North Carolina § 115C-83 - 6. (Applicable before the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year) Facilitating early grade reading proficiency.

§ 115C-83. 6. (Applicable before the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year) Facilitating early grade reading proficiency.

Kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students shall be assessed with valid, reliable, formative, and diagnostic reading assessments made available to local school administrative units by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(a). Difficulty with reading development identified through administration of formative and diagnostic assessments shall be addressed with instructional supports and services. Parents or guardians of first and second grade students demonstrating reading comprehension below grade level as identified through assessments administered pursuant to this subsection shall be encouraged to enroll their student in a reading camp provided by the local school administrative unit. Parents or guardians of a student identified as demonstrating reading comprehension below grade level shall make the final decision regarding a student's reading camp attendance. Kindergarten through third grade reading assessments shall yield data that can be used with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) to analyze student data to identify root causes for difficulty with reading development and to determine actions to address them. The Department of Public Instruction shall provide for EVAAS analysis all formative and diagnostic assessment data collected pursuant to this section for kindergarten through third grade. The Department shall use a uniform template for all data collected, and the template shall be used each time data is provided. The template shall include clear designations for each data component reported. Formative and diagnostic assessments and resultant instructional supports and services shall address oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension using developmentally appropriate practices. These assessments may be administered by computer or other electronic device. Local school administrative units are encouraged to partner with community organizations, businesses, and other groups to provide volunteers, mentors, or tutors to assist with the provision of instructional supports and services that enhance reading development and proficiency. Kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students shall be assessed with valid, reliable, formative, and diagnostic reading assessments made available to local school administrative units by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(a). Difficulty with reading development identified through administration of formative and diagnostic assessments shall be addressed with literacy interventions outlined in the student's Individual Reading Plan. Parents or guardians of first and second grade students offered a reading camp as a literacy intervention shall be encouraged to enroll their student in the reading camp provided by the local school administrative unit. Parents or guardians of a student identified as demonstrating reading comprehension below grade level shall make the final decision regarding a student's reading camp attendance. Kindergarten through third grade reading assessments shall yield data that can be used with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) to analyze student data to identify root causes for difficulty with reading development and to determine actions to address them. The Department of Public Instruction shall provide for EVAAS analysis all formative and diagnostic assessment data collected pursuant to this section for kindergarten through third grade. The Department shall use a uniform template for all data collected, and the template shall be used each time data is provided. The template shall include clear designations for each data component reported. Formative and diagnostic assessments and resultant literacy interventions shall address oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension using developmentally appropriate practices. These assessments may be administered by computer or other electronic device. Local school administrative units are encouraged to partner with community organizations, businesses, and other groups to provide volunteers, mentors, or tutors to assist with the provision of literacy interventions that enhance reading development and proficiency. History (2012-142, s. 7A.1(b); 2015-241, s. 8.48(b); 2017-57, s. 7.27(a); 2018-5, s. 7.24(b); 2018-97, s. 2.10; 2021-8, s. 10(b).) Section set out twice. - The section above is applicable before the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. For the section applicable beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, see the following section, also numbered G.S. 115C-83.6 . Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.1(b), enacted this section as G.S. 115C-83.1 F. It has been renumbered as this section at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(f), made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(b), effective beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.26B(b), provides: "Reading Improvement Commission. - The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish a Reading Improvement Commission (Commission) within the Department of Public Instruction to study and make recommendations on best practices for public schools in the State to improve reading comprehension, understanding, and application for students in grades four through 12 to ensure that students complete high school with literacy skills necessary for career and college readiness. The Commission shall develop recommendations on appropriate methods to monitor student progress and provide appropriate and timely remediation to students to ensure success on nationally norm-referenced college admissions tests. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may appoint superintendents, principals, reading instructors, representatives from research institutions, and other individuals as determined by the Superintendent to the Commission. Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may use up to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2017-2018 fiscal year for the work of the Reading Improvement Commission. The Superintendent may also use these funds to contract with an independent research organization to assist in the study. