Michigan § 388.1635a - Professional development; allocations; screening and diagnostic tools for early literacy and early reading skills; early literacy coaches; additional instructional time; report; literacy essentials teacher and principal training; funding for Reading and Math Corps; professional development programs; professional learning opportunities; definitions.

(1) From the appropriations in section 11, there is allocated for 2024-2025 an amount not to exceed $82,900,000.00 and for 2025-2026 an amount not to exceed $52,000,000.00 from the state school aid fund for the purposes of this section. It is the intent of the legislature that, for 2026-2027, the allocation from the state school aid fund money appropriated in section 11 for the purposes described in this section will be $42,000,000.00. Excluding staff or contracted employees funded under subsection (8), the superintendent shall designate staff or contracted employees funded under this section as critical shortage. By not later than December 31 of each fiscal year in which funding is allocated under this section, the superintendent of public instruction shall do both of the following:

(a) Report in person to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid regarding progress on early literacy and be available for questioning as prescribed through a process developed by the chairs of the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid.

(b) Submit a written report to the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on school aid regarding progress on early literacy. Beginning in 2025-2026, the report described in this subdivision must include the number of literacy coaches supported by funding provided under subsection (4), including the number of coaches supported in each intermediate district, and the percentage of supported coaches that have received, or are in the process of receiving, professional learning by the approved provider described in subsection (11).

(2) A district that receives funds under subsection (5) may spend up to 5% of those funds for professional development for educators in a department-approved research-based training program related to current state literacy standards for pupils in grades pre-K to 5. The professional development must also include training in the use of screening and diagnostic tools, progress monitoring, and intervention methods used to address barriers to learning and delays in learning that are diagnosed through the use of these tools.

(3) A district that receives funds under subsection (5) may use up to 5% of those funds to administer department-approved screening and diagnostic tools to monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills, and risk factors for word-level reading difficulties of pupils in grades pre-K to 5 and to support evidence-based professional learning described in subsection (11) for educators in administering and using screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment data to inform instruction through prevention and intervention in a multi-tiered system of supports framework. A department-approved screening and diagnostic tool administered by a district using funding under this section must include all of the following components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and comprehension. Further, all of the following sub-skills must be assessed within each of these components:

(a) Phonemic awareness - segmentation, blending, and sound manipulation (deletion and substitution).

(b) Phonics - decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling).

(c) Fluency.

(d) Comprehension - making meaning of text.

(4) From the allocation under subsection (1), there is allocated an amount not to exceed $42,000,000.00 for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 for the purpose of providing early literacy coaches at intermediate districts to assist teachers in developing and implementing instructional strategies for pupils in grades pre-K to 5 so that pupils are reading at grade level by the end of grade 3. All of the following apply to funding under this subsection:

(a) The department shall develop an application process consistent with the provisions of this subsection. An application must provide assurances that literacy coaches funded under this subsection are knowledgeable about at least the following:

(i) Current state literacy standards for pupils in grades pre-K to 3.

(ii) Implementing an instructional delivery model based on frequent use of formative, screening, and diagnostic tools, known as a multi-tiered system of supports, to determine individual progress for pupils in grades pre-K to 5 so that pupils are reading at grade level by the end of grade 3.

(iii) The use of data from diagnostic tools to determine the necessary additional supports and interventions needed by individual pupils in grades pre-K to 5 to read at grade level.

(b) From the allocation under this subsection, the department shall award grants to intermediate districts for the support of early literacy coaches. The department shall provide this funding in the following manner:

(i) The department shall award each intermediate district grant funding to support the cost of 2 early literacy coaches in an equal amount per early literacy coach, not to exceed $125,000.00.

(ii) After distribution of the grant funding under subparagraph (i), the department shall distribute the remainder of grant funding for additional early literacy coaches in an amount not to exceed $125,000.00 per early literacy coach. The number of funded early literacy coaches for each intermediate district is based on the percentage of the total statewide number of pupils in grades K to 3 who meet the income eligibility standards for the federal free and reduced-price lunch programs who are enrolled in districts in the intermediate district.

(c) If an intermediate district that receives funding under this subsection uses an assessment tool that screens for characteristics of dyslexia, the intermediate district shall use the assessment results from that assessment tool to identify pupils who demonstrate characteristics of dyslexia.

