Dutton Bill Makes Schools Pay Up To $1,000 For Reading Tutors

The text as introduced · 1,911 words

89R11456 AMF-F

By: Dutton
H.B. No. 3583

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to reading instruction, assessment instruments, and

interventions provided to public school students.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.006, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (a), (b), (c-1), (c-3), (d), and (j) and

adding Subsections (a-1), (b-2), (g-3), (g-4), (g-5), and (g-6) to

read as follows:

(a) The commissioner shall adopt procedures [ develop

recommendations ] for school districts and open-enrollment charter

schools for:

(1) administering reading instruments to :

(A) ensure the validity and reliability of the

results of the reading instruments;

(B) diagnose student reading development and

comprehension; and

(C) identify students at risk for dyslexia or

other reading difficulties;

(2) training educators in administering the reading

instruments; and

(3) applying the results of the reading instruments to

the instructional program and intervention practices .

(a-1) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

may not administer a reading instrument to a student more than three

times during a school year.

(b) The commissioner shall adopt a list of reading

instruments that a school district or open-enrollment charter

school shall [ may ] use to diagnose student reading development and

comprehension for students in kindergarten through grade three .

The reading instrument must include the foundational literacy

components of phonemic and phonological awareness, phonics,

vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. For use in diagnosing the

reading development and comprehension of kindergarten students,

the commissioner shall adopt a multidimensional assessment tool

that includes a reading instrument and tests at least three

developmental skills, including foundational literacy components .

A multidimensional assessment tool administered as provided by this

subsection is considered to be a reading instrument for purposes of

this section. [ A district-level committee established under

Subchapter F, Chapter 11, may adopt a list of reading instruments

for use in the district in a grade level other than kindergarten in

addition to the reading instruments on the commissioner's list. ]

Each reading instrument adopted by the commissioner [ or a

district-level committee ] must :

(1) be based on scientific research concerning reading

skills development and reading comprehension ;

(2) [ . A list of reading instruments adopted under

this subsection must ] provide for diagnosing the reading

development and comprehension of students participating in a

program under Subchapter B, Chapter 29 ;

(3) provide progress monitoring capabilities;

(4) provide a diagnostic tool to assist teachers in

developing research-based targeted instruction;

(5) allow screening of students three times a year;

(6) assess only the foundational literacy components

not already mastered by a student; and

(7) determine if a student needs reading instruction

intervention .

(b-2) In adopting a reading instrument under this section,

the commissioner shall prioritize selecting an instrument that:

(1) minimizes the impact of administration of the

instrument on instructional time;

(2) provides timely reporting of results; and

(3) is able to be integrated into reading instruction.

(c-1) Each school district shall administer at the

beginning of the seventh grade a reading instrument adopted by the

commissioner to each student whose performance on the assessment

instrument in reading administered under Section 39.023(a) to the

student in grade six did not demonstrate reading proficiency, as

determined by the commissioner. The district shall administer the

reading instrument in accordance with the commissioner's

recommendations for administering reading instruments that

diagnose student reading development and comprehension [ under

Subsection (a)(1) ].

(c-3) The commissioner by rule shall determine the

performance on each applicable [ the ] reading instrument adopted

under Subsection (b) that indicates kindergarten readiness.

(d) The superintendent of each school district or the person

who serves the function of superintendent in each open-enrollment

charter school shall:

(1) report [ to the commissioner and the board of

trustees of the district ] the results of the reading instruments

to:

(A) the board of trustees of a school district;

or

(B) the governing body of an open-enrollment

charter school, as defined by Section 12.1012(3) ;

(2) not later than the 30th [ 60th ] calendar day after

the date on which a reading instrument was administered report, in

writing, to a student's parent or guardian the student's results on

the instrument and any additional information required by the

agency ; and

(3) report to the agency any information required by

the agency, including the results of the reading instrument and

[ using the school readiness certification system provided to the

school district in accordance with Section 29.161(e), report

electronically ] each student's raw score on the reading instrument

[ to the agency for use in the school readiness certification

system ].

(g-3) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

shall provide reading intervention to each student in kindergarten

through grade three who is determined to need reading intervention

using an assessment administered in accordance with Subsection (b).

The school district shall continue to offer a student reading

intervention until the student achieves satisfactory performance

on a reading instrument. A reading intervention program offered

under this subsection must:

(1) include targeted instruction to improve the

student's reading skills in the relevant areas identified through

the assessment instrument;

(2) monitor the progress of the student's reading

skills throughout the school year;

(3) be implemented during regular school hours and in

addition to core instruction;

(4) use high-quality instructional materials,

curricula, and curricular tools that are research based and

effective for early childhood literacy intervention; and

(5) be provided by a teacher who has attended a

literacy achievement academy provided under Section 21.4552.

