1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; clarifying the definition of comprehensive, scientifically 
1.3 	based reading instruction; making requirements of prekindergarten through grade 
1.4 	6 teachers; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections 
1.5 	122A.06, subdivision 4; 122A.18, subdivisions 2, 2a, by adding a subdivision.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.06, subdivision 4, is amended to 
1.8 	read:
1.9 		Subd. 4.Comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction. (a) 
1.10 	"Comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction" includes a program or collection 
1.11 	of instructional practices that is based on reliable, valid, replicated  evidence showing 
1.12 	that when these programs or practices are used, students can be expected to achieve, at 
1.13 	a minimum, satisfactory reading progress. The program or collection of practices must 
1.14 	include, at a minimum, instruction in five areas of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, 
1.15 	fluency, vocabulary development, and text reading comprehension.
1.16 	Comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction also includes and integrates 
1.17 	instructional strategies for continuously assessing, evaluating, and communicating 
1.18 	the student's reading progress and needs in order to design and implement ongoing 
1.19 	interventions so that students of all ages and proficiency levels can read and comprehend 
1.20 	text and apply higher level thinking skills.
1.21 	(b) "Phonemic awareness" is the ability of students to notice, think about, and 
1.22 	manipulate the individual sounds in spoken syllables and words.
1.23 	(c) "Phonics" is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable 
1.24 	relationships between written letters and spoken words. Phonics instruction is a way 
2.1 	of teaching reading that stresses learning how letters correspond to sounds and how to 
2.2 	apply this knowledge in reading and spelling.
2.3 	(d) "Fluency" is the ability of students to be able to read orally with speed, accuracy, 
2.4 	and proper expression. 
2.5 	(e) "Vocabulary development" is the process of teaching vocabulary both directly 
2.6 	and indirectly, with repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items. Learning 
2.7 	in rich contexts, incidental learning, and use of computer technology all enhance the 
2.8 	acquisition of vocabulary.
2.9 	(f) "Reading comprehension" is an active process that requires intentional thinking 
2.10 	during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader. 
2.11 	Comprehension skills are taught explicitly by demonstrating, explaining, modeling, and 
2.12 	implementing specific cognitive strategies to help beginning readers derive meaning by 
2.13 	intentional, problem-solving thinking processes.

2.14 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.15 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.16 		Subd. 2.Teacher and support personnel qualifications. (a) The Board of 
2.17 	Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be 
2.18 	qualified and competent for their respective positions.
2.19 	(b) The board must require a person to successfully complete an examination of 
2.20 	skills in reading, writing, and mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license 
2.21 	to provide direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, or special 
2.22 	education programs. In addition, the board must require a person to successfully complete 
2.23 	a Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment consistent with subdivision 2c 
2.24 	before being granted an initial teaching license to provide direct instruction to pupils in 
2.25 	prekindergarten or elementary programs. The board must require colleges and universities 
2.26 	offering a board approved teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance 
2.27 	that includes a formal diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution 
2.28 	who did not achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination or Minnesota reading 
2.29 	instruction competence assessment, including those for whom English is a second 
2.30 	language. The colleges and universities must provide assistance in the specific academic 
2.31 	areas of deficiency in which the person did not achieve a qualifying score. School 
2.32 	districts must provide similar, appropriate, and timely remedial assistance that includes a 
2.33 	formal diagnostic component and mentoring to those persons employed by the district 
2.34 	who completed their teacher education program outside the state of Minnesota, received 
2.35 	a one-year license to teach in Minnesota and did not achieve a qualifying score on the 
3.1 	skills examination, including those persons for whom English is a second language. The 
3.2 	Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature 
3.3 	on the total number of teacher candidates during the most recent school year taking the 
3.4 	skills examination, the number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the 
3.5 	number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the distribution of all 
3.6 	candidates' scores, the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once 
3.7 	before, and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once before 
3.8 	and achieve a qualifying score.
3.9 	(c) A person who has completed an approved teacher preparation program and 
3.10 	obtained a one-year license to teach, but has not successfully completed the skills 
3.11 	examination, may renew the one-year license for two additional one-year periods. Each 
3.12 	renewal of the one-year license is contingent upon the licensee:
3.13 	(1) providing evidence of participating in an approved remedial assistance program 
3.14 	provided by a school district or postsecondary institution that includes a formal diagnostic 
3.15 	component in the specific areas in which the licensee did not obtain qualifying scores; and
3.16 	(2) attempting to successfully complete the skills examination during the period 
3.17 	of each one-year license.
3.18 	(d) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons who 
3.19 	have met board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes successfully 
3.20 	completing the skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics and, where 
3.21 	applicable, the reading instruction competence assessment.
3.22 	(e) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare 
3.23 	persons for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common 
3.24 	core of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended 
3.25 	for teacher licensure. This common core shall meet the standards developed by the 
3.26 	interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for 
3.27 	beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to standards adopted under 
3.28 	this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching shall report annually to 
3.29 	the education committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher candidates 
3.30 	on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this paragraph during the 
3.31 	most recent school year.

3.32 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2010.

