HLS 20RS-304 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 714
BY REPRESENTATIVE EDMONSTON
CURRICULA: Provides relative to curriculum, instruction, and training in the area of early
literacy
1 AN ACT
2To amend R.S. 17:182(A), to enact R.S. 17:182(D) and (E), and to repeal R.S. 17:182(E),
3 relative to student literacy; to provide relative to curricula and instructional materials
4 used in reading instruction; to require the collection of data relative to student
5 reading skills; to require the training of teachers with respect to reading instruction;
6 to provide relative to funding; to require the state superintendent of education to
7 report to the legislature relative to implementation of these requirements and related
8 funding; and to provide for related matters.
9Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
10 Section 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Louisiana Literacy Act
11of 2020".
12 Section 2. R.S. 17:182(A) is hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 17:182(D) and
13(E) are hereby enacted to read as follows:
14 ยง182. Student reading skills; requirements; reports
15 A.(1)(a) Effective beginning with the 1997-1998 school year, each Each
16 governing authority of a public elementary school shall implement a reading
17 program at each elementary school that is designed and intended to teach each
18 student to read at grade level by not later than the end of the first grade and to be a
19 proficient reader by the end of the third grade. The reading program provided for by
20 this Section shall include but need not be limited to a phonics component, and all
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1 program curricula and instructional materials shall be based on evidence-based
2 research and the science of reading. Students who have not reached proficiency by
3 the end of the third grade shall be placed in a fourth grade reading intensive
4 intervention program in order to become proficient by the end of the fourth grade.
5 (b) Each public school governing authority shall collect data relative to
6 students who receive instruction through this program beginning in kindergarten to
7 determine their progress towards proficiency at the end of each grade and the
8 percentage of students who read proficiently at the end of third grade.
9 (2) Each public school governing authority shall provide for the training of
10 teachers in grades kindergarten through three in the findings of evidence-based
11 reading research, the science of reading, and the skills needed to provide systematic
12 instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading
13 comprehension according to the following implementation schedule, which may be
14 accelerated at the discretion of the governing authority:
15 (a) Training for kindergarten teachers shall be completed by the end of the
16 2020-2021 school year and implemented in classrooms during the 2021-2022 school
17 year.
18 (b) Training for first grade teachers shall be completed by the end of the
19 2021-2022 school year and implemented in classrooms during the 2022-2023 school
20 year.
21 (c) Training for second grade teachers shall be completed by the end of the
22 2022-2023 school year and implemented in classrooms during the 2023-2024 school
23 year.
24 (d) Training for third grade teachers shall be completed by the end of the
25 2023-2024 school year and implemented in classrooms during the 2024-2025 school
26 year.
27 (3) The state Department of Education shall allocate to each public school
28 governing authority the maximum amount of funding for which it is eligible under
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1 the terms of the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Program Grant and any
2 other grant program for the purposes of funding such instruction and training.
3 * * *
4 D. The state Department of Education shall post the following information
5 on its website relative to the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Program
6 Grant:
7 (1) The department's application to the United States Department of
8 Education for the grant, titled "Louisiana Comprehensive Literacy State
9 Development Program" and dated June 3, 2019.
10 (2) The department's grant award notification from the United States
11 Department of Education.
12 E. During each regular session of the Legislature the state superintendent of
13 education shall appear before the House Committee on Education and the Senate
14 Committee on Education, meeting separately or jointly, to present a summary of the
15 reading program, screenings, and training required by the provisions of Subsections
16 A and B of this Section, including a summary of outcomes related to student
17 proficiency and the allocation of any federal grant funds distributed by the state
18 Department of Education to public school governing authorities for the purpose of
19 implementing such provisions.
20 Section 3. R.S. 17:182(E) is hereby repealed in its entirety.
21 Section 4. Section 1, Section 2, and this Section of this Act shall become effective
22on August 1, 2020. Section 3 of this Act shall become effective on August 1, 2025.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 714 Original 2020 Regular Session Edmonston
Abstract: Provides relative to instruction, training, funding, and reporting with respect to
student literacy.
Present law requires each public school governing authority to implement a reading program
at each elementary school designed to teach each student to read at grade level by the end
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HB NO. 714
of the first grade. Proposed law retains present law except to remove the specific reference
to reading "at grade level" by the end of the first grade; adding that such program shall also
be designed to teach each student to be a proficient reader by the end of the third grade; and
requiring that students who have not reached proficiency by that time be placed in a fourth
grade reading intensive intervention program in order to become proficient by the end of the
fourth grade.
Present law requires this reading program to include, at minimum, a phonics component.
Proposed law adds that all program curricula and instructional materials shall be based on
evidence-based research and the science of reading.
Proposed law further requires:
(1)Each public school governing authority to provide for training teachers in grades K-3
in the findings of evidence-based research, the science of reading, and skills needed
to provide systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary, and reading comprehension according to a specified implementation
schedule that the governing authority may accelerate at its discretion.
(2)The state Dept. of Education (DOE) to:
(a)Allocate to each public school governing authority the maximum amount of
funding for which it is eligible under the terms of the Comprehensive
Literacy State Development Program Grant and any other grant program for
the purposes of funding literacy instruction and training.
(b)Post the following on its website relative to the Comprehensive Literacy
State Development Program Grant:
(i)Application submitted to U.S. Dept. of Education (USDOE).
(ii)Grant award notification received from USDOE.
(3)The state superintendent of education to present an annual summary of the reading
program, screenings, and training required by present law and proposed law,
including student outcomes relative to proficiency and allocations of any related
federal grant funds by DOE, to the House and Senate education committees during
the 2021-2025 R.S.
Proposed law repeals (3) above effective Aug. 1, 2025.
(Amends R.S. 17:182(A); Adds R.S. 17:182(D) and (E); Repeals R.S. 17:182(E))
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