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the State Board of Education on the study, including any findings and recommendations, no later than January 15, 2019. The State Board of Education may use the findings and recommendations to inform the State Board's policies and may submit additional comments on the report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than February 15, 2019." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(d), as amended by Session Laws 2017-197, s. 2.6, and Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.23, provides: "Subsection (a) of this section applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year. Subsection (c1) of this section becomes effective June 30, 2017." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(b), (c), as amended by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.23, provides: "(b) The State Superintendent shall issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to vendors of diagnostic reading assessment instruments to provide one or more valid, reliable, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment instrument or instruments for use pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 . At a minimum, the diagnostic reading assessment instrument or instruments provided by the selected vendor shall meet all of the following criteria: "(1) Yield data that can be used with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). "(2) Demonstrate close alignment with student performance on State assessments, including all assessments required in kindergarten through third grade by Part 2 of Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes. "(3) Demonstrate high rates of predictability as to student performance on State assessments, including all assessments required in kindergarten through third grade by Part 2 of Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes. "(c) The State Superintendent shall form and supervise an Evaluation Panel to review the proposals received pursuant to the RFP issued in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. The Evaluation Panel shall be composed of persons employed within the Department of Public Instruction. By December 1, 2018, the Evaluation Panel, with the approval of the State Superintendent, shall select one vendor to provide the assessment instrument or instruments for the 2019-2020 school year. In determining which vendor to select, the Evaluation Panel shall consider, at a minimum, all of the following factors: "(1) The time required to conduct formative and diagnostic assessments with the intention of minimizing the impact on instructional time. "(2) The level of integration of assessment results with instructional support for teachers and students. "(3) The timeliness in reporting assessment results to teachers and administrators. "(4) The ability to provide timely assessment results to parents and guardians." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(d), made subsection (a2) of this section, as added by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(b), applicable beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, and shall include the reporting of required data from the 2017-2018 school year. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'" Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2018-2019 fiscal year." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 , eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.3(c), provides: "Diagnostic and Formative Assessments. - For the 2019-2020 school year, for the diagnostic and formative reading assessments for kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students described in G.S. 115C-83.6 and G.S. 115C-174.11(a) , additional assessments beyond those administered prior to March 16, 2020, are not required." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.7(c), provides: "Reading Camps. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-83.6(a) , 115C-83.8(a), and 115C-83.11, and any other provision of law to the contrary, local school administrative units are not required to provide reading camps corresponding to the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 1, provides: "This act shall be known as the "Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(b), effective July 1, 2015, added the last two sentences in subsection (a), and designated the former last sentence of subsection (a) as subsection (a1). For effective date and applicability, see Editor's note. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(a), effective July 1, 2017, in subsection (a1), deleted "To the greatest extent possible" at the beginning and deleted "or a compatible and comparable system approved by the State Board of Education" following "(EVAAS)"; and added the second sentence in (b). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(b), effective July 1, 2018, added subsection (a2). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2018-97, s. 2.10, effective July 1, 2018, deleted "or G.S. 115C-174.11 " following "this section" in subsection (a2). Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(c), effective April 9, 2021, rewrote the section. For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(f), effective April 9, 2021, rewrote subsection (b) and substituted "individualized" for "individual" in subdivision (c)(1). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 10(b), effective April 9, 2021, added the last sentence in subsection (a2). § 115C-83.6. (Applicable beginning with the 2022-2023 school year) Facilitating early grade reading proficiency. History (2012-142, s. 7A.1(b); 2015-241, s. 8.48(b); 2017-57, s. 7.27(a); 2018-5, s. 7.24(b); 2018-97, s. 2.10; 2021-8, ss. 6(c), 10(b).) Section set out twice. - The section above is applicable beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. For the section applicable before the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, see the preceding section, also numbered G.S. 115C-83.6 . Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.1(b), enacted this section as G.S. 115C-83.1 F. It has been renumbered as this section at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(f), made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(b), effective beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.26B(b), provides: "Reading Improvement Commission. - The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish a Reading Improvement Commission (Commission) within the Department of Public Instruction to study and make recommendations on best practices for public schools in the State to improve reading comprehension, understanding, and application for students in grades four through 12 to ensure that students complete high school with literacy skills necessary for career and college readiness. The Commission shall develop recommendations on appropriate methods to monitor student progress and provide appropriate and timely remediation to students to ensure success on nationally norm-referenced college admissions tests. