Under current law, the state superintendent of public instruction is required
to prescribe standards, requirements, and procedures for the approval of teacher
preparatory programs that lead to a license issued by DPI. Under the bill, to be
approved by the state superintendent, a teacher preparatory program must
demonstrate that it provides instruction that prepares teachers to teach reading and

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language arts using science-based early reading instruction and that it does not
provide instruction on teaching reading and language arts that incorporates
three-cueing.

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.

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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

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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

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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.

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Under current law, a school board or independent charter school must report
the results of a reading readiness assessment to a pupil's parent. Current law does
not provide a deadline by which the reading readiness results must be provided to
parents.

Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must annually,
by July 15, report to DPI 1) the number of pupils who were identified as at-risk based
on early literacy assessments administered in the previous school year; 2) the
number of five-year-old kindergarten to third grade pupils who began receiving
literacy interventions or remedial reading services in the previous school year, by
grade; 3) the total number of five-year-old kindergarten to third grade pupils who
received literacy interventions or remedial reading services in the previous school
year; 4) the number of five-year-old kindergarten to third grade pupils who exited
literacy interventions in the previous school year; and 5) the number of pupils for
whom a special education referral was made based on the results of a diagnostic
assessment. The school board or independent charter school must also report the
names of the diagnostic assessments the school board or independent charter school
used to assess pupils in the previous school year. Annually, by November 30, DPI
must compile the information it receives from school boards and independent charter
schools and submit a report to the legislature.

The bill allows the parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled in four-year-old
kindergarten to third grade in a school district or independent charter school to file
a complaint with DPI if the parent or guardian believes that the school board or
independent charter school operator is not in compliance with requirements in the
bill. Under the bill, DPI must issue a determination on whether the school board or
independent charter school is in compliance and, if the school board or independent
charter school is not in compliance, describe the actions that must be taken for the
school board or independent charter school to be in compliance with the applicable
requirements. If a school board or independent charter school continues to fail to
comply with the requirements in the bill, the bill allows an individual who filed a
complaint with DPI to bring an action in circuit court to compel the school board or
independent charter school to comply with the requirements created in the bill.