Chapter 08. Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties

“Department” means the Maryland State Department of Education.

“Diagnostic survey” means an assessment tool that identifies areas of need within a student’s mastery of reading skills, foundational skills, or both to guide intervention.

“Evidence-based” means a program or practice that has demonstrated a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes based on well-designed and well-implemented studies, quasi-experimental studies, or correlational studies with statistical control for selection bias.

“Fluency” means reading accuracy and rate, including oral accuracy, prosody, intonation, and automaticity.

“IEP” means an individualized education program as defined and developed in accordance with COMAR 13A.05.01.03.

“IEP team” has the meaning stated in COMAR 13A.05.01.03.

Multi-Tiered System of Supports.

“Phonemic awareness” means the ability to distinguish, segment, blend, and manipulate phonemes in words.

“Phonics” means the study of letters and letter combinations and the relationship between the sounds that they represent.

“Phonological awareness” means a child’s ability to recognize and manipulate parts of oral language including syllables, onset-rime, and phonemes.

“Progress monitoring” means a measurement procedure used at specified time intervals to measure a student’s response to instruction or intervention.

“Rapid automatic naming” means how quickly individual students can name letters, digits, or symbols.

“Reading difficulties” means a student’s challenges with decoding, language comprehension, or both, which affect their ability to achieve grade-level reading proficiency.

“Screening instrument” means a brief, valid, and reliable measurement used to identify or predict whether a student may be at risk for poor learning outcomes.

“Student reading improvement plan” means a personalized plan to help students improve their reading skills that includes assessments, goals, instruction, and monitoring.

“Supplemental reading instruction” means evidence-based, sequential, systematic, explicit, and cumulative instruction or intervention to mastery of foundational reading skills, including phonological or phonemic awareness and processing, phonics, and vocabulary to support development of decoding, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension skills to meet grade level curriculum.

“Tier I” means core instruction aligned with grade level standards.

“Tier II” means supplemental instruction intended for students who have not made sufficient progress through Tier I instruction.

“Tier III” means intensive supplemental instruction that is individualized based on severe and persistent learning or social-emotional needs.

A written description of the screening and supplemental instruction process in the local school system; and

Any checklists or screening instrument-specific forms required to support the screening protocol and supplemental instruction process.

Accurately and reliably identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes;

Be developmentally appropriate;

Be economical to administer based on time and cost; and

Use norm-referenced or criterion-based scores.

Classroom teacher;

School psychologist;

Reading specialist;

Special education teacher;

Speech-language pathologist;

Reading interventionist; or

Any other educator trained to use appropriate screening instruments.

Phonological and phonemic awareness;

Sound-symbol recognition;

Decoding;

Fluency; and

Rapid automatic naming.

Within 30 calendar days of the screening, the local school system shall notify the parent or guardian of the student in writing of the screening results and a description of the supplemental reading instruction that will be provided to the student; and

The local school system shall develop a supplemental reading instructional plan to address the student’s identified areas of need.

Administer a diagnostic survey to determine the best targeted instruction;

Notify the parent or guardian of the student, consistent with §H of this regulation; and

Subject to §K of this regulation, develop a Student Reading Improvement Plan to document the student’s identified areas of need and appropriate supplemental reading instruction, consistent with §§I and J of this regulation.

Within 30 days of the screening, the local school system shall provide written notification to the parent or guardian that includes:

The notification must be provided in family-friendly language.

The local school system shall develop a student reading improvement plan no later than 30 days after identifying a student at risk of reading difficulties.

The student reading improvement plan shall be created in partnership with the parent or guardian by the teacher, principal or designee, or other pertinent school personnel.

The student reading improvement plan shall be documented on a template that meets the requirements set by the Department to include:

The student reading improvement plan shall be reviewed and updated at least once annually with the parent or guardian of the student.

The local school system shall provide a copy of the student reading improvement plan to the parent or guardian.

Each local school system shall develop a multi-tiered system of supports consistent with guidance issued by the Department.

The multi-tiered system of supports shall include:

The supplemental instruction shall be provided within the local school system’s multi-tiered system of supports.

In addition to Tier I instruction, supplemental instruction shall be provided through Tier II and Tier III interventions utilizing a reading program aligned with the science of reading.

All students, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities, must be provided with access to all levels of tiered instruction.

The supplemental instruction shall take place within the school day.

If a student has an IEP, the IEP team should review the results of the screening instrument and diagnostic survey to determine whether the student’s IEP will be updated.

If an update is necessary, the IEP team shall incorporate the data and information that would have been used to develop a Student Reading Improvement Plan.

This chapter may not delay or deny a student who may be suspected of having a disability from the appropriate evaluation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Reading screening instruments used in the local school system; and

A checklist of early warning signs by age of reading difficulties and dyslexia.

The total number of students in kindergarten through third grade, by grade level disaggregated by grade level, race, disability status, multilingual learner status, and students eligible for free and reduced meals;

The number of students in kindergarten through third grade, by grade level, who were screened at each level disaggregated by grade level, race, disability status, multilingual learner status, and students eligible for free and reduced meals;

The number of students in kindergarten through third grade identified through a screening instrument as at risk for reading difficulties, disaggregated by grade level, race, disability status, multilingual learner status, and students eligible for free and reduced meals; and

The number of students in kindergarten through third grade, by grade level, identified as at risk for reading difficulties who received supplemental reading instruction disaggregated by grade level, race, disability status, multilingual learner status, and students eligible for free and reduced meals.