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may appoint superintendents, principals, reading instructors, representatives from research institutions, and other individuals as determined by the Superintendent to the Commission. Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may use up to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2017-2018 fiscal year for the work of the Reading Improvement Commission. The Superintendent may also use these funds to contract with an independent research organization to assist in the study. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the State Board of Education on the study, including any findings and recommendations, no later than January 15, 2019. The State Board of Education may use the findings and recommendations to inform the State Board's policies and may submit additional comments on the report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than February 15, 2019." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(d), as amended by Session Laws 2017-197, s. 2.6, and Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.23, provides: "Subsection (a) of this section applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year. Subsection (c1) of this section becomes effective June 30, 2017." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(b), (c), as amended by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.23, provides: "(b) The State Superintendent shall issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to vendors of diagnostic reading assessment instruments to provide one or more valid, reliable, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment instrument or instruments for use pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 . At a minimum, the diagnostic reading assessment instrument or instruments provided by the selected vendor shall meet all of the following criteria: "(1) Yield data that can be used with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). "(2) Demonstrate close alignment with student performance on State assessments, including all assessments required in kindergarten through third grade by Part 2 of Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes. "(3) Demonstrate high rates of predictability as to student performance on State assessments, including all assessments required in kindergarten through third grade by Part 2 of Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes. "(c) The State Superintendent shall form and supervise an Evaluation Panel to review the proposals received pursuant to the RFP issued in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. The Evaluation Panel shall be composed of persons employed within the Department of Public Instruction. By December 1, 2018, the Evaluation Panel, with the approval of the State Superintendent, shall select one vendor to provide the assessment instrument or instruments for the 2019-2020 school year. In determining which vendor to select, the Evaluation Panel shall consider, at a minimum, all of the following factors: "(1) The time required to conduct formative and diagnostic assessments with the intention of minimizing the impact on instructional time. "(2) The level of integration of assessment results with instructional support for teachers and students. "(3) The timeliness in reporting assessment results to teachers and administrators. "(4) The ability to provide timely assessment results to parents and guardians." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(d), made subsection (a2) of this section, as added by Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(b), applicable beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, and shall include the reporting of required data from the 2017-2018 school year. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'" Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2018-2019 fiscal year." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 , eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.3(c), provides: "Diagnostic and Formative Assessments. - For the 2019-2020 school year, for the diagnostic and formative reading assessments for kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students described in G.S. 115C-83.6 and G.S. 115C-174.11(a) , additional assessments beyond those administered prior to March 16, 2020, are not required." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.7(c), provides: "Reading Camps. - Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-83.6(a) , 115C-83.8(a), and 115C-83.11, and any other provision of law to the contrary, local school administrative units are not required to provide reading camps corresponding to the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 1, provides: "This act shall be known as the "Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021." Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(m), made the amendments to this section by Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(c), applicable beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2015-241, s. 8.48(b), effective July 1, 2015, added the last two sentences in subsection (a), and designated the former last sentence of subsection (a) as subsection (a1). For effective date and applicability, see Editor's note. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 7.27(a), effective July 1, 2017, in subsection (a1), deleted "To the greatest extent possible" at the beginning and deleted "or a compatible and comparable system approved by the State Board of Education" following "(EVAAS)"; and added the second sentence in (b). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 7.24(b), effective July 1, 2018, added subsection (a2). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2018-97, s. 2.10, effective July 1, 2018, deleted "or G.S. 115C-174.11 " following "this section" in subsection (a2). Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(c), effective April 9, 2021, rewrote the section. For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 6(f), effective April 9, 2021, rewrote subsection (b) and substituted "individualized" for "individual" in subdivision (c)(1). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2021-8, s. 10(b), effective April 9, 2021, added the last sentence in subsection (a2).