Adopted: MSBA/MASA Model Policy 621
Revised:
621 LITERACY AND THE READ ACT
I.
PURPOSE
This policy aligns with Minnesota law established in the
Read Act and on other topics related to reading.
II.
GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
The school district
recognizes the centrality of reading in a student’s educational experience.
III. DEFINITIONS
A. "Evidence-based"
means the instruction or item described is based on reliable, trustworthy, and
valid evidence and has demonstrated a record of success in increasing students'
reading competency in the areas of phonological and phonemic awareness,
phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension.
Evidence-based literacy instruction is explicit, systematic, and includes
phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, spelling, fluency,
vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension that can be differentiated to meet
the needs of individual students. Evidence-based instruction does not include
the three-cueing system, as defined in subdivision 16.
B. "Fluency"
means the ability of students to read text accurately, automatically, and with
proper expression.
C. "Foundational reading skills" includes
phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, and fluency.
Foundational reading skills appropriate to each grade level must be mastered in
kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3. Struggling readers in grades 4 and
above who do not demonstrate mastery of grade-level foundational reading skills
must continue to receive explicit, systematic instruction to reach mastery.
D. "Literacy
specialist" means a person licensed by the Professional Educator Licensing
and Standards Board as a teacher of reading, a special education teacher, or a
kindergarten through grade 6 teacher, who has completed professional
development approved by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) in
structured literacy. A literacy specialist employed by the department under Minnesota
Statutes, section 120B.123, subdivision 7, or by a district as a literacy lead,
is not required to complete the approved training before August 30, 2025.
E. "Literacy
lead" means a literacy specialist with expertise in working with educators
as adult learners. A district literacy lead must support the district's
implementation of the Read Act; provide support to school-based coaches;
support the implementation of structured literacy, interventions, curriculum
delivery, and teacher training; assist with the development of personal
learning plans; and train paraprofessionals and other support staff to support
classroom literacy instruction. A literacy lead may be employed by one
district, jointly by two or more districts, or may provide services to
districts through a partnership with the regional service cooperatives or
another district.
F. "Multitiered
system of support" or "MTSS" means a systemic, continuous
improvement framework for ensuring positive social, emotional, behavioral,
developmental, and academic outcomes for every student. The MTSS framework
provides access to layered tiers of culturally and linguistically responsive,
evidence-based practices and relies on the understanding and belief that every
student can learn and thrive. Through a MTSS at the core (Tier 1), supplemental
(Tier 2), and intensive (Tier 3) levels, educators provide high quality,
evidence-based instruction and intervention that is matched to a student's
needs; progress is monitored to inform instruction and set goals and data is
used for educational decision making.
G. "Oral
language," also called "spoken language," includes speaking and listening,
and consists of five components: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and
pragmatics.
H. "Phonemic
awareness" means the ability to notice, think about, and manipulate
individual sounds in spoken syllables and words.
I. "Phonics
instruction" means the explicit, systematic, and direct instruction of the
relationships between letters and the sounds they represent and the application
of this knowledge in reading and spelling.
J. "Progress
monitoring" means using data collected to inform whether interventions are
working. Progress monitoring involves ongoing monitoring of progress that
quantifies rates of improvement and informs instructional practice and the
development of individualized programs using state-approved screening that is
reliable and valid for the intended purpose.
K. "Reading comprehension" means a function of
word recognition skills and language comprehension skills. It is an active
process that requires intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed
through interactions between the text and reader. Comprehension skills are
taught explicitly by demonstrating, explaining, modeling, and implementing
specific cognitive strategies to help beginning readers derive meaning through
intentional, problem-solving thinking processes.
L. "Structured
literacy" means an approach to reading instruction in which teachers
carefully structure important literacy skills, concepts, and the sequence of
instruction to facilitate children's literacy learning and progress. Structured
literacy is characterized by the provision of systematic, explicit, sequential,
and diagnostic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary
and oral language development, and reading comprehension.
M. "Three-cueing system," also known as "meaning
structure visual (MSV)," means a method that teaches students to use
meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues when attempting to read an
unknown word.
N. "Vocabulary development" means the process
of acquiring new words. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of
communication, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary
growth is directly related to school achievement and is a strong predictor for
reading success.
IV. READING SCREENER; PARENT NOTIFICATION AND
INVOLVEMENT
A. The school district must administer an approved evidence-based reading
screener to students in kindergarten through grade 3 within the first six weeks
of the school year, and again within the last six weeks of the school
year. The screener must be one of the screening tools approved by the
Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
B. The
school district must identify any screener it uses in the district’s annual
literacy plan, and submit screening data with the annual literacy plan by June
15.
C. Schools,
at least biannually after administering each screener, must give the
parent of each student who is not reading at or above grade level timely
information about:
1. the student's reading proficiency as
measured by a screener approved by MDE;
2. reading-related services currently
being provided to the student and the student's progress; and
3. strategies for parents to use at home
in helping their student succeed in becoming grade-level proficient in reading
in English and in their native language.
