AB321,,22An Act to repeal 15.374 (2) and 115.39; to renumber and amend 118.19 (12); to amend 15.01 (6), 115.28 (7) (a), 115.38 (1) (a), 118.015 (title), 118.015 (2), 118.015 (3) (a), 118.33 (6) (b) 3. and 121.02 (1) (c) 3.; to repeal and recreate 118.016; and to create 15.374 (2), 15.377 (9), 115.385 (1) (e), 115.39, 118.015 (1c), 118.015 (1m), 118.015 (5), 118.19 (12) (a) and (b), 118.33 (5m), 118.33 (6) (a) 3., 118.33 (6) (b) 2m., 118.33 (6) (c) 3., 118.33 (6) (cr) 3. and 119.44 (2) (bm) of the statutes; relating to: reading instruction in public schools and private schools participating in parental choice programs, an early literacy assessment and intervention program, providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, and granting rule-making authority.

This bill establishes the Office of Literacy in the Department of Public Instruction, to be led by a director who is appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction after consultation with the Council on Early Literacy Curricula and subject to the advice and consent of the senate and who serves at the pleasure of the state superintendent. Under the bill, the Office of Literacy must establish and supervise a literacy coaching program to improve literacy outcomes in this state. Specifically, the Office of Literacy, in consultation with cooperative educational service agencies, must contract for up to 64 full-time equivalent literacy coaches. Literacy coaches must demonstrate knowledge and expertise in science-based early literacy instruction and instructional practices and have instructional experience in grades kindergarten to 12. In addition, the Office of Literacy must provide ongoing training on science-based early literacy instruction and instructional practices and supervision to literacy coaches and must prohibit literacy coaches from using three-cueing.

The bill requires the Office of Literacy to assign one-half of the literacy coaches to schools based on pupil scores on the third grade reading assessment and one-half of the literacy coaches to schools that request early literacy support. The latter half of the literacy coaches must be dispersed evenly among cooperative educational service agency regions. However, the bill prohibits assigning more than a total of 10 literacy coaches to a first class city school district and more than a total of four literacy coaches to a school district that is not a first class city school district and requires that no fewer than three literacy coaches be assigned to each cooperative educational service agency region. Additionally, the Office of Literacy must ensure that a school to which a literacy coach is assigned does not request or require that the literacy coach perform duties outside the individual’s role as a literacy coach, as described in the bill.

Under the bill, the Office of Literacy must submit an annual report to the Joint Committee on Finance on various aspects of the literacy coaching program during the previous school year, including the number of literacy coaches, the number of schools that were assigned a literacy coach, pupil scores on reading readiness assessments and the third grade reading assessment in those schools, and information on the training provided to the literacy coaches.

Finally, under the bill, the Office of Literacy and the literacy coaching program sunset on July 1, 2028.

The bill creates the Council on Early Literacy Curricula in DPI to recommend literacy curricula and instructional materials for use in grades kindergarten to three. The council consists of nine members who have knowledge of or experience with science-based early literacy instruction and literacy curricula. Under the bill, the initial members of the council are appointed jointly by the state superintendent of public instruction, the assembly speaker, and the senate majority leader, and if the initial members are not appointed jointly within 45 days, each appointing authority must each appoint three members. Under the bill, after the initial appointments are made, the membership of the council is made up of three members appointed by the state superintendent, three members appointed by the assembly speaker, and three members appointed by the senate majority leader.

Under the bill, the Council on Early Literacy Curricula must annually make recommendations for early literacy curricula and instructional materials for use in the following school year. The council’s recommendations for curricula and instructional materials must include all of the components of science-based early reading instruction and may not include three-cueing. The bill defines “science-based early reading instruction” as instruction that is systematic and explicit and consists of the following components: phonological awareness; phonemic awareness; phonics; building background knowledge; oral language development; vocabulary building; instruction in writing; instruction in comprehension; and reading fluency. Under the bill, “three-cueing” means any model, including the model referred to as meaning, structure, and visual cues, or MSV, of teaching a pupil to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues or memory.

Under the bill, annually, upon receiving recommendations from the Council on Early Literacy Curricula, DPI must submit proposed recommendations on early literacy curricula and instructional materials to the Joint Committee on Finance. DPI may not adopt the recommendations unless JCF approves the recommendations. For purposes of the recommendations for the 2024-25 school year, the initial recommendations made by the council, the bill requires that proposed recommendations be submitted to JCF by November 1, 2023. Under the bill, DPI must maintain a list of adopted recommendations for early literacy curricula and instructional materials on its website.

