AB 40

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 does not provide a timeline for completing the

assessment. Current law also 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. Current

law requires school boards and independent charter schools to report the results of

a pupil's reading readiness assessment to the pupil's parent or guardian but does not

require school boards and independent charter schools to report reading readiness

assessment results to the Department of Public Instruction or the legislature.

This bill requires school boards and independent charter schools to 1) assess

pupils in four-year-old kindergarten to second grade for reading readiness, as

required under current law, by November 15 of each school year and 2) submit to DPI

the number of pupils identified as at risk of reading difficulty based on the results

of the reading readiness assessment by January 1 of each school year. Under the bill,

DPI must submit the information it receives from school boards and independent

charter schools to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature by no later

than April 1. The bill also provides onetime funding in the amount of $500,000 to

DPI to establish a system to track data that school boards and independent charter

schools must submit to DPI. Finally, the bill authorizes DPI to promulgate rules

related to the administration of the reading readiness assessment requirements.