(d) All literacy coaches funded under this subsection must have already received, or be making progress toward receiving, professional learning by the approved provider described in subsection (11).

(e) To be eligible to receive funding under this subsection, an intermediate district must provide the department with a list by September 1 of the immediately preceding fiscal year containing contact information for all literacy coaches funded under this subsection, in a form and manner determined by the department. An intermediate district shall communicate any personnel changes and changes to contact information for literacy coaches funded under this subsection to the department within 30 days of the personnel change or change in contact information.

(5) From the allocation under subsection (1), there is allocated an amount not to exceed $19,900,000.00 for 2024-2025 to districts that provide additional instructional time to those pupils in grades pre-K to 5 who have been identified by using department-approved screening and diagnostic tools as needing additional supports and interventions to read at grade level by the end of grade 3. Additional instructional time may be provided before, during, and after regular school hours or as part of a year-round balanced school calendar. All of the following apply to funding under this subsection:

(a) To be eligible to receive funding, a district must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the district has done all of the following:

(i) Implemented a multi-tiered system of supports instructional delivery model that is an evidence-based model that uses data-driven problem solving to integrate academic and behavioral instruction and that uses intervention delivered to all pupils in varying intensities based on pupil needs. The multi-tiered system of supports must provide at least all of the following essential components:

(A) Team-based leadership.

(B) A tiered delivery system.

(C) Selection and implementation of instruction, interventions, and supports.

(D) A comprehensive screening and assessment system.

(E) Continuous data-based decision making.

(ii) Used department-approved research-based diagnostic tools to identify individual pupils in need of additional instructional time.

(iii) Used a reading instruction method that focuses on the 5 fundamental building blocks of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension and content knowledge.

(iv) Provided teachers of pupils in grades pre-K to 5 with research-based professional development in diagnostic data interpretation.

(v) Complied with the requirements under section 1280f of the revised school code, MCL 380.1280f.

(b) The department shall distribute funding allocated under this subsection to eligible districts on an equal per-first-grade-pupil basis.

(c) If the funds allocated under this subsection are insufficient to fully fund the payments under this subsection, payments under this subsection are prorated on an equal per-pupil basis based on grade 1 pupils.

(6) By not later than September 1 of each year, a district that receives funding under subsection (5) in conjunction with the Michigan student data system, if possible, shall provide to the department a report that includes at least both of the following, in a form and manner prescribed by the department:

(a) For pupils in grades pre-K to 5, the teachers, pupils, schools, and grades served with funds under this section and the categories of services provided.

(b) For pupils in grades pre-K to 5, pupil proficiency and growth data that allows analysis both in the aggregate and by each of the following subgroups, as applicable:

(i) School.

(ii) Grade level.

(iii) Gender.

(iv) Race.

(v) Ethnicity.

(vi) Economically disadvantaged status.

(vii) Disability.

(viii) Pupils identified as having reading deficiencies.

(7) From the allocation under subsection (1), there is allocated an amount not to exceed $6,000,000.00 for 2024-2025 to an intermediate district in which the combined total number of pupils in membership of all of its constituent districts is the fewest among all intermediate districts. All of the following apply to the funding under this subsection:

(a) Funding under this subsection must be used by the intermediate district, in partnership with an association that represents intermediate district administrators in this state, to implement all of the following:

(i) Literacy essentials teacher and principal training modules.

(ii) Face-to-face and online professional learning of literacy essentials teacher and principal training modules for literacy coaches, principals, and teachers.

(iii) The placement of regional lead literacy coaches to facilitate professional learning for early literacy coaches. These regional lead literacy coaches shall provide support for new literacy coaches, building teachers, and administrators and shall facilitate regional data collection to evaluate the effectiveness of statewide literacy coaches funded under this section.

(iv) Provide $500,000.00 from this subsection for literacy training, modeling, coaching, and feedback for district principals or chief administrators, as applicable. The training described in this subparagraph must use the pre-K and K to 3 essential instructional practices in literacy created by the general education leadership network as the framework for all training provided under this subparagraph.

(v) Job-embedded professional learning opportunities for mathematics teachers through mathematics instructional coaching. Funding must be used for professional learning for coaches, professional developers, administrators, and teachers; coaching for early mathematics educators; the development of statewide and regional professional learning networks in mathematics instructions; and the development and support of digital professional learning modules.

