SENATE BILL NO. 380

April 22, 2021, Introduced by Senators IRWIN, ALEXANDER, BULLOCK, RUNESTAD, POLEHANKI, CHANG, BAYER, MOSS, SANTANA, BIZON, MCBROOM, GEISS and BRINKS and referred to the Committee on Education and Career Readiness.

"The revised school code,"

(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1280i.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 1280i. (1) The board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall ensure that each pupil described in subsections (2) and (4) is screened for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently using a reliable and valid universal screening assessment. A school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy shall screen pupils under this subsection with fidelity.

(2) The board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall ensure that all of the following pupils enrolled in the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy are screened for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently using a reliable and valid universal screening assessment as required under subsection (1):

(a) Each pupil during kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3.

(b) Each pupil who is in kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3 who transferred to the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy from another school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in this state and who has not been screened for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently using a reliable and valid universal screening assessment.

(c) Each pupil who is in any of grades 4 to 8 who, as determined by that pupil's teacher, educational-support staff, or the pupil's parent or legal guardian, demonstrates any of the following:

(i) Escape or avoidance behaviors when asked to engage in reading or writing activities.

(ii) Effortful or laborious reading.

(iii) Reading-comprehension difficulties caused by inaccurate or inefficient word reading.

(iv) Significant spelling or encoding difficulties not caused by fine-motor or visual-motor difficulties.

(d) Each pupil who is in kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3 who has transferred to the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy from a school that is not located in this state, unless the pupil presents written documentation to the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy showing either of the following:

(i) That the pupil was subject to a reliable and valid universal screening assessment.

(ii) That the pupil is exempt from screening under this section, as determined by the department.

(3) Pupils required to be screened under subsections (2)(a), (b), and (d) must be screened, as described in subsection (2), at least 3 times during the school year.

(4) For a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12 who exhibits any of the following, the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that the pupil is screened for characteristics of dyslexia and difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently using a reliable and valid universal screening assessment as required under subsection (1):

(a) Low performance on school-district-, intermediate-school-district-, or public-school-academy-approved English language arts standards.

(b) Low performance on school-district-, intermediate-school-district-, or public-school-academy-approved standardized assessments.

(5) For a pupil described in subsection (4), the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that additional assessment data pertaining to the pupil is gathered, as available, and shall make a determination concerning whether or not the pupil has difficulties with word reading in making a decision concerning intervention placement for the pupil, as needed.

(6) If a reliable and valid universal screening assessment indicates that a pupil is exhibiting characteristics of dyslexia or indicates that the pupil is experiencing difficulty in learning to decode accurately and efficiently, the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) is provided to the pupil. The multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) described in this subsection must meet all of the following:

(a) Be a comprehensive framework composed of a collection of evidence-based strategies designed to meet the individual needs and assets of the whole pupil at all achievement levels.

(b) Include 3 distinct tiers of instructional support.

(c) Tier 1 support of the 3 distinct tiers of instructional support described in subdivision (b) must, at a minimum, meet all of the following:

(i) Encompass a combination of evidence-based strategies that are available to all learners.

(ii) Effectively meet the needs of most pupils.

(iii) The instructional methods and curriculum resources under this tier used to address the decoding and word-recognition components of reading must use a code emphasis instructional approach and must be supported by cognitive science. The instructional methods and curriculum resources described in this subparagraph must not include instructional methods that minimize the importance of primarily using letter-sound information to decode or recognize unknown words, including, but not limited to, any of the following uses:

(A) Using pictures and illustrations.

(B) Skipping over an unknown word or words to use the meaning of the passage to recognize the unknown word or words.

(C) Identifying only the first sound of an unknown word and then being prompted to guess the word using the word's initial sound and the meaning of the text surrounding the word.

(D) Memorizing a word in its written form.

(E) Using predictable text and leveled text to provide initial word recognition instruction and practice in reading new learned letter-sound correspondences.

(d) Tier 2 support of the 3 distinct tiers of instructional support described in subdivision (b) must be provided to small groups of pupils to whom at least 1 of the following applies:

(i) Screening-assessment data indicate a need for intervention to address difficulties in learning to decode and recognizing words accurately and efficiently.

(ii) Tier 1 instructional data indicate a need for intervention to address difficulties in learning to decode and recognizing words.

