SSB 3155

This bill relates to elementary literacy by modifying teacher preparation program requirements and teacher licensing requirements, requiring personalized reading plans for certain students, and providing parent and guardian discretion for their students to be retained at grade level. The bill requires higher education institutions providing practitioner preparation programs to administer, prior to a student’s completion of the 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. The bill establishes that, 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, the bill requires the department to consider the minimum passing score recommended by the developer of the assessment and the current teaching standards in this state. The bill requires higher education institutions to report to the department annually the scores students receive on the assessment and any services or opportunities the institution makes available to students who fail the assessment. Additionally, the bill requires the department to compile these reports and publish on the department’s internet site the compiled reports related to students enrolled in the program who plan to teach in kindergarten through grade six. _____ The bill establishes that the board of educational examiners shall require all teachers who provide instruction in kindergarten through grade six to take and pass the assessment on or before July 1, 2027. The bill provides that this requirement does not apply to teachers who took and passed the assessment during a practitioner preparation program or to teachers who have previously taken and passed the assessment administered pursuant to this provision. The bill requires a school district to provide written notice to the parent or guardian of any student in grade three who is not reading proficiently of the student’s level of reading or reading readiness. The bill provides that the written notice shall indicate that if the parent or guardian submits a request that the student be retained in grade three, the school district shall not promote the student to grade four but shall retain the student at grade three for the subsequent school year. However, the bill establishes that, 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, the student’s parent or guardian may withdraw the request and the school district may promote the student to grade four. The bill requires a school district to provide to students who are not reading proficiently at the start of the student’s grade three school year with a personalized reading plan. The bill provides that the school district shall continue to provide such plans to students in grade three through the end of grade six if necessary.3.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified. _____ mandate included in the bill.