SECTIONS 44755-44757.5 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 44755-44757.5

44755. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that at least 90
percent of the certificated teachers of pupils enrolled in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, possess the knowledge and
skills to effectively teach pupils to read.
(b) For the purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
(2) "School district" means school districts and county offices of
education.

44757. A school district shall certify to the State Department of
Education all of the following, as a condition to receiving funding
pursuant to this chapter:
(a) That funds received pursuant to this chapter shall be spent by
school districts only for the purpose of providing in-service
training in reading instruction to certificated employees who provide
direct instructional services to pupils enrolled in kindergarten or
any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, and to schoolsite administrators.
(b) That funds received pursuant to this chapter for teachers of
pupils enrolled in kindergarten and any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive,
shall be expended only for the purpose of providing programs of
in-service training in reading instruction that consist of, and are
not limited to, all of the following subjects:
(1) Phoneme awareness instruction.
(2) Systematic explicit phonics instruction.
(3) Decoding instruction and the diagnosis of a pupil's ability to
decode.
(4) Word-attack skills instruction.
(5) Spelling and vocabulary instruction.
(6) Explicit instruction of comprehension skills.
(7) Research on how reading skills are acquired.
(8) Effective integration of listening, speaking, reading, and
writing.
(9) Effective classroom and schoolwide interventions for
low-performing readers.
(10) Ways to promote extensive, self-selected independent reading.
(11) Effective reading instruction for English language learners.
(12) Planning and delivery of appropriate reading instruction
based on assessment and evaluation.
(c) To the extent feasible with available funds, that all teachers
of pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, have
received or will receive the training provided pursuant to this
chapter.
(d) That funds received by school districts for the purposes of
this chapter that are expended for contract providers of training
shall be spent only for providers of in-service training that have
been approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section
44757.1.
(e) That a school district using its own employees to provide the
training described in subdivision (b) to its own employees meets the
requirements of Section 44757.2.
(f) That funds received for the purposes of this chapter shall be
spent only for programs of in-service training that do not cause a
reduction in pupil instructional time.

44757.1. (a) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing, shall develop a list of
contract providers of in-service training in reading instruction that
have been approved by the board pursuant to this section. The State
Department of Education shall provide staff support to the board in
carrying out its responsibilities pursuant to this section.
(b) Any person, or public, private, or private nonprofit entity,
that seeks to appear on the list of providers of in-service training
in reading instruction that may be hired by a school district
pursuant to this chapter, shall submit an application to the board
that includes the curricula of the program to provide the training
described in all components of subdivision (b) of Section 44757, in
the time and manner required by the board. The board shall approve or
disapprove all applications within 45 working days of receipt of the
application. The board shall state the reasons for disapproving any
application received pursuant to this paragraph and any decision of
the board shall be based exclusively upon the criteria published
pursuant to subdivision (c).
(c) The board shall establish criteria for the approval of
providers of in-service training in reading instruction that meet the
requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 44757.
(d) The board shall maintain, update regularly, and make available
to school districts through print and electronic media a list of
providers of in-service training in reading instruction that have
been approved by the board pursuant to this section.
(e) The board may audit and study the effectiveness of any program
of in-service training provided pursuant to this chapter.

44757.2. A school district may provide in-service training in
reading instruction to its employees using its own current employees
or former employees, or both, as instructors pursuant to this chapter
provided that both of the following conditions are met:
(a) The program of in-service training meets the requirements of
all components of subdivision (b) of Section 44757 and the district
has incorporated into its program the appropriate and relevant
materials developed pursuant to Chapter 15 (commencing with Section
53000) of Part 28.
(b) The program of in-service training meets the requirements of
subdivisions (a), (c), (e), and (f) of Section 44757.

