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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6517
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
TASK FORCE TO ANALYZE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS
GOVERNING DYSLEXIA INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes in state laws governing
teacher preparation programs, teacher certification, and elementary
student reading proficiency assessments:
1. establishes an Office of Training Compliance (hereafter “the
office”) in the State Department of Education (SDE) to verify
whether teacher preparation programs and teacher certification
applicants comply with requirements in state law relating to
dyslexia instruction and training (§§ 1-4);
2. bars the State Board of Education (SBE) from approving any
new teacher preparation programs, beginning January 1, 2022,
unless the office verifies the program complies with state law
relating to dyslexia instruction and training (§ 3);
3. bars SDE from issuing any level of teaching certificate (initial,
provisional, or professional) to an applicant, beginning July 1,
2021, until the office verifies certain literacy training and
education requirements (§ 4);
4. allows applicants for certain teaching certification endorsements
to substitute student teaching experience for supervised
practicum hours (§ 5);
5. requires the office to provide guidance to higher education
institutions and other teacher preparation program providers
about how to verify whether practicum hour supervisors have
obtained certain qualifications (§ 6); 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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6. requires SDE to revise previously -developed reading
assessments for grades kindergarten through 3 to include new
methodologies for measuring reading proficiency (§ 7);
7. allows SDE to partner with a public college or university to
establish a data center to guide the department and boards of
education in the use and effectiveness of reading assessments (§
7); and
8. requires each local or regional board of education to develop a
voluntary family history questionnaire to help identify students
who are at risk of reading proficiency challenges (§ 8).
The bill also makes various technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
§§ 1-4 — OFFICE OF TRAINING COMPLIANCE
The bill establishes the office in SDE and tasks it with verifying
whether teacher preparation programs and teacher certification
applicants (1) fulfill the requirements in existing law about teacher
instruction and training and (2) meet compliance standards relating to
dyslexia instruction and training in existing law and established by the
bill.
Development of Compliance Measures and Audit Procedures (§ 1)
The bill requires the office to develop compliance measures and
audit procedures by September 1, 2021, for determining whether
teacher preparation programs fulfill requirements in state law about
(1) instruction in literacy skills and processes (see BACKGROUND)
and (2) teacher certification applicants passing an SBE-approved
reading instruction exam and completing a program of study in the
diagnosis and remediation of reading and language arts ( see
COMMENT). The office must submit these measures and procedures
to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement and the
Education committees by that same date.
Additionally, the bill requires the office to develop the following 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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items by January 1, 2022, and update them as necessary:
1. structured literacy competency targets to identify structured
literacy competencies an educator should achieve based on
certification level and endorsement type;
2. a list of sample course assignments and evaluations for higher
education institutions and other teacher preparation programs
to review and consider that align with the structured literacy
competency targets and compliance measures the office
developed; and
3. model dyslexia in-service training programs for local and
regional boards of education to use that also align with the
structured literacy competency targets.
Teacher Preparation Program Compliance Measures and
Verification (§ 2)
Under the bill, the office must use the compliance measures and
audit procedures it develops to verify, by January 1, 2022, whether any
SBE-approved teacher preparation program is complying with existing
law about the following:
1. instruction in dyslexia detection and recognition and
2. inclusion of supervised practicum hours and instruction in
evidence-based structured literacy interventions for students
with dyslexia in programs of study in the diagnosis and
remediation of reading and language arts.
By that same date, the office must report on the compliance
verification results to the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement and Education committees.
Additionally, the bill requires the office to review and request
updates about webinar modules developed by the Capitol Region
Education Council and the State Education Resource Center to align
the modules with the office’s compliance measures. 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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Approval of New Teacher Preparation Programs (§ 3)
The bill prohibits SBE from approving any new teacher preparation
programs until the office verifies whether the program complies with
the state laws described above (§ 2). The office must use the
compliance measures and audit procedures it develops to verify any
new program’s compliance.
Proof of Teacher Preparation Program Compliance (§ 3)
Under the bill, the office must accept the following items from a
higher education institution or any other teacher preparation program
provider as proof of compliance:
1. a self-examination report that addresses how the program
complies with the requirements in state law or
2. course syllabi showing assignments and evaluations relevant to
these requirements, including details such as full citations with
specific page numbers of reading assignments and the final
grade percentage attributed to these assignments and
evaluations.
