HB 304 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO READING COMPETENCY.

Williams HOUSE& OFSen. REPRESENTATIVES 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.

1Sturgeon TO& HOUSESen. BILL NO.

304S. AMEND House Bill No.

304McBride by& insertingSen. after the period on line 41 the following:

“ALockman districtReps. or charter school shall provide educators time during the contractual day to complete data entry and compilation associated with the screener, to communicate with families, and any other responsibility as outlined in this section.

ABaumbach, districtBush, orHeffernan, charterK. school shall provide coverage for instruction or student support when the educator is meeting the responsibilities outlined in this section.”.

FURTHERJohnson, AMENDKowalko, HouseLonghurst, BillOsienski, No.Shupe;

304Sens. by deleting lines 45 through 47 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“(c)Bonini, TheBrown, Department,Ennis, inGay, consultationHansen, withHocker, curriculumLawson, andLopez, specialMantzavinos, educationParadee, supervisorsPettyjohn, fromPinkney, localPoore, educationRichardson, agencies,Sokola, elementaryTownsend, schoolWalsh, teachers,Wilson andHOUSE elementaryOF specialREPRESENTATIVES education151st teachers,GENERAL shallASSEMBLY develop,HOUSE maintain,BILL andNO. publish a list of universal reading screeners and a list of literacy intervention approaches that are aligned with the essential components of evidence-based reading instruction listed under § 1280(c)(3) of this title.

Initial304 publicationAN ofACT theTO listsAMEND mustTITLE occur14 byOF DecemberTHE 1,DELAWARE 2022.CODE RELATING TO READING COMPETENCY.

FURTHERWHEREAS, AMENDadvances Housein Billunderstanding No.how children learn to read has produced a body of research by linguists, psychologists, and cognitive scientists known as the “science of reading” which reflects a conclusion that effective beginning reading instruction has certain essential components of reading literacy:

304phonemic onawareness, linephonics, 64reading afterfluency, “cost”vocabulary, andtext beforecomprehension, theand periodoral bylanguage; inserting “which shall be provided during the contractual day”.

FURTHERand AMENDWHEREAS, Housedecades Billof No.research have demonstrated that early intervention in education and ensuring students are rd proficient by 3 grade are extremely effective strategies for addressing potential issues and ensuring future success;

304and byWHEREAS, deletingliteracy linesis 65a throughfundamental 71skill for work and insertinglong-term insuccess, lieuand thereofresearch demonstrates the following:negative implications on lifelong learning and opportunities if students are not supported to read proficiently by grade 3;

“(d) Beginning in 2023, each school district and charterWHEREAS, schoolearly shallidentification reportis annuallycritical to thehelp Department,educators onaddress orliteracy beforeissues Octoberas 31,early theas numberpossible, and percentageuniversal ofscreening students,is disaggregatedan byeffective gradeway and by individual school, identified with a potential reading deficiency, including characteristics of dyslexia, pursuant to theidentify screeninggaps mandated in subsectionkey (b)foundational ofskills this section, and thecharacteristics literacyof interventiondyslexia; approaches being provided.

SYNOPSISand ThisWHEREAS, amendmentall doeseducators should have knowledge of the following:science of reading and how to teach reading – and every educator should know what to do when child is struggling;

Specifiesand thatWHEREAS, educatorsscreening musttools beare givenone timetool duringand thedata contractualsource dayfor educators to completesupport dutiesstudent associatedlearning withwithin thea universalsystem readingof screener,screening, includingdiagnostic, professionaland learning.assessment tools that are part of a multi-tiered system of support for student progress;

and WHEREAS, Delaware requires universal screening and at least two more screenings throughout the school year to inform interventions.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1.

Amend Subchapter III, Chapter 1 of Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 158.

Student Assessment and Accountability Committee.

MAW Page 1 of 24 Released:

05/10/202203/24/2022 11:3111:47 AM Requires---Repealed inclusionby of77 curriculumDel. and special education supervisors, as well as elementary school teachers and elementary special education teachers, from districts and charters in the development of the lists of aligned screeners and interventions.

RemovesLaws, thec. separate reporting requirement for dyslexia specific interventions.

106, § 1, effective July 6, 2009.

§ 158.

Reading screening.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Literacy intervention approaches” means evidence-based, specialized reading, writing, and spelling instruction that is systematic and explicit and intensified based on the needs of the student.

Dyslexia specific intervention approaches may require greater intensity, such as smaller groups, increased frequency of instruction, and individualized progression through steps, than typical evidence-based reading instruction.

(2) “Universal reading screener” means a tool used as part of a multi-tiered system of support to determine if a student is at risk for developing reading difficulties and the need for intervention and to evaluate the effectiveness of core curriculum as an outcome measure.

A universal reading screener must do all of the following:

a.

Measure, at a minimum, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, symbol recognition, alphabet knowledge, decoding and encoding skills, fluency, and comprehension.

b.

Identify students who have a potential reading deficiency, including identifying students with characteristics of dyslexia.

(b) (1) Beginning July 1, 2023, a district or charter school shall screen each student enrolled in kindergarten through third grade 3 times a year for reading competency using a universal reading screener chosen from the list of aligned universal reading screeners maintained by the Department of Education (Department).