Here’s a breakdown of Utah’s sweeping plan to hold back struggling third grade readers

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By spring 2030, third graders who aren’t reading at grade level could be held back across the state under a new proposal that aims to curb Utah’s dismal reading scores.

The anticipated bill, SB241, comes just a month after a report found about half of Utah’s kindergarten through third grade kids aren’t reading proficiently.

And with less than a year remaining for Utah to reach its own goal of ensusring 70% of all third graders can read at grade level by 2027, state officials called for a renewed focus on literacy this legislative session.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, outlined its major changes to Senate Education Committee members on Feb. 6. Third grade retention is one piece of the proposal, she explained, but not the focus.

“Our goal is not to retain any student at the end of third grade,” Millner said Friday. “Our goal is to have interventions and support for every child.”

Her sentiments echoed those of Gov. Spencer Cox and other state lawmakers.

“It’s not that we want to hold kids back,” Cox said at a literacy conference in Ogden last month. “It’s that we want them reading at a third grade level so we don’t have to hold them back.”

The complex and lengthy proposal appears to deliver on that promise, calling for more interventions and support for struggling readers before they ever reach third grade.

But one literacy expert says SB241 may be too “prescriptive.”

“I think they’re in the right direction, because they have specific goals in their mind and specific approaches,” said Seung-Hee Claire Son, who researches early literacy, language and academic development at the University of Utah. “But I’m not sure it’s wise to pass such a detailed prescription.”

Overview: A new roadmap to literacy

SB241 would make sweeping changes to Utah’s current early literacy law, which Millner also sponsored in 2022.

That law required all schools and school districts to adopt “science of reading” curriculum — evidence-based methods for teaching children how to read — and intervention programs. It also set the lofty 70%-by-2027 goal.

Millner’s current proposal, though, would set a new goal — getting 80% of Utah third graders to read proficiently by July 1, 2030.

Overall, SB241 would require schools to take specific actions when a student is struggling, depending on that student’s grade level, how far behind they are and whether they have a disability.

The draft bill heavily emphasizes parent participation, benchmark testing and targeted interventions in grades K-2. And it would create a process for screening children before they even enter kindergarten, allowing teachers to plan reading interventions ahead of time.

Third grade retention appears to be the last stop on the rewritten roadmap. But the proposal still lays out steps that families and students can take to avoid it.

Training more K-3 educators in the “science of reading” is also a focus. The proposal calls for additional literacy coaches to provide that training, as well as more paraprofessionals to support students.

While the total amount of money it would all require hasn’t been determined, according to the proposal, each regional education service agency would get at least $75,000 to hire literacy coaches.

Once final appropriations are made, each school district and charter within each regional education service agency would also get a sum based on their average daily membership, the proposal states. Any school districts or charters not part of a regional education service agency would get the same funding.

The proposal also charges Utah State University’s Center for the School of the Future and the Utah Board of Higher Education with developing a plan to “improve science of reading knowledge and ability” for teacher graduates.

Expanding benchmark testing to younger kids

Assessing how well students are progressing in reading — and consistently responding to those results — is a a pillar of SB241, Millner told lawmakers Feb. 6.

Right now, educators use a reading benchmark test called Acadience to track students’ progress, but it’s only administered in grades 1-3. The bill would expand that testing to kindergarten.

Students currently take Acadience three times a year to determine whether they are underperforming (or scoring “below” or “well below” benchmark); overperforming (scoring “above” benchmark); or right where they should be (scoring “at” benchmark).

Acadience is also used to predict how well a student will do on the reading portion of the end-of-year state exam RISE, which students take for the first time in third grade.

Under SB241, schools would be tasked with developing a test to assess a child’s literacy and numeracy skills before they enter kindergarten. The state school board would assist.

It wouldn’t be a requirement, but kindergarten teachers could use those results to develop “an instructional program” tailored to their future student’s needs.

“Each school is encouraged to schedule the assessment early enough before the kindergarten starting date so that a potential kindergarten student’s parent has time to develop the child’s needed skills as identified by the assessment,” the draft states.

New interventions before third grade

Generally, under the new bill, if a K-3 student scored “below” or “well below” benchmark, schools would then need to develop an “individualized reading plan” for that child, the proposal states.

The student’s parent or guardian would work on a “literacy team” with the child’s teacher, literacy specialists and other support staff to create and oversee that plan, according to the proposal.

While each student’s plan may look different, all could include summer school programs; literacy skill-building activities, like phoneme and grapheme mapping; and other strategies aligned with “the science of reading.”

Following each benchmark assessment, a student’s literacy team could adjust the plan as needed until that student scores “at” or “above” benchmark.

Should a student who is already receiving interventions continue to underperform, the proposal recommends a dyslexia screening and “extended learning options,” such as after-school tutoring, in addition to existing support.

Parent involvement would be key

SB241 stresses parent involvement as a key intervention strategy and stipulates that schools must provide certain updates and reports to parents.

For instance, each time a K-3 student scores “below” or “well below” on a benchmark assessment, their parent or guardian must be notified in writing, the proposal states.

“That means we can keep parents informed all along the way about the process,” Millner said Feb. 6.

That notification must also include, among other things:

Retention — and exceptions

Educators under this new roadmap could recommend retention for struggling readers as early as grades K-2.

But by third grade, if students aren’t reading at grade level by the end of the school year, they would be held back.

That decision, starting in the 2029-2030 school year, would come down to the last benchmark assessment a third grader takes.

However, the proposal outlines several “good cause” exemptions that would still allow a school to promote the student to fourth grade. They include:

Parents would also have the ability to appeal any retention determinations through a yet-to-be-established process under the Utah State Board of Education.

Holding schools and districts accountable

The sweeping proposal would require local school boards, charter boards and the Utah State Board of Education to monitor student literacy performance.

Any schools or districts that are missing the mark would then need to use a certain portion of their state funding on literacy interventions.

Principals at schools performing below the statewide goal of 80% proficiency would also need to develop a “success plan” — with input from teachers and the school community. Those plans would need to be submitted for local school board or charter board monitoring and annual reviews.

Elementary educators would also need to demonstrate fluency in the “science of reading” as part of their annual evaluations, according to the proposal.

Researcher asks: How are we supporting teachers?

New research on the best ways to teach children how to read is always emerging, said Son, who leads the EARLY Lab at the U.

The name stands for “Early Assistance of Reading and Literacy in Youngsters” Lab , and her research focuses on early childhood development with literacy and language.

Son said she worries that codifying the “science of reading” into law could prevent educators from adopting emerging evidence-based methods.

“There may be other new approaches coming out,” she said. “It’s always changing.”

And while the proposal seems to be overly detailed about student interventions, she said, it seems to lack sufficient detail about how lawmakers plan to support teachers.

“My overall impression is a somewhat imbalance of language between sections on things to support teachers and students,” Son said.

“It is not clear enough, other than it is mentioned as related to the ‘science of reading,’” she continued, “which is not a simple theory.”