House Bill 693 Summary

• Establishes goal that all students read at or above grade level by end of grade 3, requiring school districts to offer reading intervention programs to kindergarten through grade 3 students identified with reading deficiencies through local assessments or teacher evaluation.

• Requires individual reading improvement plans within 30 days of identifying a reading deficiency, created by teacher, principal, school personnel, and parents/guardians; allows schools to proceed without parental participation after 15-day good faith effort to engage parents.

• Shifts from statewide to local reading assessments administered at least twice per year in kindergarten and grades 1-3, measuring phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension aligned with Idaho content standards.

• Mandates literacy intervention programs providing minimum 60 hours of supplemental instruction for students scoring below basic and 30 hours for students scoring basic on local reading screening assessments, with research-based instruction in phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency.

• Requires school districts to submit annual reports by October 1 detailing number and percentage of K-3 students at basic/below basic and proficient/advanced reading levels; effective date July 1, 2019.