reading instruction or practice outside the regular school day during the fourth-grade year. The school district shall determine the method of reading instruction necessary to enforce this subsection. The school district may also require the student to attend summer school for reading instruction as a condition of promotion to fourth grade. The school board shall notify, in writing, the parents or others having custodial care of any pupil for whom a reading improvement plan will be established pursuant to this section prior to the establishment of said plan, and shall notify such parent or others having custodial care of such person's opportunity to participate in the implementation of the plan pursuant to written policy of the school board.
4. Each student for whom a reading improvement plan has been designed pursuant to subsection 3 of this section shall be given another reading assessment, to be administered within forty-five days of the end of such student's fourth-grade year. If such student is determined to be reading below third-grade level, the student shall be required to attend summer school to receive reading instruction. At the end of such summer school instruction, such student shall be given another reading assessment. If such student is determined to be reading below third-grade level, the district shall provide a reading improvement plan for the student's fifth-grade year.
5. The process described in subsections 3 and 4 of this section shall be repeated as necessary through the end of the sixth grade, with the grade level requirement rising accordingly.
6. The mandatory process of additional reading instruction pursuant to this section shall cease at the end of the sixth grade. The permanent record of students who are determined to be reading below the fifth-grade level at the end of sixth grade shall carry a notation advising that such student has not met minimal reading standards. The notation shall stay on the student's record until such time as the district determines that a student has met minimal reading standards.
7. Each school district shall be required to offer summer school reading instruction to any student with a reading improvement plan. Districts may fulfill the requirement of this section through cooperative arrangements with neighboring districts.
8. A school district may adopt a policy that requires retention in grade of any student who has been determined to require summer school instruction in reading and who does not fulfill the summer school attendance requirement.
9. Nothing in this section shall preclude a school district from retaining any student in grade when a determination is made in accordance with district policy that retention is in the best interests of the student.
10. The state board of education shall not incorporate information about the number of students receiving additional instruction pursuant to this section into any element of any standard of the Missouri school improvement program or its successor assessment program.
11. Each school district shall make a systematic effort to inform parents of the methods and materials used to teach reading in kindergarten through fourth grade, in terms understandable to a lay person.
Section B. Because immediate action is necessary to preserve the reading ability of the elementary school students of Missouri, section 167.645 of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section 167.645 of this act shall be in full force and effect on July 1, 2001, or upon its passage and approval, whichever later occurs.