2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 22 - EDUCATION (§§ 22-1-101 — 22-108-109) › GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE (§§ 22-1-101 — 22-16-112) › Article 7 - Educational Accountability (§§ 22-7-101 — 22-7-1214) › Part 12 - COLORADO READ ACT (§§ 22-7-1201 — 22-7-1214) › Section 22-7-1208 - Local education providers - procedures - plans - training - rules

(1)
Each local education provider shall adopt the procedures necessary to comply with the requirements specified in this part 12. In adopting procedures, a local education provider shall comply with and may exceed the requirements of this part 12. Procedures may include, but need not be limited to, procedures for:
(a)
Creating a READ plan and the contents of a READ plan;
(b)
Effectively communicating with parents concerning the creation, contents, and implementation of READ plans; and
(c)
Determining whether a student who has a significant reading deficiency will advance to the next grade level.
(2)
A local education provider is not required to start a READ plan or convert an individual literacy plan to a READ plan for a student who is enrolled in fourth grade or higher as of the 2013-14 school year.
(3)
Each local education provider is encouraged to report to the department the strategies and intervention instruction that the local education provider finds effective in assisting students to attain reading competency and to provide copies of effective materials to the department to assist the department in sharing with local education providers best practices in assisting students to attain reading competency.
(4)
Local education providers are encouraged to provide parents opportunities to participate in parent reading workshops throughout the school year to assist parents in developing their own reading skills and in developing the skills necessary to assist their children in reading.
(5)
(a)
Beginning with the plans adopted for the 2020-21 school year, the plan that a local education provider must adopt based on its accreditation category pursuant to section
22-11-208
or as required pursuant to section
22-11-210
, whichever is applicable, must include the following information concerning implementation of this part 12 as it applies to each of the schools operated by the local education provider:
(I)
The core and supplemental reading curriculum used at each grade level, including kindergarten for each school that includes a kindergarten educational program. The core and supplemental reading curriculum must be designed around teaching the foundational reading skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency including oral skills, and reading comprehension.
(II)
The targeted, evidence-based or scientifically based core and supplemental reading instructional programs and intervention reading instruction, services, and other supports, including those available through the multi-tiered systems of supports or a comparable intervention system implemented by the local education provider, that each school provides to students who are identified as having a significant reading deficiency or as reading below grade level;
(III)
The assessments that each school uses at each grade level to meet the requirements specified in section
22-7-1205(1)
; and
(IV)
If the local education provider receives and uses per-pupil intervention money or money received through the early literacy grant program for professional development, the local education provider's plan for providing the professional development, which development must be targeted, evidence based or scientifically based, and aligned with the instruction, services, and other supports provided to students who are identified as having a significant reading deficiency or as reading below grade level.
(b)
If a local education provider is authorized pursuant to section
22-11-303(4)
or
22-11-403(5)
to adopt and submit a plan every two years, the local education provider shall submit to the department the information described in subsection (5)(a) of this section annually.
(6)
(a)
By the beginning of the 2022-23 school year and continuing for each school year thereafter, each local education provider that receives per-pupil intervention money or a grant through the early literacy grant program in any budget year starting with the 2019-20 budget year shall ensure that each teacher employed to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three successfully completes or has successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading. To comply with this subsection (6)(a), a local education provider must submit evidence, as described in subsection (6)(b) of this section, that each teacher employed to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three has successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading that is:
(I)
Included as a course in an approved program of preparation, as defined in section
22-60.5-103(8)
, or an alternative teacher program, as defined in section
22-60.5-103(5)
;
(II)
Included as a course in a post-graduate degree program in teaching reading or literacy;
(III)
Provided by the department or included on the advisory list of professional development programs provided by the department pursuant to section
22-7-1209(2)(c)
; or
(IV)
Provided by a local education provider or is appropriate for license renewal pursuant to section
22-60.5-110(3)
.
(b)
A teacher is deemed to have successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading if the local education provider submits to the department evidence that the teacher passed an end-of-course assessment of learning at the completion of the evidence-based training.
(c)
At the request of a local education provider, the department shall provide, at no cost to the local education provider, evidence-based training in teaching reading to one or more of the teachers employed by the local education provider to teach kindergarten or any of grades one through three.
(d)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (6)(a) of this section, a local education provider that is not in compliance with the requirements of this subsection (6) as of the beginning of the 2022-23 school year or for a subsequent school year may request a one-year extension from the state board based on a demonstration of good cause for inability to comply.
(e)
A local education provider is strongly encouraged to make evidence-based training in teaching reading available to parents and members of the community in order to effectively partner with them in teaching early-grade reading.
(f)
The state board may adopt rules as necessary to specify the time frames and procedures for complying with the requirements specified in subsection (6)(a) of this section and for applying for an extension pursuant to subsection (6)(d) of this section and the form in which a local education provider must submit evidence of the completion of an end-of-course assessment of learning as required in subsection (6)(b) of this section.
