SB 454

This bill replaces the current reading readiness assessment program with a

three-tiered early literacy screening program.

Screening Assessments and interventions

Under current law, school boards and independent charter schools must

annually assess pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten to second grade for

reading readiness using an assessment of literacy fundamentals selected by the

school board or independent charter school. The selected reading readiness

assessment must evaluate whether a pupil possesses phonemic awareness and letter

sound knowledge. Current law requires a school board or independent charter school

to provide interventions or remedial reading services to a pupil if the reading

readiness assessment indicates that the pupil is at risk of reading difficulty with

interventions or remedial reading services. Current law does not define “at-risk.”

This bill requires school boards and independent charter schools to assess the

early literacy skill of pupils in four-year-old-kindergarten to second grade using

various screening assessments and to create a personal reading plan for each pupil

in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade who is identified as at-risk based on

a universal screening assessment or a level 1 screening assessment. Under the bill,

“at-risk” means the pupil scored below the 25th percentile on an applicable

screening assessment, as indicated by the screening assessment publisher.

Fundamental skills screening assessments; four-year-old kindergarten

Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen all

pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten at least two times each school year

using a fundamental skills screening assessment. The bill specifies that the first

screening must occur before the 46th day of the school term and that both screenings

be completed by no later than 45 days before the last day of school. The bill defines

a “fundamental skills screening assessment” as an assessment that evaluates a

pupil's phonemic awareness and letter sound knowledge.

Tier 1 – Universal early learning screening assessments and interventions

Required universal screening assessments

Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen all

pupils enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade at least three times

each school year using a universal screening assessment. The bill specifies that the

first universal screening must occur before the 46th day of the school term, the

second universal screening must occur in the middle of the school term, and the third

universal screening must occur no later than 45 days before the last day of school.

The bill defines a “universal screening assessment” as an assessment that evaluates

a pupil's skill in phonemic awareness, decoding skills, rapid naming skills, alphabet

knowledge, and letter sound knowledge.

Personal reading plan; at-risk pupils

If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment, the