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69th Legislature 2025 HB 262.1
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – HB 262
1 HOUSE BILL NO. 262
2 INTRODUCED BY L. REKSTEN, M. NIKOLAKAKOS, L. BENNETT, E. TILLEMAN, D. BEDEY, M.
3 BERTOGLIO, L. JONES, C. KEOGH, M. ROMANO
4
5 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT ESTABLISHING STATE POLICY ON READING INSTRUCTION;
6 REQUIRING THAT EARLY LITERACY INSTRUCTION BE EVIDENCE-BASED AND INCLUDE
7 SCIENTIFICALLY SUPPORTED COMPONENTS; DISALLOWING INEFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO
8 READING INSTRUCTION; PROVIDING A DEFINITION; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.”
9
10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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12 NEW SECTION. Section 1. (1)
13 Affirming that reading and language skills are generally the foundation on which a person's educational
14 potential is developed, the legislature declares that it is the policy of this state that reading instruction is based
15 on literacy strategies that are scientifically researched.
16 (2) Textbooks, instructional materials, and teaching methods for reading instruction in the public
17 schools of this state may not include instruction related to strategies or approaches that teach students to read
18 based on meaning drawn from context, structure, syntax, visual cues and pictures, or memory, including the
19 instructional model commonly known as the three-cueing system.
20 (3) Early literacy instruction in the public schools of this state must:
21 (a) be evidence-based;
22 (b) follow a scope and sequence;
23 (c) be direct, systematic, explicit, and responsive; and
24 (d) include all of the following:
25 (i) phonics, including decoding and encoding and instruction in writing;
26 (ii) phonemic awareness and phonological awareness;
27 (iii) fluency, including oral language development;
28 (iv) vocabulary; and ****
69th Legislature 2025 HB 262.1
- 2 - Authorized Print Version – HB 262
1 (v) comprehension, including building background knowledge.
2 (4) As used in this section, "evidence-based" means demonstrating a rationale based on high-
3 quality research findings or positive evaluation that the activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve
4 student outcomes or other relevant outcomes and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the activity,
5 strategy, or intervention.
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7 NEW SECTION. Section 2. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an
8 integral part of Title 20, chapter 7, part 1, and the provisions of Title 20, chapter 7, part 1, apply to [section 1].
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10 NEW SECTION. Section 3. [This act] is effective July 1, 2025.
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