(g-4) In providing reading intervention under Subsection

(g-3), a school district or open-enrollment charter school may not

remove a student, except under circumstances for which a student

enrolled in the same grade level who is not receiving reading

intervention would be removed, from:

(1) instruction in the foundation curriculum and

enrichment curriculum adopted under Section 28.002 for the grade

level in which the student is enrolled; or

(2) recess or other physical activity that is

available to other students enrolled in the same grade level.

(g-5) In addition to the report required under Subsection

(d)(2), a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall

notify the parent or guardian of each student in kindergarten

through grade three who is determined to need reading intervention.

The notification must:

(1) be distributed not later than the 30th day after

the date the result of the reading instrument indicating that the

student needs intervention is available;

(2) describe the current reading services the district

or school provides to the student;

(3) describe the reading interventions that will be

provided to the student to ensure the student will meet or exceed

grade-level reading standards; and

(4) include high-quality resources for the parent or

guardian of the student to use at home to help the student succeed

at reading.

(g-6) From money appropriated for the purpose, the

commissioner may provide literacy coaching and technical

assistance to kindergarten through grade three classroom teachers,

or to individuals serving in that role, to implement this section.

The commissioner shall prioritize providing technical assistance

under this subsection in school districts with the highest rate of

students performing below satisfactory levels on reading

instruments administered under Subsection (b).

(j) [ No more than 15 percent of the funds certified by the

commissioner under Subsection (i) may be spent on indirect costs. ]

The commissioner shall evaluate the programs that fail to meet the

standard of performance under Section 39.301(c)(5) and may

implement interventions or sanctions under Chapter 39A. [ The

commissioner may audit the expenditures of funds appropriated for

purposes of this section. The use of the funds appropriated for

purposes of this section shall be verified as part of the district

audit under Section 44.008. ]

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 28.0063 to read as follows:

Sec. 28.0063. PRIVATE READING INSTRUCTION FOR CERTAIN

STUDENTS. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

shall contract with and make available a private, third-party

tutoring service to address a student's reading deficiency. The

district or school must make the service available to a parent or

guardian of a student who is determined to need reading

intervention using an assessment administered under Section 28.006

on each of the reading assessments administered for two consecutive

school years. The cost to a district or school for contracting for

tutoring service under this subsection may not exceed $1,000 per

student.

(b) A parent or guardian of a student described by

Subsection (a) may select a tutoring service not provided by the

school district or open-enrollment charter school to address the

student's reading deficiency. The district or school shall

contract directly with that service to pay the lesser of the cost of

the service or $1,000 to provide tutoring services to the student.

The district or school may not provide money under this subsection

directly to a parent or guardian of a student.

(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school

that provides a tutoring service to a student under this section

shall continue to provide the student any other reading support

required of the district or school.

(d) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to

implement this section.

SECTION 3. Section 29.1543, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 29.1543. EARLY EDUCATION REPORTS. The agency shall

produce and make available to the public on the agency's Internet

website annual district and campus-level reports containing

information from the previous school year on early education in

school districts and open-enrollment charter schools. A report

under this section must contain:

(1) the information required by Section 29.1532(c) to

be reported through the Public Education Information Management

System (PEIMS);

(2) a description of any [ the ] diagnostic reading

instruments administered as provided by Section 28.006 [ in

accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2) ];

(3) the number of students who were administered a

diagnostic reading instrument administered as provided by Section

28.006 [ in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2) ];

(4) the number of students whose scores from a

diagnostic reading instrument administered as provided by Section

28.006 [ in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2) ] indicate

reading proficiency;

(5) the number of kindergarten students who were

enrolled in a prekindergarten program in the previous school year

in the same district or school as the district or school in which

the student attends kindergarten;

(6) the number and percentage of students who perform

satisfactorily on the third grade reading or mathematics assessment

instrument administered under Section 39.023, disaggregated by

whether the student was eligible for free prekindergarten under

Section 29.153;

(7) the number of students described by Subdivision

(6) who attended kindergarten in the district, disaggregated by:

(A) whether the student met the kindergarten

readiness standard on a [ the ] reading instrument adopted under

Section 28.006;

(B) whether the student attended prekindergarten

in the district; and

(C) the type of prekindergarten the student

attended, if applicable; and

(8) the information described by Subdivisions (6) and

(7) disaggregated by whether the student is educationally

disadvantaged.

SECTION 4. Sections 28.006(c), (c-2), (i), and (k),

Education Code, are repealed.

SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.