3.33 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.18, subdivision 2a, is amended to read:
3.34 		Subd. 2a.Reading strategies. (a) All colleges and universities approved by the 
3.35 	Board of Teaching to prepare persons for classroom teacher licensure must include in 
4.1 	their teacher preparation programs research-based best practices in reading, consistent 
4.2 	with section 122A.06, subdivision 4, that enable the licensure candidate to know how to 
4.3 	teach reading in the candidate's content areas and prepare the licensure candidate, where 
4.4 	applicable, for the Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment.
4.5 	(b) Board-approved teacher preparation programs for teachers of elementary 
4.6 	education must require instruction in the application of comprehensive, scientifically 
4.7 	based, and balanced reading instruction programs that:
4.8 	(1) teach students to read using foundational knowledge, practices, and strategies 
4.9 	consistent with section 122A.06, subdivision 4, so that all students will achieve continuous 
4.10 	progress in reading; and
4.11 	(2) teach specialized instruction in reading strategies, interventions, and remediations 
4.12 	that enable students of all ages and proficiency levels to become proficient readers.

4.13 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.14 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.18, is amended by adding a subdivision 
4.15 	to read:
4.16 		Subd. 2c.Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment. The Minnesota 
4.17 	reading instruction competence assessment must measure the knowledge, skill, and 
4.18 	ability of prekindergarten and elementary instructors in comprehensive, scientifically 
4.19 	based reading instruction as defined in section 122A.06. The assessment must have 
4.20 	been previously administered in another state for over five years and be composed 
4.21 	of multiple choice and constructed response questions designed to measure reading 
4.22 	instruction knowledge and skills. Test content areas must assess foundations of reading 
4.23 	development, development of reading comprehension, reading assessment and instruction, 
4.24 	and integration of knowledge and understanding. 

4.25 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.26 	Sec. 5. MINNESOTA READING INSTRUCTION COMPETENCE 
4.27 	ASSESSMENT AND PRETEST.
 4.28 		Subdivision 1.Commissioner of education. (a) No later than June 30, 2008, the 
4.29 	commissioner of education shall adopt a reading instruction competence assessment for 
4.30 	all prekindergarten and elementary instructors consistent with Minnesota Statutes, section 
4.31 	122A.18, subdivision 2c. 
5.1 	(b) The commissioner shall report to the senate and house of representatives 
5.2 	committees having jurisdiction over prekindergarten through grade 12 education policy by 
5.3 	July 1, 2008, on the reading instruction competence assessment that was adopted. 
5.4 	(c) The commissioner, in consultation with members of the professional reading 
5.5 	community, shall establish an approved list of reading instruction program centers that 
5.6 	offer staff development and remedial training necessary to successfully complete the 
5.7 	assessment described under Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.18, subdivision 2c, and 
5.8 	adopted in paragraph (a).
5.9 		Subd. 2.Pretest and grant for candidates in an approved teacher preparation 
5.10 	program. (a) No later than November 1, 2008, a candidate enrolled in the final year of an 
5.11 	approved teacher preparation program in prekindergarten or elementary education may 
5.12 	apply to the commissioner of education, in a manner prescribed by the commissioner, to 
5.13 	take a Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment pretest as determined under 
5.14 	subdivision 1, paragraph (a). 
5.15 	(b) A candidate taking the pretest under paragraph (a) is eligible for a grant to attend 
5.16 	an approved reading instruction program if the candidate also commits to attending and 
5.17 	completing an approved reading instruction program of their choosing, and takes the 
5.18 	reading instruction competence assessment as determined under subdivision 1, paragraph 
5.19 	(a), at the completion of the reading instruction program.
5.20 		Subd. 3.Pretest and grant for districts. (a) No later than November 1, 2008, 
5.21 	schools providing instruction in prekindergarten through grade 6 may apply to the 
5.22 	commissioner of education, in a manner prescribed by the commissioner, for their teachers 
5.23 	to take a Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment pretest as determined 
5.24 	under subdivision 1, paragraph (a). 
5.25 	(b) A school is eligible for a grant for prekindergarten through grade 2 teachers to 
5.26 	attend an approved reading instruction program, if the teachers take the pretest, commit to 
5.27 	attending and completing an approved reading instruction program of their choosing, and 
5.28 	take the reading instruction competence assessment as determined under subdivision 1, 
5.29 	paragraph (a), at the completion of the reading instruction program.
5.30 		Subd. 4.Passing score on the Minnesota reading instruction competence 
5.31 	assessment. The commissioner, in cooperation with the testing contractor providing the 
5.32 	reading instruction competence assessment, must use the reading instruction competence 
5.33 	assessment results on the pretest and posttest to determine a passing score on the 
5.34 	Minnesota reading instruction competence assessment by October 1, 2009.

5.35 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

6.1 	Sec. 6. FOUNDATIONS OF READING GRANT FOR PREKINDERGARTEN 
6.2 	THROUGH GRADE 2 TEACHERS AND TEACHER CANDIDATES.
 6.3 	Of the amounts allocated under Laws 2007, chapter 146, article 7, section 4, 
6.4 	subdivision 2, paragraph (j), $....... must be allocated for foundations of reading grants 
6.5 	to school districts for their prekindergarten through grade 2 teachers and $....... must be 
6.6 	allocated for foundations of reading grants for prekindergarten and elementary teacher 
6.7 	candidates. The amounts allocated to this program must not be expended until the 
6.8 	commissioner has certified that a private match has been received. 

6.9 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for fiscal year 2009 only.

6.10 	Sec. 7. LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL.
 6.11 	The Board of Teaching's proposed rules in the area of licensure in reading 
6.12 	cannot become adopted rules until the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 
6.13 	kindergarten through grade 12 education policy have approved the proposed rules.