D. The school district may not use this
section to deny a student's right to a special education evaluation.
V. IDENTIFICATION
AND REPORT
A. Students enrolled
in kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, including
multilingual learners and students receiving special education
services, must be universally screened for mastery of
foundational reading skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding,
fluency, oral language, and for characteristics of dyslexia as
measured by a screening tool approved by MDE. The screening for
characteristics of dyslexia may be integrated with universal screening for
mastery of foundational skills and oral language.
B. The
school district must submit data on student performance in kindergarten, grade
1, grade 2, and grade 3 on foundational reading skills, including phonemic
awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and oral language to MDE in the annual
local literacy plan submission due on June 15.
C. Students
in grades 4 and above, including multilingual learners and students
receiving special education services, who do not demonstrate mastery of
foundational reading skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding,
fluency, and oral language, must be screened using a screening tool
approved by MDE for characteristics of dyslexia and must continue to
receive evidence-based instruction, interventions, and progress monitoring
until the students achieve grade-level proficiency. A parent, in consultation
with a teacher, may opt a student out of the literacy screener if the parent
and teacher decide that continuing to screen would not be beneficial to the
student. In such limited cases, the student must continue to receive progress
monitoring and literacy interventions.
D. Reading screeners in
English, and in the predominant languages of school district students where
practicable, must identify and evaluate students' areas of academic need
related to literacy. The school district also must monitor the progress and
provide reading instruction appropriate to the specific needs
of multilingual learners. The school district must use an
approved, developmentally appropriate, and culturally
responsive screener and annually report
summary screener results to the MDE Commissioner by June 15 in
the form and manner determined by the MDE Commissioner.
E. The school
district must include in its literacy plan a summary of the district's
efforts to screen, identify, and provide interventions to students
who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia as measured by a screening
tool approved by MDE. With respect to students screened or identified under
paragraph (a), the report must include:
1. a summary of the
school district's efforts to screen for dyslexia;
2. the number of
students universally screened for that reporting year;
3. the number of
students demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia for that year; and
4. an explanation of how
students identified under this subdivision are provided with
alternate instruction and interventions under Minnesota Statutes, section 125A.56,
subdivision 1.
VI. INTERVENTION
A. For each student
identified under the screening identification process, the school district
shall provide reading intervention to accelerate student growth and reach the
goal of reading at or above grade level by the end of the current grade and
school year.
B. The school district must implement
progress monitoring, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.1118, for a
student not reading at grade level.
C. The school district must use
evidence-based curriculum and intervention materials at each grade level that
are designed to ensure student mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics,
vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Starting
July 1, 2023, if the school district purchases new literacy curriculum, or
literacy intervention or supplementary materials, the curriculum or materials
must be evidence-based as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.1118.
D. If a student does not read at or above
grade level by the end of the current school year, the school district
must continue to provide reading intervention until the student reads at grade
level. School district intervention methods shall encourage family engagement
and, where possible, collaboration with appropriate school and community
programs that specialize in evidence-based instructional practices and measure
mastery of foundational reading skills, including phonemic awareness, phonics,
decoding, fluency, and oral language.
E. By the 2025-2026 school year,
intervention programs must be taught by an intervention teacher or special
education teacher who has successfully completed training in evidence-based
reading instruction approved by MDE. Intervention may
include but is not limited to requiring student attendance
in summer school, intensified reading instruction that may require that the
student be removed from the regular classroom for part of the school day,
extended-day programs, or programs that strengthen students' cultural
connections.
F. The school district must determine the
format of the personal learning plan in collaboration with the student's
educators and other appropriate professionals. The school must develop the
learning plan in consultation with the student's parent or guardian. The
personal learning plan must include targeted instruction that is
evidence-based and ongoing progress monitoring, and address knowledge gaps
and skill deficiencies through strategies such as specific exercises and
practices during and outside of the regular school day, group
interventions, periodic assessments or screeners, and reasonable
timelines. The personal learning plan may include grade retention, if it is in
the student's best interest; a student may not be retained solely due to delays
in literacy or not demonstrating grade-level proficiency. A school must
maintain and regularly update and modify the personal learning plan until the
student reads at grade level. This paragraph does not apply to a student under
an individualized education program.
VII. LOCAL
LITERACY PLAN
A. The school district
must adopt a local literacy plan to have every child reading at or above grade
level every year beginning in kindergarten and to support multilingual
learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their
individualized reading goals. The school district must update and submit the
plan to the Commissioner of MDE by June 15 each year. The plan must be
consistent with the Read Act, and include the following:
1. a process to assess
students' foundational reading skills, oral language, and level of reading
proficiency and the screeners used, by school site and grade level, under Minnesota
Statutes, section 120B.123;
2. a process to notify and involve
parents;
3. a description of how schools in the school
district will determine the targeted reading instruction that is
evidence-based and includes an intervention strategy for a student and the
process for intensifying or modifying the reading strategy in order to obtain
measurable reading progress;
4. evidence-based intervention methods for
students who are not reading at or above grade level and progress monitoring to
provide information on the effectiveness of the intervention;
5. identification of staff development
needs, including a plan to meet those needs;
6. the curricula used by school site and
grade level;
7. a statement of whether the school
district has adopted a MTSS framework;
8. student data using the measures of
foundational literacy skills and mastery identified by MDE for the following
students:
a. students in kindergarten through grade
3;
b. students who demonstrate
characteristics of dyslexia; and
c. students in grades
4 to 12 who are identified as not reading at grade level; and
9. the number of teachers and other staff
that have completed training approved by the department.
