1. A. If a teacher determines that a student in kindergarten or first through third grade is not reading at grade level by the end of the second quarter of the school year, the parent or legal guardian of the student shall be notified of:

   1. 1. The reading level of the student;
   2. 2. The program of reading instruction for the student as required pursuant to the Strong Readers Act; and
   3. 3. The potential need for the student to participate in a summer academy or other program designed to assist the student in attaining grade-level reading skills.
2. B. A teacher who determines a student in kindergarten or first through third grade is not meeting grade-level targets for reading may, after consultation with the parent or legal guardian of the student, recommend that the student participate in and complete a transitional instructional setting, before-, during-, or after-school supplemental tutoring, a summer academy program, or other program.
3. C. Summer academy programs shall be designed to ensure that participating students successfully complete grade-level competencies in reading to enhance next-grade readiness. A summer academy reading program shall be a program that incorporates reading intervention services and is taught by a highly qualified teacher, a certified reading specialist, interventionist, or certified personnel with an early literacy micro-credential. The program shall provide explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulative reading intervention services and supports to correct students' identified areas of reading deficiency.
4. D. School districts may approve an option for students who are unable to attend a summer academy. The optional program may include, but is not limited to, an approved private provider of instruction, approved computer- or Internet-based instruction, or an approved program of reading instruction monitored by the parent or legal guardian. School districts shall not be required to pay for the optional program but shall clearly communicate to the parent or legal guardian the expectations of the program and any costs that may be involved.

5. E.

   1. 1. School districts shall provide at least one of the following Tier 2 or Tier 3 reading intervention options to all third-grade students scoring at the below basic achievement level on the third-grade statewide English Language Arts assessment, as well as students who have completed kindergarten through second grade and are at risk of reading deficiency as determined by a screening instrument administered pursuant to subsection A of Section 1210.508C of this title:

      1. a. before-, during-, or after-school supplemental research-based reading intervention delivered by a teacher or tutor with specialized reading training, or
      2. b. summer academy programs designed to ensure that participating students successfully complete grade-level competencies in reading to enhance next-grade readiness.
   2. 2. Summer reading academies shall include, at a minimum, seventy (70) hours of instructional time in reading and shall not use balanced literacy and whole language models, such as three-cueing as defined in subsection F of Section 1210.508B of this title.
6. F. Beginning one (1) year after implementation of this section, the requirements of subsection E of this section shall be expanded to apply to students in fourth grade. Each year thereafter, the requirements shall be expanded by one grade level until the requirements apply to third-grade students through eighth-grade students. The reading intervention options outlined in subsection E of this section shall be designed for each grade level. Nothing in this section shall prevent the State Board of Education or a school district board of education from utilizing private, local, or federal funds to implement this section.
7. G. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section and shall require school districts to report statewide assessment data aggregated to the classroom level, on the availability of reading intervention options, the number of students participating in each option, and evaluation of student achievement as a result of each provided option.

Laws 1999, HB 1759, c. 320, § 54, emerg. eff. July 1, 1999; Amended by Law 2001, HB 1499, c. 201, § 7, emerg. eff. July 1, 2001 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2002, SB 1631, c. 212, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 2002 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2003, HB 1767, c. 434, § 25, emerg. eff. July 1, 2003 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2005, HB 1621, c. 385, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 2005 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2006, HB 2712, c. 146, § 2, emerg. eff. May 12, 2006 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2008, SB 1769, c, 387, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 2008 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2011, SB 346, c. 171, § 3 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2012, HB 2516, c. 171, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 2012 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2024, SB 362, c. 411, § 7, emerg. eff. July 1, 2024 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2026, SB 1778, c. 34, § 6, emerg. eff. April 21, 2026 (superseded document available).