Iowa House passes literacy bill that would allow parents to hold back struggling students

Iowa House lawmakers have passed a bill that would require aspiring teachers to take a new assessment aimed at teaching literacy and require schools to provide students with personalized plans if they are not reading at grade level.

House lawmakers voted 92-3 Tuesday to pass House File 2618, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed a version of the legislation in her Condition of the State address in January, kick-starting the conversation.

The bill requires students in Iowa's teacher-preparation programs to take the "Foundations of Reading" assessment developed by Massachusetts. The results would be reported to the Iowa Department of Education.

The curriculum is used by 13 states, according to Pearson's website, which describes the assessment as "aligned with scientifically based reading research for early childhood education, elementary education, middle childhood education and special education teacher licensure candidates."

Reynolds' original proposal would have required aspiring Iowa teachers to pass the test to graduate from their teacher preparation program and receive their licensure. The House bill removes the requirement that potential teachers pass the test or that it be used as a criteria for graduation.

Rep. Tom Moore, R-Griswold, the bill's House floor manager and a retired teacher, described the new version of the legislation as "toned down" from Reynolds' proposal.

"I also want to thank the governor’s office for their willingness to accept my toning down what the original bill was and to come up with what I feel is a good compromise and allowing those teaching institutions to be able to administer a test but not have it be tied to their licensure or their graduation," he said.

Schools would be required to notify parents and guardians of children in kindergarten through sixth grade if their student is not reading proficiently at grade level.

The notice to parents would inform them that they can request that their student be held back at the current grade level if they are not reading proficiently. If parents ask for their child to repeat a grade, the school must honor the request.

Any students from kindergarten through sixth grade who are not reading at grade level would be given a personalized plan until their reading improves.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, a retired teacher, said she appreciates how the bill was changed from the original proposal. She said teachers are already doing much of what is laid out in the bill.

"Teachers watch out for kids that are not reading at grade level already. Teachers talk to parents already. Teachers put forth an (individualized education program) or some sort of a plan for that student to get on grade level already," she said. "So much of this we’re already doing."

Moore said he believes it's still important for the state to require that K-6 students be given personalized reading plans if they're not reading proficiently.

"Obviously, we wouldn’t be in the middle of the pack nationally reading-wise if all of our teachers were doing some of these things," he said.

Senate Republicans have put forward their own bill that takes a different approach to teaching literacy. It's unclear whether the Senate would accept the House's legislation or if lawmakers will negotiate further on the proposal.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa House OKs literacy bill with guidelines on how to teach reading