SL 2021-8 (SB 387) — Excellent Public Schools Act (Read to Achieve overhaul)

Plain English summary

The Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021 overhauled North Carolina's Read to Achieve program by requiring all K-3 reading instruction, teacher training, and educator preparation programs to be grounded in the Science of Reading — a defined set of evidence-based practices covering phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It creates an Early Literacy Program for NC Pre-K, requires every struggling reader to have an Individual Reading Plan with specific literacy interventions, and sets a statewide deadline for all schools to have updated, Science of Reading-aligned literacy curriculum in place. Teachers and school systems face concrete compliance timelines, and parents gain rights to be informed and to make final decisions about reading camp attendance.

Key requirements

• Science of Reading defined as evidence-based reading instruction addressing language acquisition, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension, differentiated for individual students — G.S. 115C-83.3(7a)
• K-3 students shall be assessed with valid, reliable, formative, and diagnostic reading assessments; difficulty with reading development must be addressed with literacy interventions outlined in the student's Individual Reading Plan — G.S. 115C-83.6(a)
• Formative and diagnostic assessments and resultant literacy interventions shall address oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension — G.S. 115C-83.6(b)
• Individual Reading Plan required for any student demonstrating difficulty with reading development, documenting specific reading skill deficiencies and the literacy interventions the student will receive — G.S. 115C-83.3(3a) and G.S. 115C-83.6B
• Literacy interventions must be grounded in the Science of Reading and include individual or small group instruction, reduced teacher-student ratios, frequent progress monitoring, and extended learning time — G.S. 115C-83.3(4)
• Reading camps must offer at least 72 hours of reading instruction over no less than three weeks, taught by compensated licensed teachers selected based on demonstrated student outcomes; parents or guardians make the final decision on attendance — G.S. 115C-83.3(4a)
• Elementary school teacher licensure renewal rules must include at least three continuing education credits in literacy grounded in the Science of Reading, as defined in G.S. 115C-83.3 — G.S. 115C-270.30(b)(2)
• Educator preparation programs (EPPs) training elementary education teachers must include coursework in the Science of Reading, as defined in G.S. 115C-83.3 — G.S. 115C-269.20(a)(2)(a1)
• EPPs training elementary and special education general curriculum teachers must include instruction in early literacy intervention strategies aligned with the Science of Reading, including oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and evidence-based assessment and diagnosis — G.S. 115C-269.20(a)(3)
• DPI shall establish an Early Literacy Program within DPI to build foundational early literacy skills using the Science of Reading for NC Pre-K children, including third-party independent teacher training, age-appropriate resources, and a formative assessment at program conclusion shared with the child's kindergarten teacher — G.S. 115C-83.4B
• State Board of Education shall develop Science of Reading-aligned literacy instruction standards; DPI shall develop a model literacy implementation plan and provide it to local school administrative units no later than June 30, 2022
• Each local school administrative unit shall evaluate and modify its literacy curriculum and instruction to adhere to State Board standards; a concise explanation shall be submitted to the State Board no later than December 15, 2022
• All literacy curriculum and instruction modified under the statewide review shall be in place beginning with the 2024-2025 school year; review and modification of all literacy instruction statewide shall be complete no later than November 15, 2023
• Educators in NC Pre-K and kindergarten through fifth grade shall participate in contracted training programs; completion satisfies the literacy continuing education credits required under G.S. 115C-270.30(b)(2)

Affected parties

• Local school administrative units (must comply: curriculum alignment, IRP development, literacy intervention delivery, reading camp provision, reporting)
• State Board of Education (must comply: develop literacy instruction standards, make assessments available)
• Department of Public Instruction (must comply: establish Early Literacy Program, develop model literacy implementation plan, contract third-party training, oversee statewide review)
• Educator preparation programs (must comply: revise coursework requirements for elementary and special education general curriculum teacher candidates on or after July 1, 2022)
• Elementary school teachers (must comply: complete Science of Reading-grounded literacy continuing education credits upon licensure renewal)
• NC Pre-K educators and administrators (must comply: participate in third-party SoR training program)
• K-3 students (benefit: universal formative and diagnostic reading assessments, Individual Reading Plans, Science of Reading-based interventions)
• Students in grades 1-3 demonstrating difficulty with reading development (benefit: reading camp access, IRP, literacy interventions)
• Third grade students not demonstrating reading proficiency (benefit: reading camp must be offered)
• Parents and guardians (benefit: must be continuously informed of student academic needs and progress; hold final decision on reading camp attendance)
• NC Pre-K children (benefit: Science of Reading-based instruction, formative kindergarten-readiness assessment, results shared with kindergarten teacher)

Advocacy note

The Science of Reading definition codified at G.S. 115C-83.3(7a) — covering phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension — now legally anchors every K-3 Individual Reading Plan, every literacy intervention, every teacher licensure renewal literacy credit, and every educator preparation program curriculum, meaning an IEP team or parent can cite this statutory definition to challenge any reading instruction or intervention that is not grounded in these specific components.

Official source

https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/HTML/2021-2022/SL2021-8.html