| Chapter 267 |
| 2022 -- H 7164 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/02/2022 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND CERTIFICATION STANDARDS BOARD (SEE TITLE 16 CHAPTER 97 -- THE RHODE ISLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION ACT) |
Introduced By: Representatives O'Brien, Craven, Hawkins, McNamara, Corvese, Serpa, McEntee, Biah, Slater, and Ranglin-Vassell |
| Date Introduced: January 26, 2022 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 16-11.4-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-11.4 entitled "Rhode |
| Island Certification Standards Board [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of |
| Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 16-11.4-6. Right to read act. |
| (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Right to Read Act." |
| (b) No later than 2025, the following shall have proficient knowledge and skills to teach |
| reading consistent with the best practices of scientific reading instruction and structured literacy |
| instruction: |
| (1) A person who completes a state-approved educator preparation program; and |
| (2) A person seeking teacher licensure by reciprocity or by adding an endorsement. |
| In addition, no later than 2025, a person who completes a state-approved educator |
| preparation program, other than a teacher of elementary education program, shall demonstrate an |
| awareness of the best practices of scientific reading instruction and structured literacy instruction. |
| (c) Beginning no later than the 2024-2025 school year, each state-approved educator |
| preparation program shall post on its website information describing its program to prepare teachers |
| to teach reading with scientific reading instruction and structured literacy instruction; aligned with, |
| but not limited to, the content measured by the stand-alone reading assessment adopted by the |
| Rhode Island board of education act. |
| (d) Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, a public school district and an open- |
| enrollment public charter school shall provide the following professional development in scientific |
| reading instruction and structured literacy instruction: |
| (1) For teachers licensed at the elementary level, professional development for one of the |
| prescribed pathways to obtaining a proficiency credential in knowledge and practices in scientific |
| reading instruction and structured literacy instruction; and |
| (2) For teachers licensed at a level other than the elementary level, professional |
| development for one of the prescribed pathways to obtaining an awareness credential in knowledge |
| and practices in scientific reading instruction and structured literacy instruction. |
| (e) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, a public school that does not provide the |
| professional development pursuant to the provisions of subsection (d) shall: |
| (1) Be placed on probationary status; and |
| (2) Provide notice to parents that the public school district has not met the requirements of |
| this section. |
| (f) By the beginning of the 2023-2024 2025-2026 school year: |
| (1) All teachers employed in a teaching position that requires an elementary education (K- |
| 6) license or (K-12) license shall demonstrate proficiency in knowledge and practices of scientific |
| reading and structured literacy instruction; and |
| (2) All other teachers shall demonstrate awareness in knowledge and practices of scientific |
| reading instruction and structured literacy instruction. |
| (g) All teachers who begin employment in the 2023-2024 2025-2026 school year and each |
| school year thereafter shall demonstrate proficiency or awareness in knowledge and practices in |
| scientific reading instruction and structured literacy instruction as is applicable to their teaching |
| position by completing the prescribed proficiency or awareness in knowledge and practices of the |
| scientific reading instruction credential and a structured literacy instruction credential either: |
| (1) As a condition of licensure; or |
| (2) Within one year if the teacher is: |
| (i) Already licensed; or |
| (ii) Employed under a waiver from licensure. |
| (h) A provider of a state-approved educator preparation program shall include in its annual |
| report to the department of elementary and secondary education (the "department") a description |
| of program to prepare educators to teach reading using scientific reading instruction and structured |
| literacy instruction. |
| (i) A public school district that employs an educator in violation of this section or that does |
| not provide the professional development as required under this section shall be in violation of the |
| standards for accreditation of the Rhode Island board of education act, and the school district may |
| be placed on probationary status by the department. A public school district placed on probationary |
| status pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall send written notification to the parents of |
| the students in the public school district of the reason for being placed on probationary status. |
| (j) A provider of a state-approved educator preparation program that does not comply with |
| the requirements of this section may be subject to penalties up to and including having the |
| provider's approval status revoked. |
| (k) The department is vested with the authority to, and shall enforce, this section. |
| (l) The department shall promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section no |
| later than August 1, 2022. |
| (1) The rules and regulations adopted by the department shall recognize that teachers shall |
| have met the requirement of demonstrating awareness in knowledge and practices of scientific |
| reading and structured literacy instruction by attending ten (10) hours of training in scientific |
| reading and structured literacy instruction. |
| (2) The rules and regulations adopted by the department shall recognize that teachers shall |
| have met the requirement of demonstrating proficiency in knowledge and practices of scientific |
| reading and structured literacy instruction by one of the following: |
| (i) Possessing a Master’s degree in reading or a related academic discipline; |
| (ii) Possessing a reading specialist and/or consultant certificate; |
| (iii) Providing proof of completion of a course or training program in scientific reading and |
| structured literacy instruction consisting of at least thirty (30) hours; or |
| (iv) Passing a test in scientific reading and structured literacy instruction adopted by the |
| department at no cost to the teacher. |
| (m) Teachers shall not be required to attend training sessions outside the normal workday |
| and work year unless mutually agreed to by the teacher, the school district, and the collective |
| bargaining agent if applicable. |
| (n) For the 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, school districts shall be |
| able to replace up to three (3) student instructional days per year with teacher professional |
| development days in order to meet the requirements of this section. |
| (m)(o) As used in this section: |
| (1) The term "scientific reading instruction" means instruction that is instructional |
| centered, empirically based, and further based on the study of the relationship between cognitive |
| science and educational outcomes; and |
| (2) The term "structured literacy instruction" means an approach by which licensed |
| personnel teach reading, which includes syllables, morphology, sound-symbol correspondence, |
| semantics, and syntax, in an explicit, systematic, and diagnostic manner. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC003848/SUB A |
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