A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to modify the STATUtES pertaining to read to achieve.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑83.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑83.3.  Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this Part:
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(2)	"Alternative assessment" means a valid and reliable standardized assessment of reading comprehension, approved by the State Board of Education, that is not the same test as the State‑approved standardized test of reading comprehension administered to third grade students. The State Board of Education shall (i) provide several valid and reliable alternative assessments to local school administrative units upon request, (ii) approve valid and reliable alternative assessments submitted by local school administrative units, and (iii) establish achievement level ranges for each approved alternative assessment. The State Board of Education shall annually review all alternative assessments to ensure ongoing relevance, validity, and reliability. The State Board of Education shall complete the review and approval process as provided in this subdivision by September 15 of each year.
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(8)	"Student reading portfolio" means a compilation of independently produced student work selected by the student's teacher, beginning during the first half of the school year, and signed by the teacher and principal, as an accurate picture of the student's reading proficiency. The student reading portfolio shall include an organized collection of evidence of the student's reading proficiency. A single piece of evidence may be used to show reading proficiency for up to two standards. For each reading standard, there shall be two examples of student work, gathered over the course of the school year, demonstrating the student's reading proficiency. If a student correctly responds to eighty percent (80%) of the comprehension questions about one reading passage as used as an initial work sample, then that one work sample shall suffice to demonstrate student reading proficiency on the standards covered in that sample. A student reading portfolio shall only be compiled with students when it is determined that administration of a standardized test of reading comprehension would likely not yield positive findings of a student's reading proficiency.
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SECTION 1.5.  G.S. 115C‑83.6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑83.6.  Facilitating early grade reading proficiency.
(a)	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. To the greatest extent possible, kindergarten through third grade reading assessments shall yield data that can be used with the Education Value‑Added Assessment System (EVAAS), or a compatible and comparable system approved by the State Board of Education, to analyze student data to identify root causes for difficulty with reading development and to determine actions to address them.
(b)	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.
(c)	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.
(d)	The teacher of record for a kindergarten, first, second, or third grade student shall not be prohibited from administering the assessments made available to local school administrative units in subsection (a) of this section to that student."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑83.7(b)(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	Students who demonstrate, through a student reading portfolio, reading proficiency appropriate for third grade students. Student reading portfolio and review processes used by local school administrative units shall be approved by the State Board of Education. A local school administrative unit implementing the student reading portfolio process established by the State Board of Education shall limit the use of this portfolio process only to a student for whom it is appropriate as determined by the student's principal, after consulting with the teacher and the student's parents, and shall discontinue administration of the portfolio passages whenever a student is not demonstrating reading proficiency."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑83.8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑83.8.  Successful reading development for retained students.
(a)	Parents or guardians of students not demonstrating reading proficiency shall be encouraged to enroll their student in a reading camp provided by the local school administrative unit. Parents or guardians of a student not demonstrating reading proficiency shall make the final decision regarding a student's reading camp attendance. If a parent or guardian does not enroll the student in a reading camp, the parent shall notify the school in which the student is enrolled of any alternative reading interventions or instructional supports that shall be provided to the student to achieve reading proficiency. Local school administrative units shall provide at least one opportunity for students not participating in a reading camp to demonstrate reading proficiency appropriate for third grade students on an alternative assessment or through a student reading portfolio process approved by the State Board of Education prior to retaining the student.
(b)	Students retained under G.S. 115C‑83.7(a) shall be provided with a teacher selected based on demonstrated student outcomes in reading proficiency and placed in an accelerated reading class or a transitional third and fourth grade class combination, as appropriate, except that a student who attended a reading camp continuously for a minimum of 64 hours of instructional time shall be placed in a transitional third and fourth grade class combination. Classroom instruction shall include at least 90 minutes of daily, uninterrupted, evidence‑based reading instruction, not to include independent reading time, and other appropriate instructional supports and services and reading interventions.
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SECTION 4.  G.S. 115C‑83.9(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Teachers and principals shall provide opportunities, including, but not limited to, information sessions, to discuss with parents and guardians the notifications listed in this section. Principals shall provide at least one information session within the first 30 days of school regarding the requirement for reading proficiency for third grade students."
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2015‑2016 school year.