The bill also requires the office to evaluate the self-examination
reports or course syllabi that programs submit to the office to verify
whether they fulfill the compliance measures. It allows the office to
complete this verification by requiring a national accrediting agency
that accredits teacher preparation programs for SDE to use these audit
procedures to determine compliance.
Teacher Certification Applicant Compliance Measures and
Verification (§ 4)
Beginning July 1, 2021, the bill prohibits SDE from issuing any level
of teaching certificate (initial, provisional, or professional) to an
applicant until the office makes two types of verifications (see
COMMENT). (By instituting this prohibition on the same day the
provision creating the Office of Training Compliance takes effect, it
could delay the process of issuing teaching certificates for an uncertain
amount of time. It is unclear how soon the office, which would be in 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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the process of being formed, could begin making verifications.)
First, if the applicant is seeking an initial certificate and has
graduated from a Connecticut teacher preparation program, the bill
requires the office to certify that he or she has completed at least 12
clock hours of instruction in detection and recognition of, and
evidence-based structured literacy interventions for, students with
dyslexia.
Second, if the applicant is a certified employee or an applicant for
certification seeking an endorsement in remedial reading, remedial
language arts, reading consultant, comprehensive special education, or
integrated early childhood and special education, the bill requires the
office to certify that he or she has complied with the requirements in
state law about receiving a passing score on a reading instruction exam
and completing a program of study in the diagnosis of reading and
language arts (see BACKGROUND).
§ 5 — APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN TEACHING
CERTIFICATE ENDORSEM ENTS
The bill allows applicants for the following teacher certification
endorsements to complete a student teaching experience as an
alternative to completing supervised practicum hours: remedial
reading, remedial language arts, or reading consultant. Existing law
requires applicants for these endorsements to complete practicum
hours as part of a program of study in the diagnosis and remediation
of reading and language arts.
Additionally, the bill allows applicants for an initial (i.e., entry-
level) teaching certificate with a primary endorsement in
comprehensive special education or integrated early childhood and
special education to complete a student teaching experience as an
alternative to completing supervised practicum hours. It removes the
practicum hours completion requirement for the following applicants
seeking these endorsements: certified employees and applicants for
provisional or professional (i.e., mid- or upper-level) teaching
certificates. 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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§ 6 — SUPERVISORS OF PRACT ICUM HOURS
Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill requires the office to provide
guidance to higher education institutions and other teacher
preparation program providers about how to verify whether
practicum hour supervisors have obtained the following:
1. a satisfactory score on the SBE-approved reading instruction
exam or a comparable reading instruction exam;
2. a valid initial, provisional, or professional SBE-issued teaching
certificate;
3. a master’s degree in remedial reading or a closely related field;
4. specific and documented knowledge about structured literacy
principles and practices;
5. training for practicum supervision, coaching, and evaluation of
reading interventionists; and
6. at least three years’ work experience providing structured
literacy interventions for students with remedial reading needs,
including students with dyslexia.
Under the bill, higher education institutions and other teacher
preparation program providers must give preference to practicum
supervisor candidates who meet the above six qualifications and also
have (1) experience in the design, implementation, or monitoring of
structured literacy interventions or (2) previous practicum supervisor
experience. Current law is silent regarding qualifications for practicum
supervisors.
§ 7 — KINDERGARTEN TO GRAD E 3 READING ASSESSME NTS
Under the bill, SDE must revisit the reading assessments for grades
kindergarten through 3 that it previously developed and approved by
January 1, 2016. The department must now reconsider these
assessments by January 1, 2022, in light of the recommendations made
in Appendix G of the final report of the Task Force to Analyze the 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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Implementation of Laws Governing Dyslexia Instruction and Training
(see BACKGROUND). Local and regional boards of education must
begin using these assessments in the 2023-24 school year to identify K-
3 students who are below proficiency in reading.
Additionally, the bill makes changes to the assessment’s
methodology for identify students below proficiency in reading.
Specifically, it requires that the assessment:
1. measure (a) phonics through real and pseudo words, (b)
phonemic awareness through deletion and blending, and (c)
rapid automatic naming, in addition to the methods in current
law (i.e., fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), and
2. be given at least three times each school year in fall, winter, and
spring, rather than periodically at unspecified times during the
school year as required under current law.
