Two of the state's leading lawmakers on education advance a bill to increase school reporting on benchmarks for literacy.
House Education committee chair Kim Williams said she and state Senator Laura Sturgeon's HB 267 follows up on legislation they worked on two years ago, which requires all K-3 public school students to participate in reading screenings three times per year.
Williams said those screenings identify reading deficiencies and allow early intervention by schools. But screening reports to the state are filed annually, which Williams said needs to change.
"I did not feel the initial reporting requirement had enough data points to see if there was actual growth from the beginning of the school year to the end," she said to the House Education Committee.
The bill would ask for a beginning and end of year report, rather than the single report schools provide now. This will be important, especially analyzing information on a district level, Williams said, "especially if a certain school or district, you see a lot of growth, you want to know what they're doing, and maybe duplicate that."
Education Secretary Cindy Marten said during the committee hearing that Williams's measure will help the state track schools:
"Are they at the benchmark at the beginning of the year? Are they at benchmark? Are they below benchmark? Are they above benchmark?"
Marten said with the eight state-approved screeners, she wants the state to have reportable statewide data.
The bill was reported out of committee and ready for consideration on the House floor.