(e) Provide that tier 2 support, as described in subdivision (d), must include instructional methods and curriculum resources that use a code emphasis approach to address the decoding and word-recognition components of reading and that are supported by cognitive science. The instructional methods and curriculum resources described in this subdivision must include, but are not limited to, specialized instructional procedures, duration, and frequency. However, these methods and resources must not include instructional methods that minimize the importance of primarily using letter-sound information to decode or recognize unknown words, including, but not limited to, any of the uses of letter-sound information described in subdivision (c)(iii)(A) to (E).

(f) Provide that pupils receiving tier 2 support, as described in subdivision (d), must be provided reading intervention and must have their progress monitored by individuals providing the intervention instruction using progress monitoring assessments in order to determine their response to intervention instruction.

(g) Provide that, if pupils who are receiving tier 2 support as described in this subsection are not making measurable progress in response to reading intervention at a rate that will result in meaningful improvements in performance, then intensive, tier 3 support must be provided to the pupil using evidence-based instructional adaptations that must be documented in the pupil's individual reading improvement plan provided to the pupil under section 1280f, if applicable, or, if the pupil has not been provided with an individual reading improvement plan under section 1280f, the pupil's individual reading improvement plan developed as described in subdivision (i).

(h) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, provide that if a pupil described in subdivision (g) has an individual reading improvement plan under section 1280f and his or her plan does not include at least all of the following, the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that the pupil's plan is updated to include at least all of the following elements:

(i) A description of the focus of the intervention that will be provided under subdivision (g).

(ii) An outline of the curriculum resources and evidence-based practices that will be used as part of the intervention that will be provided under subdivision (g).

(iii) A summary describing why the intervention resources and evidence-based practices selected for intervention under subdivision (g) are best suited to address the pupil's needs.

(iv) Information concerning the frequency and duration of the intervention that will be provided under subdivision (g).

(v) A description of the assessment data that will be used to determine pupil progress and adaptations to the intervention instruction that will be provided under subdivision (g).

(vi) Information concerning adjustments that may be made to intensify the intervention instruction that will be provided under subdivision (g).

(vii) Assurance that the intervention provided under subdivision (g) will be implemented with fidelity.

(i) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, provide that if a pupil described in subdivision (g) does not have an individual reading improvement plan under section 1280f, a multi-disciplinary team at the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall develop an individual reading improvement plan that includes all of the elements listed in subdivision (h) for the pupil.

(j) Provide that, for the purposes of subdivision (g), a multi-disciplinary team at the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which a pupil described in subdivision (g) is enrolled shall refine the pupil's individual reading improvement plan with the teacher providing the intervention instruction to the pupil under subdivision (g) to meaningfully accelerate reading outcomes.

(k) Provide that, if a pupil's response to the intervention instruction described in subdivisions (a) to (g) is insufficient for accelerating reading outcomes after repeated attempts to adapt and intensify the instruction, then, subject to state and federal laws concerning special education, the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy must consider referring the pupil for a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether or not the pupil is eligible for special education services.

(7) If a reliable and valid universal screening assessment indicates the need for intervention, the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall provide the pupil with evidence-based intervention services that must be grounded in cognitive science and the principles of structured language and literacy approaches or programs that must include, at a minimum, systematic, direct, explicit, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction that integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing and emphasizes the structure of language across the speech sound system (phonology); the writing system (orthography); the structure of sentences (syntax); the meaningful parts of words (morphology); the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and text (semantics); and the processing of oral and written discourse.

(8) If it is determined that a pupil has functional difficulties in the academic environment due to characteristics of dyslexia or underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently, the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that the necessary accommodations or equipment are provided to the pupil as required under section 504 of title V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 794, and title II of the Americans with disabilities act of 1990, 42 USC 12131 to 12165.

(9) If a pupil's performance on a reliable and valid universal screening assessment indicates a need for intervention services, by not later than 30 days after the administration of the screening assessment, the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall ensure that the pupil's parent or legal guardian is sent a written notification that includes all of the following:

(a) Information from the screening assessment relating to the pupil's reading development with specific information about indicators that suggest, as applicable, that the pupil may struggle with decoding and word recognition.

(b) Evidence-based instructional practices that are grounded in cognitive science and the principles of structured language and literacy that are designed for pupils exhibiting the characteristics of dyslexia or difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(c) Educational accommodations for pupils exhibiting the characteristics of dyslexia or difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(d) Information describing the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework described in subsection (6).

