2023 Tennessee Code › Title 49 - EDUCATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-50-1703) › Chapter 1 - STATE ADMINISTRATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-1-1208) › Part 9 - TENNESSEE LITERACY INITIATIVE ACT OF 1999 (§§ 49-1-901 — 49-1-910) › Section 49-1-905 - Foundational literacy skills for students kindergarten to grade three (K - 3)

(a)
Each LEA and public charter school shall provide:
(1)
Foundational literacy skills instruction to students in kindergarten through grade three (K-3). Foundational literacy skills instruction must be the LEA's primary form of instructional programming in English language arts; and
(2)
Reading interventions and supports designed to improve a student's foundational literacy skills to each student identified as having a significant reading deficiency. An LEA or public charter school may comply with this subdivision (a)(2) by providing the interventions identified in Tennessee's response to instruction and intervention (RTI
2
) framework manual.
(b)
(1)
To ensure that all textbooks and instructional materials used to teach students to read are based on foundational literacy skills instruction, each LEA and public charter school shall adopt and use English language arts textbooks and instructional materials from the list approved for adoption by the state board pursuant to §
49-6-2202
, unless a waiver is granted to the LEA or public charter school pursuant to §
49-6-2206
.
(2)
LEAs and public charter schools using English language arts textbooks or instructional materials from the list approved for adoption by the state board in 2019, or that received a waiver pursuant to §
49-6-2206
to use English language arts textbooks or instructional materials that were not included on the list approved for adoption in 2019, are not required to adopt or purchase additional English language arts textbooks or instructional materials to comply with subdivision (b)(1).
(3)
Notwithstanding subdivision (b)(2), all English language arts textbooks and instructional materials must be aligned to Tennessee's academic standards no later than January 1, 2023. The office of the comptroller of the treasury shall conduct a review of the English language arts textbooks and instructional materials adopted for use by each LEA and public charter school to ensure compliance with this subdivision (b)(3). The comptroller, or the comptroller's designee, shall submit a report detailing the findings of the review to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives no later than May 1, 2023.
(4)
Each LEA and public charter school shall annually provide approved educator preparation providers with a list of the English language arts textbooks and instructional materials adopted by the LEA or public charter school to ensure that the instruction provided by educator preparation providers is aligned with the English language arts instruction provided to students by LEAs and public charter schools.
(c)
(1)
Each LEA and public charter school shall annually administer a universal reading screener to each student in kindergarten through grade three (K-3) during each of the three (3) administration windows established by the department.
(2)
An LEA or public charter school may choose to administer:
(A)
The Tennessee universal reading screener provided by the department or a universal reading screener approved by the state board to comply with subdivision (c)(1); and
(B)
A universal reading screener to pre-kindergarten students.
(3)
The department shall provide the Tennessee universal reading screener at no cost to LEAs or public charter schools. The Tennessee universal reading screener:
(A)
Must be appropriate for students in pre-kindergarten through grade three (pre-K-3); and
(B)
May be used by LEAs and public charter schools to comply with the dyslexia screening requirements established in §
49-1-229
and with the universal screening requirements established in Tennessee's RTI
2
framework manual.
(4)
The department shall determine the reading proficiency level scores required for the Tennessee universal reading screener and each universal reading screener approved by the state board.
(5)
The results of universal reading screeners administered to students shall not be used to assign accountability determinations for an LEA or school.
(6)
Each LEA and public charter school shall submit the results of each universal reading screener administered to students to the department. All student information must be maintained in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (
20 U.S.C. § 1232g
), §
10-7-504
, and all other applicable state and federal privacy laws.
(d)
Immediately upon determining that a student in kindergarten through grade three (K-3) has a significant reading deficiency, based on the results of the universal reading screener most recently administered to the student, the LEA or public charter school shall notify the student's parent in writing that the student has been identified to have a significant reading deficiency, and shall provide the student's parent with:
(1)
Information about the importance of a student being able to read proficiently at the end of the third-grade level;
(2)
Reading intervention activities that the parent may use with the parent's student at home to improve reading proficiency;
(3)
Information about the specific reading interventions and supports that the LEA or public charter school recommends for the student, which may include the interventions provided by the LEA or public charter school pursuant to Tennessee's RTI
2
framework manual; and
(4)
Information about mandatory retention under §
49-6-3115(a)(1)
for students in grade three (3) with an achievement level of "approaching" or "below" on the ELA portion of the student's most recent TCAP test.
(e)
An LEA or public charter school shall provide at least one (1) home literacy report:
(1)
After each administration of a universal reading screener to a student in any of the grades kindergarten through three (K-3) identified as having a significant reading deficiency; and
(2)
Each school year for a student in grade four (4) or five (5) identified as having a significant reading deficiency.