(b) By not later than September 1 of each year, the intermediate district described in this subsection, in consultation with grant recipients, shall submit a report to the chairs of the senate and house appropriations subcommittees on school aid, the chairs of the senate and house standing committees responsible for education legislation, the house and senate fiscal agencies, and the state budget director. The report described under this subdivision must include student achievement results in English language arts and mathematics and survey results with feedback from parents and teachers regarding the initiatives implemented under this subsection.

(c) Up to 2% of funds allocated under this subsection may be used by the association representing intermediate district administrators that is in partnership with the intermediate district specified in this subsection to administer this subsection.

(8) From the allocation under subsection (1), the department shall allocate the amount of $5,000,000.00 for 2024-2025 only to an intermediate district or a consortium of intermediate districts to partner with the Michigan Education Corps for the PreK Reading Corps, the K3 Reading Corps, and the Math Corps. An intermediate district or a consortium of intermediate districts receiving funding under this subsection must forward the amount received under this subsection to the Michigan Education Corps for statewide services. As conditions of receiving funding from an intermediate district or a consortium of intermediate districts, all of the following apply to funding received by the Michigan Education Corps under this subsection:

(a) By September 1 of the current fiscal year, the Michigan Education Corps shall provide a report concerning its use of the funding to the senate and house appropriations subcommittees on school aid, the senate and house fiscal agencies, and the senate and house caucus policy offices on outcomes and performance measures of the Michigan Education Corps, including, but not limited to, the degree to which the Michigan Education Corps' replication of the PreK Reading Corps, the K3 Reading Corps, and the Math Corps programs is demonstrating sufficient efficacy and impact. The report must include data pertaining to at least all of the following:

(i) The current impact of the programs on this state in terms of numbers of children and schools receiving support. This portion of the report must specify the number of children tutored, including dosage and completion, and the demographics of those children.

(ii) Whether the assessments and interventions are implemented with fidelity. This portion of the report must include details on the total number of assessments and interventions completed and the range, mean, and standard deviation.

(iii) Whether the literacy or math improvement of children participating in the programs is consistent with expectations. This portion of the report must detail at least all of the following:

(A) Growth rate by grade or age level, in comparison to targeted growth rate.

(B) Average linear growth rates.

(C) Exit rates.

(D) Percentage of children who exit who also meet or exceed spring benchmarks.

(iv) The impact of the programs on organizations and stakeholders, including, but not limited to, school administrators, internal coaches, and AmeriCorps members.

(b) If the department determines that the Michigan Education Corps has misused the funds allocated under this subsection, the Michigan Education Corps shall reimburse this state for the amount of state funding misused.

(c) An intermediate district or a consortium of intermediate districts may not reserve any portion of the allocation provided under this subsection for an evaluation of the Michigan Education Corps, the Michigan Education Corps' funding, or the Michigan Education Corps' programming unless agreed to in writing by the Michigan Education Corps. An intermediate district or a consortium of intermediate districts shall award the entire amount allocated under this subsection to the Michigan Education Corps and shall not condition the forwarding of this funding on the implementation of an independent evaluation.

(9) If a district or intermediate district expends any funding received under subsection (4) or (5) for professional development in research-based effective reading instruction, the district or intermediate district shall select a professional development program from the list described in subdivision (a). All of the following apply to the requirement under this subsection:

(a) The department shall issue a request for proposals for professional development programs in research-based effective reading instruction to develop an initial approved list of professional development programs in research-based effective reading instruction. The department shall make the initial approved list public and shall determine if it will, on a rolling basis, approve any new proposals submitted for addition to its initial approved list.

(b) To be included as an approved professional development program in research-based effective reading instruction under subdivision (a), an applicant must demonstrate to the department in writing the program's competency in all of the following topics:

(i) Understanding of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

(ii) Appropriate use of assessments and differentiated instruction.

(iii) Selection of appropriate instructional materials.

(iv) Application of research-based instructional practices.

(c) As used in this subsection, "effective reading instruction" means reading instruction scientifically proven to result in improvement in pupil reading skills.