(10) If the parent or legal guardian of a pupil has an independent, comprehensive dyslexia evaluation conducted, the board of the school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of the public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall do both of the following:

(a) Consider the diagnosis included in the independent, comprehensive dyslexia evaluation in consultation with individuals that have expertise in dyslexia, including knowledge in the screening of, identification of, treatment for, and accommodations for pupils who display the characteristics of dyslexia and pupils who have been identified as having dyslexia and who are trained in evidence-based, structured language and literacy approaches or programs that must include, at a minimum, systematic, direct, explicit, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction that integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing and emphasizes the structure of language across the speech sound system (phonology); the writing system (orthography); the structure of sentences (syntax); the meaningful parts of words (morphology); the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and text (semantics); and the processing of oral and written discourse.

(b) Ensure that appropriate interventions, as determined by the board or board of directors, in conjunction with individuals within the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy who are training in the characteristics of dyslexia and difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently and who have expertise in providing structured language and literacy intervention, are provided to the pupil.

(11) Beginning not later than the 2023-2024 school year, the department shall develop dyslexia expertise to provide technical assistance to school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies regarding dyslexia and underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently. The department shall offer expertise under this subsection by providing guidance on at least all of the following:

(a) Screening for, the identification of, and treatment of pupils who are at risk for dyslexia and pupils who display difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(b) Structured language and literacy.

(c) Best-practice interventions for pupils exhibiting the characteristics of dyslexia or pupils who have difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently that include instructional methods and curriculum resources that use a code emphasis approach to address the decoding and word-recognition components of reading and that are supported by cognitive science. The instructional methods and curriculum resources described in this subdivision must not include instructional methods that minimize the importance of primarily using letter-sound information to decode or recognize unknown words, including, but not limited to, any of the uses of letter-sound information described in subsection (6)(c)(iii)(A) to (E).

(d) The development of coaching expertise for individuals responsible for supporting, at a minimum, all of the following:

(i) Methods to develop schoolwide and classroom infrastructures to meet the collective and individual needs of pupils using a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework.

(ii) High-quality administration, scoring, and interpretation of screening assessments under this section.

(iii) The use of best-practice interventions for pupils displaying the characteristics of dyslexia.

(iv) Methods to intensify decoding and word recognition intervention instruction.

(e) Professional learning about dyslexia to school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies.

(12) Beginning not later than the 2023-2024 school year, the board of a school district or intermediate school district or the board of directors of a public school academy shall ensure that it employs both classroom and reading-intervention teachers trained in all of the following:

(a) Evidence-based, structured language and literacy approaches or programs that are grounded in cognitive science and that include, at a minimum, systematic, direct, explicit, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction that integrates listening, speaking, reading and writing and emphasizes the structure of language across the speech sound system (phonology); the writing system (orthography); the structure of sentences (syntax); the meaningful parts of words (morphology); the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and text (semantics); and the processing of oral and written discourse.

(b) The characteristics of dyslexia and underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(c) Secondary consequences of dyslexia, 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.

(d) Accommodations for pupils with dyslexia and accommodations for addressing underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(13) By not later than January 1, 2023, to support the implementation of requirements under this section, the department, in conjunction with the advisory committee described in section 1280h, shall develop or adopt, and make available to the public, a dyslexia resource guide based on current research to be used by school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies and that must include information regarding the education of pupils with dyslexia.

(14) Beginning not later than the 2023-2024 school year, the department, in consultation with school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies, shall ensure that each K to 6 certificated teacher, K to 12 certificated special education teacher, speech-language pathologist, school psychologist, school district principal and administrator responsible for curriculum, instruction, and assessment decisions, and all K to 12 school personnel providing reading intervention to pupils in this state receive professional learning regarding all of the following:

(a) The characteristics of dyslexia and underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(b) Secondary consequences of dyslexia, 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.

(c) Evidence-based instructional practices that are grounded in cognitive science and the principles of structured language and literacy that are designed for pupils with dyslexia and pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(d) Accommodations for pupils with dyslexia and accommodations to address the underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(e) Methods to develop schoolwide and classroom infrastructures to meet the collective and individual needs of pupils using a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework.