(f)
To demonstrate the effective implementation of foundational literacy skills instruction under this section, each LEA and public charter school shall develop, and submit to the department for approval, a foundational literacy skills plan for students in kindergarten through grade five (K-5). LEAs and public charter schools have flexibility and autonomy in developing a foundational literacy skills plan, but each foundational literacy skills plan must include, at a minimum:
(1)
The amount of daily time devoted to foundational literacy skills instruction and a description of how the instructional time is utilized;
(2)
The English language arts textbooks and instructional materials adopted by the LEA or public charter school pursuant to subsection (b);
(3)
The universal reading screener selected by the LEA or public charter school for administration to students to comply with subsection (c);
(4)
A description of the reading interventions and supports available to students with a significant reading deficiency for purposes of subdivision (d)(3);
(5)
How the LEA or public charter school intends to notify and engage parents in the parent's student's literacy progress pursuant to subsections (d) and (e); and
(6)
How the LEA or public charter school will provide professional development in foundational literacy skills instruction to teachers in any of the grades kindergarten through five (K-5).
(g)
(1)
No later than June 1, 2021, each LEA and public charter school shall submit a foundational literacy skills plan to the department for approval. Each LEA and public charter school shall submit a revised foundational literacy skills plan to the department for approval no later than July 1, 2024, and triennially thereafter.
(2)
Notwithstanding subdivision (g)(1), an LEA or public charter school shall not be required to submit a revised foundational literacy skills plan if, on the date on which the foundational literacy skills plan or the revised foundational literacy skills plan is due under subdivision (g)(1), the LEA's or public charter school's Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) data meets the following criteria:
(A)
The LEA's or public charter school's district-wide student growth data for fourth grade English language arts for the two (2) Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) test administrations immediately preceding the date on which the foundational literacy skills plan or the revised foundational literacy skills plan is due under subdivision (g)(1) reflects an attainment level of "above expectations" or "significantly above expectations"; and
(B)
The LEA's or public charter school's student growth data for each individual student subgroup, as defined in Tennessee's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan established pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act (
20 U.S.C. § 6301
et seq.) and §
49-1-602
, for fourth grade English language arts for the two (2) TCAP test administrations immediately preceding the date on which the foundational literacy skills plan or the revised foundational literacy skills plan is due under subdivision (g)(1) reflects an attainment level of "above expectations" or "significantly above expectations."
(3)
Notwithstanding subdivision (g)(1), the department may require an LEA or public charter school to submit a revised foundational literacy skills plan more frequently than once every three (3) years if the LEA's or public charter school's TVAAS data meets the following criteria:
(A)
The LEA's or public charter school's student growth data for any school in the district, or any set of schools in the district, as determined by the department, for fourth grade English language arts for the two (2) TCAP test administrations immediately preceding the date on which the foundational literacy skills plan or the revised foundational literacy skills plan is due under subdivision (g)(1) reflects an attainment level of a "significantly below expectations"; or
(B)
The LEA's or public charter school's student growth data for each individual student subgroup, as defined in Tennessee's ESSA plan established pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Act (
20 U.S.C. § 6301
et seq.) and §
49-1-602
, for fourth grade English language arts for the two (2) TCAP test administrations immediately preceding the date on which the foundational literacy skills plan or the revised foundational literacy skills plan is due under subdivision (g)(1) reflects an attainment level of "below expectations" or "significantly below expectations."
(4)
(A)
Each LEA and public charter school shall post the LEA's or public charter school's department-approved foundational literacy skills plan on the LEA's or public charter school's website.
(B)
The department shall post the foundational literacy skills plan approved for each LEA and public charter school on the department's website.
(5)
(A)
The state board, in consultation with the department, shall promulgate rules to establish additional guidelines and requirements for foundational literacy skills plans, consistent with this subsection (g). The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
(B)
The state board, in consultation with the department, may promulgate emergency rules to establish additional guidelines and requirements for foundational literacy skills plans, consistent with this subsection (g), for the 2021-2022 school year. The state board shall submit any emergency rules promulgated pursuant to this subdivision (g)(5)(B) to the chair of the government operations committees of the senate and house of representatives at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to filing the rules with the secretary of state.
(6)
The office of the comptroller of the treasury shall conduct a review of the foundational literacy skills plans submitted to the department for approval to ensure the plans comply with the requirements of subsection (f) and the rules promulgated by the state board. The comptroller, or the comptroller's designee, shall submit a report detailing the findings of the review, including, but not limited to, whether plans were initially approved or denied by the department, and the nature of any plan revisions or amendments required by the department for approval, to the chairs of the education committees of the senate and house of representatives no later than November 1, 2021, and by each November 1 thereafter.
(h)
An LEA or public charter school shall not use instructional materials created to align with common core academic standards in implementing the requirements of this section.
Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 974, s 3, eff. 5/3/2022.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 367, s 2, eff. 7/1/2022.
Added by 2021EX1 Tenn. Acts, ch. 3, s 3, eff. 2/3/2021.