(10) From the allocation under subsection (1), there is allocated an amount not to exceed $10,000,000.00 for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 only to an intermediate district identified by the department for the provision of professional learning by the approved provider described in subsection (11), first to educators in pre-K, kindergarten, and grade 1 next to educators in grade 2 and grade 3; and then to additional elementary school educators and pre-K to grade 12 certificated special education personnel with endorsements in learning disabilities, emotional impairments, or speech and language impairments. For purposes of this subsection, the approved provider must establish and manage professional learning opportunities that are open to all school personnel described in this subsection as follows:

(a) The approved provider must first open voluntary enrollment for any pre-K through grade 3 teacher on a first-come, first-served basis, with voluntary enrollment prioritized for pre-K, kindergarten, and grade 1 teachers. The approved provider shall then open voluntary enrollment for the remaining school personnel described in this subsection.

(b) The approved provider must maintain open enrollment until all funds are expended.

(11) For the provision of professional learning to the school personnel described in subsection (10), LETRS is the approved provider of professional learning as long as LETRS continues to meet all of the following:

(a) Be offered through a system of training that provides educators with the knowledge base to effectively implement any class-wide, supplemental, or intervention reading approach and to determine why some students struggle with reading, writing, spelling, and language.

(b) Provide training activities that direct educators to implement effective reading and spelling instruction supported by scientifically based research and foster a direct explicit instructional sequence that uses techniques to support teachers' independence in using their newly-learned skills with students in the classroom.

(c) Include integrated components for educators and administrators in pre-K to grade 3 with embedded evaluation or assessment of knowledge. Evaluation or assessment of knowledge under this subdivision must incorporate evaluations of learning throughout each unit and include a summative assessment that must be completed to demonstrate successful course completion.

(d) Build teacher content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge of the critical components of literacy including how the brain learns to read, phonological and phonemic awareness; letter knowledge; phonics; advanced phonics; vocabulary and oral language; fluency; comprehension; spelling and writing; and the organization of language.

(e) Support educators in understanding how to effectively use screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment data to improve literacy outcomes through prevention and intervention for reading difficulties in a multi-tiered system of supports. The multi-tiered system of supports must include at least all of the following essential components:

(i) Team-based leadership.

(ii) A tiered delivery system.

(iii) Selection and implementation of instruction, interventions, and supports.

(iv) A comprehensive screening and assessment system.

(v) Continuous data-based decision making.

(12) Notwithstanding section 17b, the department shall make payments made under subsections (7) and (8) on a schedule determined by the department.

(13) As used in this section:

(a) "Dyslexia" means both of the following:

(i) A specific learning disorder that is neurobiological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities that typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

(ii) A specific learning disorder that may include secondary consequences, such as problems in reading comprehension and a reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge and lead to social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties.

(b) "Evidence-based" means an activity, program, process, service, strategy, or intervention that demonstrates statistically significant effects on improving pupil outcomes or other relevant outcomes and that meets at least both of the following:

(i) At least 1 of the following:

(A) Is based on strong evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented experimental study.

(B) Is based on moderate evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study.

(C) Is based on promising evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias.

(D) Demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that the activity, program, process, service, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve pupil outcomes or other relevant outcomes.

(ii) Includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the activity, program, process, service, strategy, or intervention.

(c) "Explicit" means direct and deliberate instruction through continuous pupil-teacher interaction that includes teacher modeling, guided practice, and independent practice.

(d) "Fluency" means the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression.

(e) "Multi-tiered system of supports" means a comprehensive framework that includes 3 distinct tiers of instructional support and is composed of a collection of evidence-based strategies designed to meet the individual needs and assets of a whole pupil at all achievement levels.

(f) "Phonemic awareness" means the conscious awareness of all of the following:

(i) Individual speech sounds, including, but not limited to, consonants and vowels, in spoken syllables.

(ii) The ability to consciously manipulate through, including, but not limited to, matching, blending, segmenting, deleting, or substituting, individual speech sounds described in subparagraph (i).

(iii) All levels of the speech sound system, including, but not limited to, word boundaries, rhyme recognition, stress patterns, syllables, onset-rime units, and phonemes.

(g) "Phonological" means relating to the system of contrastive relationships among the speech sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a language.

(h) "Progress monitoring" means the assessing of students' academic performance, quantifying students' rates of improvement or progress toward goals, and determining how students are responding to instruction.

(i) "Rapid automatized naming (RAN)" means a task that measures how quickly individuals can name objects; pictures; colors; or symbols, including letters and digits, aloud, which can predict later reading abilities for preliterate children.