(15) Beginning not later than the 2023-2024 school year, the department, in consultation with school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies, shall ensure that each certificated teacher in this state receives professional learning regarding all of the following, unless the certificated teacher has already received the professional learning under subsection (14):

(a) The characteristics of dyslexia.

(c) Accommodations for pupils with dyslexia and accommodations to address the underlying factors that place pupils at risk for difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently.

(d) Methods to develop schoolwide and classroom infrastructures to meet the collective and individual needs of pupils using a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework.

(16) If a valid and reliable screening, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment system selected by the board of a school district or the board of directors of a public school academy under section 1280f(2) includes a reliable and valid universal screening assessment, that assessment system selected under section 1280f(2) may be utilized to meet the requirement under subsection (1).

(17) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section, the department shall update its approval of valid and reliable screening, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment systems for selection and use by school districts and public school academies under section 1280f(1) to ensure that all approved assessment systems for selection and use by school districts and public school academies under section 1280f(1), if they do not already, include a reliable and valid universal screening assessment. By not later than 180 days after the department has updated its approval of valid and reliable screening, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment systems as described in this subsection, each school district and public school academy shall update its selection of a valid and reliable screening, formative, and diagnostic reading assessment system under section 1280f(2) to ensure that the selected system includes a reliable and valid universal screening assessment, if it does not do so already.

(18) As used in this section:

(a) "Code emphasis" means direct, explicit instruction on the code system of written English at the sound, syllable, morpheme, and word level so pupils develop automaticity in accurate sound-symbol associations used for word recognition and for developing a robust sight-word vocabulary.

(b) "Cognitive science" means the study of the human mind. It is an interdisciplinary field combining ideas and methods from psychology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and neuroscience with the goal of characterizing the nature of human knowledge and how that knowledge is used, processed, and acquired.

(c) "Cumulative" means the practice of basing new concepts on those previously learned and maximizing retention of concepts through regular, systematic review to gain automaticity and fluency.

(d) "Decodable text" means text that meets both of the following:

(i) Includes a high proportion of words containing sound-symbol associations and high frequency words that have been explicitly taught.

(ii) Allows pupils to depend on their knowledge of the alphabetic code rather than guessing, using picture clues, or rote memorization.

(e) "Diagnostic instruction" means continuous assessment and individualization of instruction to meet each pupil's instructional needs.

(f) "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.

(g) "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.

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

(i) "Leveled text" means text that has characteristics of predictable text and text focused on teaching high-frequency words without regard to sound-symbol associations. Leveled texts are assigned a level based on a difficulty scale according to print features, content, themes, ideas, text structure, language, and literary elements. Leveled texts do not provide pupils opportunities to apply newly learned phonological and orthographic knowledge.

(j) "Multi-tiered system of support (MTSS)" 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.

(k) "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.

(l) "Predictable text" means text that replicates language patterns using rhythm and rhyme to teach pupils phrasing and cadence.

(m) "Reliable" means something that is based on the consistency of a set of scores that are designed to measure the same thing.

(n) "Reliable and valid universal screening assessment" means an assessment that includes, but is not limited to, brief measures designed to identify underlying difficulties impacting a pupil's ability to learn to decode and to recognize words accurately and efficiently and that aligns with assessment guidelines concerning grade levels in which, and times of the school year when, specific universal screening assessment measures must be administered. The range of the assessment described in this subdivision must be equipped to identify difficulties impacting a pupil's ability to learn to decode and recognize words and, at a minimum, must include the following in alignment with the guidelines described in this subdivision:

(i) Phonemic awareness.

(ii) Rapid automatized naming.

(iii) Letter-sound correspondence.

(iv) Single-word reading.

(v) Nonsense-word reading.

(vi) Oral passage reading fluency.

(o) "Standardized assessment" means an assessment that is administered and scored in a consistent or standard manner.

(p) "Structured language and literacy" means systematic, direct, explicit, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction that integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing and emphasizes the structure of language across the speech sound system (phonology); the writing system (orthography); the structure of sentences (syntax); the meaningful parts of words (morphology); the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and text (semantics); and the processing of oral and written discourse.

(q) "Systematic" means following the logical order of language and moving from the most basic concepts to the more advanced.

(r) "Valid" means a degree to which a method assesses what it claims or intends to assess.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 101st Legislature are enacted into law:

(a) Senate Bill No. 382.

(b) Senate Bill No. 381.