5.46 Strong Readers Act Testing and Procedures

Every student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades shall be assessed at the beginning and end of each school year using a screening instrument approved by the State Board of Education for the acquisition of reading skills including, but not limited to, phonological awareness, decoding, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, for the grade level in which enrolled. Any student who is assessed and found not to be meeting grade level shall be provided a program of reading instruction designed to enable the student to acquire the appropriate grade level of reading skills.

Progress of Reading Instruction and Proficiency Team

The program of reading instruction shall be based on scientific reading research and shall align with the State subject matter standards adopted by the State Board of Education, shall be based on a three tiered Response to Intervention (“RtI”) model. The plan may include, but is not limited to:

1. Sufficient additional in-school instructional time sufficient for the acquisition of phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension,
2. If necessary, and funding is available, tutorial instruction after regular school hours, on Saturdays, and during the Summer, however, such instruction may not be counted toward the 180 day or 1080 hour school year required by law;
3. Assessments identified for diagnostic purposes and periodic monitoring to measure the acquisition of reading skills as identified in the student’s program of reading instruction.
4. High-quality instructional materials grounded in scientifically based reading research and
5. A means of providing every family of a student in prekindergarten, kindergarten, first, second, and third grade access to free online evidence-based literacy instruction resources to support the student’s literacy development at home.

A student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second, or third grades who exhibits a deficiency in reading at any time based upon the screening instrument shall receive an individual reading intervention plan no later than thirty (30) days after the identification of the deficiency in reading. The reading intervention plan shall be provided in addition to core reading instruction that is provided to all students. The reading intervention plan shall:
 

1. Describe the research-based reading intervention services the student will receive to remedy the deficiency in reading,
2. Provide explicit and systematic instruction in phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as applicable,
3. Monitor the reading progress of each student’s reading skills throughout the school year and adjust instruction according to the student’s needs; and
4. Continue until the student is determined to be meeting grade-level targets in reading based on screening instruments or assessments.

The district strong readers plan shall be adopted and annually updated, with input from school administrators, teachers, and parents and legal guardians, and if possible a reading specialist, and which shall be submitted to and approved by the State Board of Education. This plan shall include a plan for each site that includes an analysis of data provided by the Oklahoma School Testing Program and other reading assessments utilized which outlines how each school site shall comply with the provision of the Strong Readers Act.

Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, any student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second, or third grade who is assessed through the Strong Readers Act is not meeting grade level targets in reading after the beginning of the year assessment shall be screened for dyslexia. Screening may also be requested for a student by his or her parent or guardian, teacher counselor,
speech-language pathologist or school psychologist.

REFERENCE: 70 O.S. §1210.508A, et seq.

Amended September 2024
Amended October 2017
Amended November 2016
Amended November 2016
Amended October 2014
Amended September 2013
Adopted September 2012