§24.10. Early literacy instruction and screening; parental notification; reporting

            A. Each public school shall:

            (1) Provide each student in kindergarten through third grade age-appropriate, systematic foundational literacy skills with instruction based on scientifically researched methods proven to provide a strong literacy foundation.

            (2) Within the first thirty days of each school year, in December, and in April, administer the literacy screener developed or selected and provided by the state Department of Education pursuant to R.S. 17:24.9 to each student in kindergarten through third grade to determine each student's literacy level.

            (3) Provide literacy interventions and supports designed to improve the foundational literacy skills of any student identified as having literacy skills below grade level. The supports may include daily targeted small-group interventions, before and after school literacy intervention provided by a teacher or tutor with specialized literacy training, at-home literacy programs that include literacy workshops for the parents and legal guardians of students and web-based or parent-guided home literacy activities, and summer learning opportunities, including but not limited to reading camps where students receive reading intervention services and supports.

            (4)(a) Ensure, pursuant to R.S. 17:351.1, that all textbooks and instructional materials used to teach students to read are high-quality, fully aligned to state content standards, and based on literacy strategies that are scientifically researched with proven results in teaching phonological awareness, letter formation, phonics, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

            (b) Ensure that no textbooks or instructional materials that employ the three-cueing system model of reading, visual memory as the primary basis for teaching word recognition, or the three-cueing system model of reading based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual, which is also known as "MSV", are used in reading instruction.

            B.(1) Within fifteen days of identifying that a student in kindergarten through third grade is below grade level, based on the results of any of the three literacy screeners administered per school year, the school shall notify the student's parent or legal guardian in writing that the student has been identified as being below grade level and shall provide the student's parent with the following:

            (a) Information regarding the importance of being able to read proficiently by the end of the third grade.

            (b) Activities that may be used at home to improve literacy proficiency.

            (c) Information regarding the specific interventions and supports that the school will provide to improve the literacy proficiency of the student.

            (2) Each school shall provide mid-year and end-of-the-year updates to the parent or legal guardian of each student identified as having literacy skills below grade level detailing the student's progress in gaining foundational literacy skills and providing the parent with additional tools to use at home to improve the student's literacy proficiency.

            C.(1) Beginning June 1, 2023, and triennially thereafter, each school shall develop, and submit to the department, a foundational literacy skills plan for students in kindergarten through third grade.

            (2) Each foundational literacy skills plan shall include:

            (a) The amount of time to be devoted daily to foundational literacy skills instruction and a description of how the instructional time will be utilized.

            (b) A list of English language arts textbooks and instructional materials adopted by the school.

            (c) A description of the interventions and supports available to students identified as having literacy skills below grade level.

            (d) A description of the professional development in foundational literacy skills instruction provided to teachers who teach kindergarten through third grade.

            D. Each school shall post its foundational literacy skills plan and the latest report on the literacy screener on its website.

            E. The results of the early literacy screener shall not be used in determining school and district performance scores prior to the 2023-2024 school year.

            F. A student in grades kindergarten through three, within thirty days of being identified as having literacy skills that are below grade level based on the results of the literacy screener, shall receive an individual reading improvement plan. The plan shall be created by the teacher, principal, other pertinent school personnel, and the parent or legal guardian, shall describe the evidence-based reading intervention services the student will receive, and shall give suggestions for strategies parents can use at home.

            G. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall adopt rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to implement the provisions of this Section.

            Acts 2021, No. 438, §1; Acts 2022, No. 517, §1; Acts 2022, No. 520, §2.