B. The school district must post its
literacy plan on the official school district website and submit it to the
Commissioner of MDE using the template developed by the Commissioner beginning June
15, 2024.
VIII. STAFF TRAINING
A. Beginning July 1, 2024, a school district must provide access to the
training required under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.123, subdivision 5,
to:
1. intervention
teachers working with students in kindergarten through grade 12;
2. all
classroom teachers of students in kindergarten through grade 3 and children in
prekindergarten programs;
3. special
education teachers;
4. curriculum
directors;
5. instructional
support staff who provide reading instruction; and
6. employees
who select literacy instructional materials for a district.
B. The school district must provide training from a menu of approved
evidence-based training programs to all reading intervention teachers, literacy specialists, and other teachers and staff identified in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.12, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), by July 1, 2025; and by July 1, 2027, to other teachers
in the school district, prioritizing teachers who work with students with
disabilities, English learners, and students who qualify for the graduation
incentives program under Minnesota
Statutes, section 124D.68.
The Commissioner of MDE may grant a school district an extension
to these deadlines.
C. By August 30, 2025, the school district
must employ or contract with a literacy lead, or be actively supporting a
designated literacy specialist through the process of becoming a literacy lead.
The school board may satisfy the requirements of this subdivision by
contracting with another school board or cooperative unit under Minnesota
Statutes, section 123A.24 for the services of a literacy lead by August 30,
2025. The school district literacy lead
must collaborate with school district administrators and staff to support the
school district's implementation of requirements under the Read Act.
IX. STAFF DEVELOPMENT
A. The school district
must provide training programs on evidence-based reading instruction to
teachers and instructional staff in accordance with subdivision 1, paragraph
(b). The training must include teaching in the areas of phonemic awareness,
phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and
culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy.
B. The school district shall use the data
under Article V. above to identify the staff development needs so that:
1. elementary teachers are able to
implement explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction in the five
reading areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension with emphasis on mastery of foundational reading
skills as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.1118 and
other literacy-related areas including writing until the student achieves
grade-level reading and writing proficiency;
2. elementary teachers have sufficient
training to provide students with evidence-based reading and oral language
instruction that meets students' developmental, linguistic, and literacy needs
using the intervention methods or programs selected by the school district for
the identified students;
3. licensed teachers employed by the
school district have regular opportunities to improve reading and writing
instruction;
4. licensed teachers recognize students'
diverse needs in cross-cultural settings and are able to serve the oral
language and linguistic needs of students who
are multilingual learners by maximizing strengths in their native
languages in order to cultivate students' English language development,
including oral academic language development, and build academic literacy; and
5. licensed teachers are well trained in culturally responsive
pedagogy that enables students to master content, develop skills to access
content, and build relationships.
C. The school district must provide staff
in early childhood programs sufficient training to provide children in early
childhood programs with explicit, systematic instruction in phonological and
phonemic awareness; oral language, including listening comprehension; vocabulary;
and letter-sound correspondence.
X. LITERACY INCENTIVE AID USES
The school district
must use its literacy incentive aid to support implementation of evidence-based
reading instruction. The following are eligible uses of literacy incentive aid:
1. training for
kindergarten through grade 3 teachers, early childhood educators, special
education teachers, reading intervention teachers working with students in
kindergarten through grade 12, curriculum directors, and instructional support
staff that provide reading instruction, on using evidence-based screening and
progress monitoring tools;
2. evidence-based
training using a training program approved by MDE;
3. employing or contracting with a
literacy lead, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.1118;
4. materials,
training, and ongoing coaching to ensure reading interventions under Minnesota
Statutes, section 125A.56, subdivision 1, are evidence-based; and costs of
substitute teachers to allow teachers to complete required training during the
teachers' contract day.
Legal References: Minn. Stat. § 120B.1118 (Read Act
Definitions)
Minn. Stat. § 120B.12
(Read Act Goal and Interventions)
Minn. Stat. § 120B.123
(Read Act Implementation)
Minn. Stat. § 123A.24 (Withdrawing from a Cooperative
Unit; Appealing Denial of Membership)
Minn. Stat. §124D.68 (Graduation Incentives
Program)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.98
(Literacy Incentive Aid)
Minn. Stat. § 125A.56
(Alternate Instruction Required before Assessment Referral)
Cross
References: None