Tulsa Public Schools Policy 2408: Strong Readers Act
PURPOSE: To implement a comprehensive literacy plan for elementary students that provides reading instruction and intervention services to address student reading needs and ensures each student and his or her parent or legal guardian is informed of that student’s reading progress.
District Strong Readers Act Plan
The district Strong Readers plan shall be adopted and annually updated, with input from school administrators, teachers, parents and legal guardians, and, if possible, a reading specialist, and shall be submitted to and approved by the State Board of Education. This plan shall include a plan for each site that includes an analysis of the data provided by state-approved reading assessments and outlines how each school site shall comply with the provisions of the Strong Readers Act.
Assessment and Intervention
Every student in kindergarten through third grade shall be assessed three times per year: beginning, middle, and end of year, using a state-approved screening instrument. Any student found not to be meeting grade-level targets will be provided with a program of reading instruction aligned with the science of reading. This program of reading instruction shall include, but not be limited to:
- Sufficient in-school instructional time for the development of phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension;
- Targeted instruction aligned with reading deficits identified through screening;
- High-quality instructional materials aligned to the science of reading;
- Free, online evidence-based literacy instruction resources to support literacy development at home.
Any student in kindergarten through third grade who demonstrates a reading deficiency at any time based upon the approved screening instrument shall receive a Student Literacy Intervention Plan no later than thirty (30) days after identification of the deficiency in reading.
Dyslexia Screening
Any student in kindergarten through third grade who is assessed through the Strong Readers Act and who is not meeting grade-level targets in reading after the beginning-of-year assessment shall be screened for dyslexia. Screening may also be requested by the student, the student’s parent/guardian, teacher, counselor, speech-language therapist, or school psychologist.
Screening shall be conducted according to the policies developed by the State Board of Education and the Oklahoma Dyslexia Handbook.