What changed in HF 2618

3 passages reworded, 1 added and 2 removed; 11 of 17 unchanged.

Removed AddedIntroduced textText as passedAmendments

Compares wording only. The printed bills also mark changes to existing law with strikes and underlines, which aren’t shown here.

Section 1. Section 256.16, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:

NEW PARAGRAPH.

m.

(1) Administer, prior to a student’s completion of the approved practitioner preparation program, an examination identical to the foundations of reading assessment administered in 2012 as part of the Massachusetts tests for educator licensure, or the most current version of such assessment. To successfully complete the program, a student must attain a score on the assessment that is at or above the minimum passing score established by the department. In establishing the minimum passing score for purposes of this paragraph, the department shall consider the minimum passing score recommended by the developer of the assessment and the current teaching standards in this state.

(1) Administer an examination identical to the foundations of reading assessment administered in 2012 as part of the Massachusetts tests, or the most current version of such assessment.

(2) The higher education institution shall report to the department no later than August 1 annually, in the form and manner prescribed by the department, the percentage of students whose scores on the assessment administered during the prior school year were above, at, and below the passing score, and shall report any services or opportunities to retake the assessment the institution may make available to a student who fails the assessment. The department shall compile the reports submitted under this subparagraph and publish on the department’s internet site the compiled reports related to students enrolled in the practitioner preparation program who plan to teach in kindergarten through grade six.

c.

(1) Each school district shall provide written notice to the parent or guardian of any student in kindergarten through grade three six who is not reading proficiently of the student’s level of reading or reading readiness. The written notice shall contain a description of the parent’s or guardian’s authority ability to request that the student be retained in the student’s current grade three pursuant to subparagraph (2). level for the subsequent school year.

(2) A school district shall not promote a student who is not reading proficiently to the next grade four, level, and shall retain the student in the student’s current grade three level for the subsequent school year, if the student’s parent or guardian submits to the school district a request that the student be retained in the student’s current grade three level pursuant to subparagraph (1).

(3) Notwithstanding subparagraph (2), if during the student’s grade three year, the administrator and the student’s classroom teacher provide evidence to the student’s parent or guardian that the student has made adequate progress and is reading at grade level, as determined by the student’s consistently proficient performance on valid and reliable measures of reading ability, the student’s parent or guardian may withdraw the request and the school district may promote the student to grade four.

NEW PARAGRAPH.

d. A school district shall provide to students in kindergarten through the end of grade six who are not reading proficiently at the start of the student’s grade three school year with a personalized reading plan. The school district shall continue to provide personalized reading plans to students in grade three through the end of grade six if necessary, until the student is reading at grade level, as determined by the student’s consistently proficient performance on valid and reliable measures of reading ability.

Sec.

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 3, shall not apply to this Act.