(6.5)
(a)
By the beginning of the 2024-25 school year and continuing for each school year thereafter, each local education provider that receives per-pupil intervention money or a grant through the early literacy grant program in any budget year starting with the 2023-24 budget year shall ensure that each principal in a school that serves kindergarten or any of grades one through three and each administrator with responsibility that pertains to programs in kindergarten or any of grades one through three successfully completes or has successfully completed evidence-based training designed for school administrators in the science of reading. The evidence-based training in the science of reading must include the concepts of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading comprehension to assist principals in coaching and evaluating teachers. The training must also include topics related to implementing schoolwide scientifically based and evidence-based reading programming. To comply with this subsection (6.5)(a), a local education provider shall submit evidence that each principal and administrator described in this subsection (6.5)(a) has successfully completed evidence-based training in the science of reading that is:
(I)
Included as a course in an approved program of preparation, as defined in section
22-60.5-102(8)
for principals or administrators, or an individualized alternative principal program, or other alternative principal program, approved pursuant to section
22-60.5-305.5
;
(II)
Included as a course in a post-graduate degree program in teaching reading or literacy;
(III)
Provided by the department or included on the advisory list of rigorous professional development programs provided by the department pursuant to section
22-7-1209(2)(c)
; or
(IV)
Provided by a local education provider or is appropriate for license renewal pursuant to section
22-60.5-110(3)
.
(b)
The department shall provide, at no cost, training for elementary school administrators to meet the requirements specified in subsection (6.5)(a) of this section. The department may provide the training in-person or online.
(c)
Notwithstanding subsection (6.5)(a) of this section, a local education provider that is not in compliance with the requirements of this subsection (6.5) as of the beginning of the 2024-25 school year or for a subsequent school year may request a one-year extension from the state board based on a demonstration of good cause for inability to comply.
(d)
The state board may adopt rules as necessary to specify the content and minimum number of hours required for the training described in subsection (6.5)(a) of this section; the time frames and procedures for complying with the requirements specified in subsection (6.5)(a) of this section and for applying for an extension pursuant to subsection (6.5)(c) of this section; and the form in which a local education provider must submit evidence of the completion of the training required in subsection (6.5)(a) of this section.
(6.7)
(a)
By the beginning of the 2024-25 school year and continuing for each school year thereafter, each local education provider that receives per-pupil intervention money or a grant through the early literacy grant program in any budget year starting with the 2023-24 budget year shall ensure that each reading interventionist employed to teach students in any of grades four through twelve successfully completes or has successfully completed evidence-based training in teaching reading as described for teachers in subsection (6) of this section. To comply with this subsection (6.7)(a), a local education provider shall submit evidence that each reading interventionist employed to teach students in any of grades four through twelve has passed an end-of-course assessment of learning at the completion of the evidence-based training.
(b)
The department shall provide, at no cost, training for reading interventionists to meet the requirements specified in subsection (6.7)(a) of this section. The department may provide the training in-person or online.
(c)
Notwithstanding subsection (6.7)(a) of this section, a local education provider that is not in compliance with the requirements of this subsection (6.7) as of the beginning of the 2024-25 school year or for a subsequent school year may request a one-year extension from the state board based on a demonstration of good cause for inability to comply.
(d)
The state board may adopt rules as necessary to specify the content and minimum number of hours required for training for reading interventionists required in subsection (6.7)(a) of this section; time frames and procedures for complying with the requirements specified in subsection (6.7)(a) of this section and for applying for an extension pursuant to subsection (6.7)(c) of this section; and the form in which a local education provider must submit evidence of the completion of an end-of-course assessment of learning as required in subsection (6.7)(a) of this section.
(7)
Each local education provider is strongly encouraged to partner with adjacent public libraries to enhance the instructional programming and services in literacy provided by the local education provider and to provide access for students and their parents to reading materials for out-of-school literacy development.
(8)
(a)
Each local education provider shall submit to the department, and update as necessary to remain current, the following information, and the department shall post the information on the department's website, as provided in section
22-7-1209(9)
:
(I)
The core and supplemental reading curriculum, as described in subsection (5)(a)(I) of this section, or a detailed description of the reading curriculum, by grade, used at each of the schools operated by the local education provider;
(II)
The targeted, evidence-based or scientifically based core and supplemental reading instructional programs and intervention reading instruction, services, and other supports, as described in subsection (5)(a)(II) of this section, or a detailed description of the programs, services, and other supports, provided by each of the schools operated by the local education provider; and
(III)
The information required to be provided to the department by a local education provider pursuant to section
22-7-1210.5(2)
prior to receiving per-pupil intervention money, as well as the number of students enrolled by the local education provider who are no longer identified as having a significant reading deficiency; except that the department is not required to post on the website the number of students who are no longer identified as having a significant reading deficiency if the number of those students as submitted by a local education provider is smaller than the minimum number of students necessary to protect student privacy, as determined by the department.
(b)
Each local education provider shall include on its website a link to the page on which the materials described in subsection (8)(a) of this section are posted on the department's website. The link must be easily identifiable in a location on the local education provider's website that is identified as relating to student literacy or the "Colorado READ Act". The local education provider shall also ensure that each school-level website for a school operated by the local education provider includes the link to the information on the department's website.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 280,§1, eff. 8/10/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 267,§1, eff. 6/18/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 127,§1, eff. 5/10/2021.
Amended by 2019 Ch. 154,§6, eff. 5/10/2019.
L. 2012: Entire part added, (HB 12-1238), ch. 657, p. 657, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2019: (5) to (7) added, (SB 19-199), ch. 1825, p. 1825, § 6, effective May 10. L. 2021: IP(6)(a) and (6)(d) amended, (HB 21-1129), ch. 515, p. 515, § 1, effective May 10; (8) added, (SB 21-151), ch. 1550, p. 1550, § 1, effective June 18.
2022 Ch. 280, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).