AR SB328

First-time applicants for elementary education (K-6) or special education (K-12) teaching licenses must pass a subject matter content assessment, pedagogy assessment, and a stand-alone reading assessment based on science of reading principles.

The stand-alone reading assessment must include adequate items on evidence-based reading practices, at least 50% focused on beginning reading instruction, at least one open-response question on diagnostic reading interpretation, and distinctions between literary and informational text elements.

Requirements apply to persons entering teacher preparation programs beginning in the 2017-2018 academic year or later, and to those receiving provisional licenses in alternative educator preparation programs.

The State Board of Education shall set the cut score for the reading assessment with strong consideration of the national mean if it is at least 70% correct answers.

Teachers with fewer than three years of documented teaching experience have up to three years to pass the stand-alone reading assessment while working under a provisional license; those with three or more years of out-of-state teaching experience are exempt from examination requirements.