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.

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.”

Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, the bill requires school boards and independent charter schools to assess the early literacy skills of pupils in four-year-old kindergarten to third grade using various assessments and to create a personal reading plan for each pupil in five-year-old kindergarten to third grade who is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment or diagnostic 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.

Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, 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 selected by DPI. The bill specifies that the first screening assessment 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.

Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, school boards and independent charter schools must screen all pupils enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to third grade at least three times each school year using a universal screening assessment selected by DPI. 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, alphabet knowledge, letter sound knowledge, and oral vocabulary.

Under the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, school boards and independent charter schools must screen a pupil enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to third grade using a diagnostic assessment 1) if the pupil is identified as at-risk based on the first universal screening of the school year, by no later than the second Friday in November; 2) if the pupil is identified as at-risk based on the second universal screening of the school year, within 10 days after the universal screening was administered; and 3) if a teacher or parent suspects the pupil has characteristics of dyslexia and submits a request for a diagnostic assessment, within 20 days of submitting the request. The bill defines a “diagnostic assessment” as a tool that includes an assessment that evaluates a pupil’s skill in the skills assessed in a universal screening assessment as well as rapid naming, phonological awareness, word recognition, spelling, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and when developmentally appropriate, oral reading fluency and reading comprehension, and provides the pupil’s parent the opportunity to complete a family history survey about learning difficulties in the pupil’s family. If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a diagnostic assessment, the bill requires the school board or independent charter school to provide information to the pupil’s parent about how to make a special education referral.

If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment or a diagnostic assessment, the bill requires the school board or independent charter school to create a personal reading plan for the pupil. Under the bill, a personal reading plan must include various components related to addressing the pupil’s specific early literacy deficiencies, including interventions that will be provided to the pupil, how the pupil’s progress will be monitored, and strategies the pupil’s parent is encouraged to use to help the pupil achieve grade-level literacy skills. The bill further requires the school board or independent charter school to 1) provide the interventions included in the personal reading plan to the pupil, as soon as practicable; 2) monitor the pupil’s progress at least weekly; 3) provide a copy of the personal reading plan to the pupil’s parent; 4) obtain a copy of the reading plan signed by the pupil’s parent; and 5) after 10 weeks of providing the interventions required in the personal reading plan, notify the pupil’s parent of the pupil’s progress.

Under the bill, by July 15, 2024, DPI must select a fundamental skills screening assessment, select a universal screening assessment, and establish and maintain a list of approved diagnostic assessments on its website. DPI must also submit a list of the selected and approved assessments to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature. Under the bill, DPI may only approve an early literacy assessment if the assessment has a sensitivity rate of at least 70 percent, has a specificity rate of at least 80 percent, and includes a growth measure.

Under the bill, DPI must pay each school board and independent charter school for the per pupil cost of each early literacy assessment required to be administered under the bill. However, beginning in the 2025-26 school year, a school board or independent charter school is eligible for the state funding provided in the bill only if the school board or independent charter school submits an annual report to DPI and in that report indicates that the school board or charter school used only selected or approved early literacy assessments in the previous school year. Under current law, DPI pays school boards and independent charter schools for the per pupil cost of the reading readiness assessment selected by the school board or independent charter school.

Under the bill, a school board or independent charter school must provide a pupil’s results on an early literacy assessment to the pupil’s parent by no later than 15 days after the applicable assessment is scored. The results provided to the parent must be in the parent’s native language and must include the pupil’s overall score, the pupil’s score on each literacy skill category assessed by the assessment, the pupil’s percentile rank score, if available, the score on the assessment that indicates a pupil is at-risk, and a plain language explanation of the literacy skills that were evaluated by the assessment. In addition, if a school board or independent charter school is required to screen a pupil using a diagnostic assessment, the school board or independent charter school must provide the pupil’s parent with information related to characteristics of dyslexia, including information about the common indicators of characteristics of dyslexia and appropriate interventions and accommodations for pupils with characteristics of dyslexia.

The bill also requires each school board and independent charter school to have an early literacy remediation plan. An early literacy remediation plan must include information about assessments used to identify at-risk pupils, the interventions used to address characteristics of dyslexia, and monitoring pupil progress related to early literacy skills. Under the bill, each school district and independent charter school must post its early literacy remediation plan on its website.