Beginning on January 1, 2024, if a school board, charter school, or private school participating in a parental choice program chooses to adopt an early literacy curriculum, the school board, charter school, or private school participating in a parental choice program must adopt an early literacy curriculum recommended by DPI. The bill also requires DPI to award grants to school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a choice program that adopt a recommended early literacy curriculum on or after January 1, 2024. Under the bill, the amount of the grant is 50 percent of the cost to purchase the recommended literacy curriculum and instructional materials.

Beginning on the date the bill becomes law, school boards, charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program are prohibited from purchasing curricula and instructional materials that incorporate three-cueing. Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, the bill also prohibits public schools, including charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program from providing instruction to pupils in grades kindergarten to three that incorporates three-cueing in the core reading curriculum or in supplemental materials, including materials used for reading intervention.

Under current law, the state superintendent of public instruction is required to prescribe standards, requirements, and procedures for the approval of teacher preparatory programs that lead to a license issued by DPI. Under the bill, to be approved by the state superintendent, a teacher preparatory program must demonstrate that it provides instruction that prepares teachers to teach reading and language arts using science-based early reading instruction and that it does not provide instruction on teaching reading and language arts that incorporates three-cueing.

Under current law, DPI may not issue a license that authorizes the license holder to teach reading or language arts in a prekindergarten class or in grades kindergarten to six unless the individual has successfully completed instruction preparing the individual to teach reading using appropriate instructional methods, including phonics. Current law defines “phonics” as a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and syllables.

Under the bill, DPI may not issue a license that authorizes the license holder to teach reading or language arts in a prekindergarten class or in grades kindergarten to six unless the individual has successfully completed instruction preparing the individual to teach reading using science-based early reading instruction, as defined in the bill, that includes phonics and that does not include three-cueing, as defined in the bill. The bill defines “phonics” as the study of the relationships between sounds and words; this includes alphabetic principle, decoding, orthographic knowledge, encoding, and fluency.

Under the bill, school boards and charter school operators must ensure that all kindergarten to third grade teachers, principals of schools that offer grades kindergarten to three, and reading specialists receive professional development training in science-based early literacy instruction by no later than July 1, 2025. Under the bill, the mandatory professional development training is the same professional development for which American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 federal funding was allocated. Specifically, the professional development training must be Voyager Sopris Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) or another program endorsed by the Center for Effective Reading Instruction as an accredited independent teacher training program and must be provided by the Leadership in Literacy Institute or another provider who meets various requirements specified in the bill. The bill also requires the same professional development training for all faculty or academic staff of the University of Wisconsin System who teach a course that includes curriculum in reading instruction designed for kindergarten to third grade teachers, elementary school principals, or reading specialists.

Under the bill, by January 1, 2025, DPI must establish, by rule, a model policy for promoting third grade pupils to the fourth grade. Under the bill, the model policy must include various components, including 1) a requirement that a pupil who scores in the lowest proficiency category on the third grade reading assessment be retained in the third grade, 2) a good cause exception for certain pupils, 3) a requirement that the school board provide intensive instructional services, progress monitoring, and supports to a pupil who is retained under the policy, 4) written notice to the pupil’s parent, and 5) an intensive summer reading program for pupils who scored in the lowest proficiency category of the third grade reading assessment.

By July 1, 2025, the bill requires school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program to adopt written policies for promoting a third grade pupil to the fourth grade that include all of the components that are required to be in DPI’s model policy. Additionally, beginning on September 1, 2028, school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program are prohibited from promoting a third grade pupil unless the pupil complies with their respective promotion policy. Under current law, school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program must adopt written policies for promoting pupils from grade four to grade five and from grade eight to grade nine and are prohibited from promoting a pupil unless the pupil complies with the applicable promotion policy.

The bill requires DPI to include in the annual school district and school accountability report, commonly referred to as school and school district report cards, the number and percentage of pupils who scored in the lowest proficiency category on the third grade reading assessment. The bill requires this information for school districts and schools that offer third grade. Under the bill, this information must first be included in the report cards for the 2023-24 school year that are published in the fall of the 2024-25 school year.