MO HB511

Requires all public schools in the St. Louis metropolitan district, including charter schools, to implement a response-to-intervention tiered approach to reading instruction beginning July 1, 2012, focusing resources on students who need additional or changed instruction to make progress as readers.

Mandates that reading levels of students in kindergarten through tenth grade be assessed at the beginning and middle of each academic year, with intensive, systematic reading instruction provided to students scoring below district benchmarks.

Requires schools to create personalized learning plans for kindergarten and first grade students scoring below grade level on school-wide reading assessments, beginning January 1, 2012, with parent or guardian written consent required for implementation.

Establishes promotion criteria for second grade students not reading at grade level, allowing advancement only if the school provides summer remedial instruction, implements classroom looping with the same teacher, or parents sign a waiver requesting promotion despite below-grade-level reading.

Requires school districts to report annually the numbers and percentages of students promoted while reading below grade level by grade and school, without identifying individual students.