In this information age, acquiring the ability to read and write proficiently is both necessary and crucial for a student’s academic success.  It is essential that K-3 students have full access to effective, strategic and purposeful reading and writing instruction using strategies that have been proven to be successful with research and evidence.

Arizona State Statute 15-704 requires school districts and charters to provide effective reading instruction, with initial screening; on-going diagnostic and classroom based reading assessments, and a system to monitor student progress.

Arizona’s revised statute 15-211 requires all school districts and charters with a K-3 program to submit a comprehensive plan for reading instruction and intervention across grade kindergarten through grade three.  State funding is provided to schools to support the implementation of their K-3 reading plan.  The goal is to have all grade three students in Arizona reading proficiently at grade level.

Arizona Revised Statute 15 – 701 states that if data on the third grade statewide reading assessment is available and demonstrates that a student scored “falls far below” the student shall not be promoted from the third grade. There are three exemptions in Arizona Revised Statute 15-701. In accordance with the new law, a school district governing board or the governing body of a charter school is allowed to promote a student who earns a score of “falls far below” on the third grade statewide reading assessment only for the following reasons:

• The student is an English Language Learner or Limited English Proficient who has received less than two years of English instruction; or
• A student with disabilities has an individualized education plan(IEP), and the IEP-team, which includes the student’s parent/guardian, agrees that promotion is appropriate
• A student is in the process of a special education referral or evaluation for placement in special education and/or a student who has been diagnosed as having a significant reading impairment, including dyslexia.