The bill also requires SDE to provide guidance to local and regional
boards of education by January 1, 2023, about administering the
approved reading assessments. This guidance must address the
following topics at a minimum:
1. appropriate grade levels for each reading assessment;
2. combining approved reading assessments when needed to
ensure each ability is measured during each school year using
one or more grade level-appropriate reading assessments;
3. advice on how each board’s goals, student body characteristics,
and resources should inform the choice of reading assessments
used by each board;
4. advice on how aggregate data derived fro m reading
assessments should guide each board’s prevention and early
intervention initiatives; and
5. the requirement that approved reading assessments be
administered in both English and a student’s native language, if 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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available, for any student receiving literacy instruction in her or
her native language.
Under the bill, the SDE commissioner must submit the revised
reading assessments and the newly developed or approved guidance
to school boards to the Education Committee by February 1, 2023.
Data Center
The bill allows SDE to partner with a public college or university to
establish a data center to guide SDE and board of education in the use
and effectiveness of reading assessments. The center may track the
following types of data:
1. which reading assessment are used by each board of education
and
2. student information, disaggregated by categories to keep it
nonidentifiable (presumably, to protect student identities),
including (a) student demographic background, (b) school
district, (c) reading assessment dates, and (d) scores on reading
assessment.
§ 8 — VOLUNTARY FAMILY HIS TORY QUESTIONNAIRE
The bill requires each local or regional board of education to
develop a voluntary family history questionnaire by January 1, 2022.
This questionnaire must be distributed annually, beginning with the
2022-23 school year, to help identify, in whole or in part, students who
are at risk of reading proficiency challenges.
BACKGROUND
Literacy Skills and Processes Instruction in Teacher Preparation
Programs
Any teacher preparation program that leads to professional teacher
certification must include in its curriculum instruction in literacy skills
and processes that reflects current research and best practices in the
field of literacy training. The instruction must (1) be incorporated into
the requirements of the student’s major and concentration and (2)
include at least 12 clock hours of instruction in dyslexia detection and 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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recognition of, and evidence-based structured literacy interventions
for, students with dyslexia (CGS § 10-145a(e)).
Reading Instruction Exam and Practicum Hours for Teacher
Certification Applicants
Any certified employee applying for a remedial reading, remedial
language arts, or reading consultant endorsement, or any applicant for
an initial, provisional, or professional educator certificate and one of
the same endorsements must have fulfilled the following
requirements:
1. achieved a satisfactory score on the SBE-approved reading
instruction exam or a comparable exam and
2. completed a program of study in the diagnosis and remediation
of reading and language arts that includes supervised
practicum hours and instruction in the detection and
recognition of, and evidence-based structured literacy
interventions for, students with dyslexia (CGS § 10-145d(i)).
Final Task Force Report, Appendix G
The Task Force to Analyze the Implementation of Laws Governing
Dyslexia Instruction and Training, established by the legislature in
Special Act 19-8, issued a final report of findings and
recommendations on December 31, 2020. Appendix G of this report
contains a “Menu of K-3 Screeners,” which lists approved reading tests
for students in grades K-3, the skills that each test measures, and the
grades during which the tests should be administered (final report,
pages 85-86).
Related Bill
HB 6620, reported out favorably by the Education Committee on
March 29 with a change of reference to the Appropriations Committee,
also changes the law regarding reading assessments for kindergarten
through grade 3 students. Under HB 6620, § 5, the Center for Literacy
Research and Reading Success, which the bill establishes, must
compile a list of approved reading assessments for school districts to 2021HB-06517-R000268-BA.DOCX
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use beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
COMMENTS
Conflict
The bill requires the Office of Training Compliance to verify
whether any SBE-approved teacher preparation program is complying
with CGS § 10-145d(i), which requires teacher certification applicants
to pass an SBE-approved reading instruction exam and complete a
program of study in the diagnosis and remediation of reading and
language arts. Since this law imposes a requirement on teacher
certification applicants, the bill should not cite to it when requiring the
office to verify compliance by teacher preparation programs.
Conflict
The bill prohibits SDE from issuing any level of teaching certificate
(initial, provisional, or professional) to an applicant until the office
makes two types of verifications. However, it is SBE that issues this
certification under state law (CGS §§ 10-144o & 10-145b).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 22 Nay 0 (03/18/2021)