Read Act interventions modifications

A bill for an act

relating to education; modifying Read Act interventions; amending Minnesota

Statutes 2024, section 120B.12, subdivision 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 120B.12, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Intervention.

(a) For each student identified under subdivision 2, the district

shall provide reading intervention to accelerate student growth and reach the goal of reading

at or above grade level by the end of the current grade and school year. A district is

encouraged to provide reading intervention through a MTSS framework. If a student does

not read at or above grade level by the end of the current school year, the district must

continue to provide reading intervention until the student reads at grade level. District

intervention methods shall encourage family engagement and, where possible, collaboration

with appropriate school and community programs that specialize in evidence-based

instructional practices and measure mastery of foundational reading skills, including

phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and oral language. Intervention may

include but is not limited to requiring student attendance in summer school, intensified

reading instruction that may require that the student be removed from the regular classroom

for part of the school day, extended-day programs, or programs that strengthen students'

cultural connections.

(b) A district or charter school
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is strongly encouraged to
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must
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provide a personal learning

plan for a student who is unable to demonstrate grade-level proficiency, as measured by the

statewide reading assessment in grade 3 or a screener identified by the Department of

Education under section
120B.123
. The district or charter school must determine the format

of the personal learning plan in collaboration with the student's educators and other

appropriate professionals. The school must develop the learning plan in consultation with

the student's parent or guardian. The personal learning plan must include targeted instruction

that is evidence-based and ongoing progress monitoring, and address knowledge gaps and

skill deficiencies through strategies such as specific exercises and practices during and

outside of the regular school day, group interventions, periodic assessments or screeners,

and reasonable timelines. The personal learning plan
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may
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must
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include grade retention
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,
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if

it is in the student's best interest
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; a student may not be retained solely due to delays in literacy

or not demonstrating grade-level proficiency
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. A school must maintain and regularly update

and modify the personal learning plan until the student reads at grade level. This paragraph

does not apply to a student under an individualized education program.

(c) Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, a district must use only evidence-based literacy

interventions. Districts are strongly encouraged to use intervention materials approved by

the Department of Education under the Read Act.

(d) Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, to provide a Tier 2 literacy intervention, a

paraprofessional or other unlicensed person, including a volunteer, must be supervised by

a licensed teacher who has completed training in evidence-based reading instruction approved

by the Department of Education, and has completed evidence-based training developed

under the Read Act by CAREI or the regional literacy networks under section
120B.124
,

subdivision 4, or a training that the department has determined meets or exceeds the

requirements of section
120B.124, subdivision 4
.