Alabama § 16-40-61 - Requirements for Reading Instructional Strategies; Violations; Rulemaking Authority.

§ 16-40-61. Requirements for Reading Instructional Strategies; Violations; Rulemaking Authority.

(a) All reading instructional materials approved for use in Alabama schools, whether through the textbook law or a local textbook review process as provided in Chapter 36, the Alabama Literacy Act as provided in Chapter 6G, or other vetting or selection process, shall use structured literacy strategies for teaching word reading and phonics instruction for decoding and encoding. Instructional strategies may not employ the three-cueing system model of reading or visual memory as a basis for teaching word reading. The instruction may include visual information and strategies that improve background and experiential knowledge, add context, and increase oral language and vocabulary to support comprehension, but may not be used to teach word reading. This prohibition is specific to the teaching of foundational reading skills and should not be construed to impact the teaching of background knowledge and vocabulary as connected to the language comprehension side of Scarborough’s Reading Rope.

(b) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, if the board determines that a local board of education has violated subsection (a), the board shall notify the local board of education, the Legislature, and the public of that violation.

(c) The board shall adopt rules pursuant to this article to establish criteria for any materials used to prepare teacher candidates to teach reading, including course textbooks, for each educator preparation program. The rules shall require instructional strategies that are scientifically researched and evidence-based reading instructional strategies that improve reading performance for all students, including explicit, systematic, and sequential approaches to teaching oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, text comprehension, writing that includes encoding, and multisensory strategies. Instructional strategies shall not include visual memory, in lieu of teaching decoding, for teaching word recognition, nor the three-cueing system model of reading. Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, these requirements shall be included in the approval process for educator preparation programs. If the board determines that an educator preparation program has violated this section, the board shall notify the educator preparation program, the Legislature, and the public.