44757.3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall administer
the grant application process. School district applications shall
include the following:
(a) Certification by the governing board that the requirements of
Section 44757 or 44757.2, or both, as appropriate, shall be met.
(b) Certification by the governing board of the school district
that the district is implementing a balanced, comprehensive reading
instruction program.
(c) A description of how the school district shall address the
following:
(1) Augmentation of resources for reading instruction staff
development through the use of staff development days authorized
pursuant to Section 44670.6.
(2) Augmentation of resources for reading instruction staff
development through the use of funds available from other state and
federal sources.
(3) Augmentation of resources for reading instruction staff
development through the use of training provided by publishers that
address the subjects contained in subdivision (b) of Section 44757.
(4) Involvement of the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in
the school district.
(5) Ensuring that teachers are provided time to collaborate,
discuss, and reflect on, and to the degree possible, be coached on
classroom implementation of what has been provided in staff
development sessions.
(6) Ensuring that implementation of training and pupil results
relative to grade-level standards in reading are monitored to ensure
a positive impact of the training.

44757.4. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall award
grants to school districts only for the highest quality proposals
that demonstrate a clear understanding of a balanced, comprehensive
reading instruction program based on current and confirmed research.
(b) A school district shall propose a project budget to carry out
the proposed reading staff development. The minimum grant awarded
shall be for no less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), and the
maximum grant awarded to a school district shall not exceed twice the
product determined by multiplying the result of paragraph (1) by the
result of paragraph (2).
(1) The total amount of funding provided in the annual Budget Act
or in any other act for the purposes of this chapter in any fiscal
year divided by the number of pupils enrolled statewide in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, in that fiscal year.
(2) The number of pupils enrolled in the school district in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
(c) For purposes of this section, the certified California Basic
Educational Data System (CBEDS) count from the fiscal year prior to
the year for which the funds are appropriated shall be used to
determine enrollment.
(d) This section shall become operative on July 1, 1998.

44757.5. For the purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "Phoneme awareness instruction" means teaching awareness of
words, syllables, and phonemes along a developmental progression, and
includes rhyming, recognition and production, blending and matching
of phonemes, and segmentation, and substitution.
(b) "Systematic explicit phonics instruction" means an organized,
sequential program in which letter-sound correspondence for letters
and letter clusters are directly taught and blended, practiced in
words, word lists, and word families, and practiced in "decodable
text." "Decodable text" means reading material in which a high
percentage of words are linked to phonics lessons. Systematic
explicit phonics instruction builds from basic elements to complex
patterns and teachers provide prompt and explicit feedback.
Systematic explicit phonics instruction does not mean "embedded
phonics instruction" which is ad hoc instruction in phonics based on
a random selection of sound and word elements.
(c) "Decoding instruction" means teaching how to read printed
words fluently and automatically, from simple letter combinations to
more complex, multisyllabic combinations through the use of connected
or practice text.
(d) "Diagnosis of a pupil's ability to decode" means regularly
assessing the pupil's mastery of word recognition, fluency and
automaticity, and word analysis in order to plan future instructional
activities.
(e) "Explicit instruction" means systematic teaching of skills.
(f) "Spelling instruction" means teaching a logical scope and
sequence of word knowledge, orthographic patterns, and frequently
used words connected to the phonics sequence used in reading and
writing instruction.
(g) "Word-attack skills instruction" means direct instruction of
decoding skills and of structural elements, including prefixes,
suffixes, and roots.
(h) "Vocabulary instruction" means teaching word meanings.
(i) "Instruction of comprehension skills" means systematic
teaching of vocabulary development, text organization, and syntactic
patterns, including, but not limited to, strategies for
interpretation, summarization, prediction, clarification, and
question generation.
(j) "Research on how reading skills are acquired" means research
that is current and confirmed with generalizable and replicable
results. "Current" research is research that has been conducted and
is reported in a manner consistent with contemporary standards of
scientific investigation. "Confirmed" research is research that has
been replicated and the results duplicated. "Replicable" research is
research with a structure and design that can be reproduced.
"Generalizable" research is research in which samples have been used
so that the results can be said to be true for the population from
which the sample was drawn.