This week, the House and Senate approved of legislation aimed at improving reading proficiency in kindergarten through third-grade students.  House Bill 4822 was first introduced by Representative Amanda Price (R-Park Township) in August 2015.  “Since its introduction, the House and Senate Education Committees heard hours of testimony, the content of the legislation has been extensively debated amongst legislators and stakeholders, and the language of the bill was amended several times,” stated Cami Pendell of MLC.  Following passage by the House and Senate in different versions, the bill was sent to conference committee in April of this year.  On Wednesday, a majority of the members on the conference committee came to an agreement and sent the conference report to the House and Senate for approval.  By a vote of 60-47 the House adopted the conference report, and the Senate adopted it by a vote of 25-10.  It will now be sent to Governor Rick Snyder for final approval.  If signed by the Governor, the bill would be effective beginning in the 2017-18 school year.

Under the adopted conference report, a proactive literacy system would be designed with the goal of helping K-3 students become proficient in English Language Arts on their third-grade assessment before entering the fourth grade.  Also included, are regular literacy screenings to evaluate and identify a K-3 students’ reading deficiencies, additional one-on-one instruction, and increased classroom time dedicated to reading.  The bill also calls for increased parental notification and involvement, including developing with teachers a “read at home” program for students identified as reading deficient, and the potential to file a “good cause exemption” with a district superintendent to allow a student to advance to the fourth grade.

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