Bill Text: NY S05480 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires school districts to provide instructional programming and services in reading and literacy which are evidence based and aligned with state standards; requires teachers in grades pre-K through five to attend professional development courses in reading education.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-04 - PRINT NUMBER 5480A [S05480 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05480-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5480

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 6, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to early literacy  educa-
          tion

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the  "right  to
     2  read act".
     3    §  2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 817 to read
     4  as follows:
     5    § 817. Early literacy education. 1. Each school district shall provide
     6  students in kindergarten through fifth grade  programming  and  services
     7  necessary  to  ensure  to the greatest extent possible that students, as
     8  they progress through kindergarten, first, second,  third,  fourth,  and
     9  fifth  grades  develop  the  necessary  reading skills to enable them to
    10  master the academic standards and expectations applicable to  the  sixth
    11  grade  curriculum and beyond. The instructional programming and services
    12  for teaching students to read must be evidence-based  and  scientifical-
    13  ly-based  and  must focus on reading competency in the areas of phonemic
    14  awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading  fluency,  including
    15  oral skills, and reading comprehension.
    16    2.  Every  school  district shall ensure that each teacher employed to
    17  teach kindergarten, first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  grades
    18  successfully  completes  or  has  successfully  completed fifty hours of
    19  evidence-based or scientifically-based training in  reading  instruction
    20  in  accordance  with  subdivision  five  of  this  section.  Each school
    21  district shall submit documentation  to  the  department  that  teachers
    22  subject  to  this section have completed the required training hours and
    23  have passed an assessment as designed by the department.
    24    3. The department shall  develop  a  list  of  approved  instructional
    25  programming and supporting materials, including software, in reading and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01977-02-3
        S. 5480                             2

     1  literacy  which are evidence-based, or scientifically-based according to
     2  peer reviewed studies. Such list shall be posted on  the    department's
     3  website  and shall at a minimum be updated annually. Such list shall not
     4  include  instructional  programming   or   materials that   employ   the
     5  three-cueing model of reading based on meaning,  structure  and  syntax,
     6  and visual cues, which is also known as "MSV".
     7    4. Approved programming shall, at a minimum:
     8    (a) have been proven to accelerate student progress in attaining read-
     9  ing competency according to peer reviewed studies;
    10    (b)  provide explicit and systematic skill development in the areas of
    11  phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary  development,  reading  fluency,
    12  including oral skills, and reading comprehension;
    13    (c)  be  evidence-based  or  scientifically-based  according  to  peer
    14  reviewed studies and be aligned with the  preschool  through  elementary
    15  and secondary education standards for reading adopted by the department;
    16    (d)  include  evidence-based  or scientifically-based reliable assess-
    17  ments;
    18    (e) provide initial and ongoing analysis of the student's progress  in
    19  attaining reading competency; and
    20    (f) include texts on core academic content to assist students in main-
    21  taining  or  meeting  grade-appropriate  proficiency  levels in academic
    22  subjects in addition to reading.
    23    5. The department shall develop a list of approved professional devel-
    24  opment programs that are related to addressing significant reading defi-
    25  ciencies and to applying intervention  instruction  and  strategies,  in
    26  addition  to programs related to teaching general literacy.  The depart-
    27  ment  shall  include  on  the  approved  list  professional  development
    28  programs  that  are  available  online. This list shall be posted on the
    29  department's website and shall at a minimum  be  updated  annually.  The
    30  department  shall  ensure  that  each  professional  development program
    31  included on this list:
    32    (a) is focused on or aligns with the  science  of  reading,  including
    33  teaching  in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary devel-
    34  opment, reading fluency, including oral skills, and  reading  comprehen-
    35  sion; and
    36    (b)  includes  rigorous  evaluations of learning throughout and at the
    37  end of the course a person taking the course must pass  to  successfully
    38  complete the course.
    39    §  3.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
    40  the date on which it shall have become a law.