2023 ACT 20 Requirements

Act 20 requires each school district to articulate and post an early literacy remediation plan that includes all of the following. The name of the diagnostic reading assessment the school district uses; a description of the reading interventions the school district uses to address characteristics of dyslexia; a description of how the school district monitors pupil progress during interventions, including the tools used and their frequency; a description of how the school district uses early literacy assessment results to evaluate early literacy instruction for all students including English language learners and students with IEPs; and a description of the parent notification policy that complies with Act 20.

School districts are still required to publicly post the academic standards that they use and to provide a link to Wisconsin’s Informational Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions on their school district website.

RSD's Implementation

Section 1:  Introduction

Core Academic Programming

The Open Court Reading Program by McGraw Hill is implemented with fidelity as the core instructional program in grades K-2. The Open Court Language Arts program incorporates a variety of carefully selected materials to introduce and reinforce a broad range of skills. Authentic literature, along with specific phonics and skills-based materials, is blended to teach reading readiness. Each child's individual abilities and needs are recognized and addressed through a combination of whole-class, small-group, and individual instruction. Open Court materials provide systematic and explicit instruction in phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, background knowledge building, oral language development, vocabulary, writing, comprehension, and fluency. Open Court does not employ the three-cueing model of literacy instruction.

Teachers utilize Open Court to intentionally and systematically support the development of decoding skills. The lessons facilitate learning in areas such as phonemic awareness, sound-letter patterns (or spelling patterns), decoding, writing mechanics, and writing structure and processes. Open Court adopts a comprehensive approach to teaching early literacy. The English language consists of 26 letters, which combine to form 150 spelling patterns that represent 44 sounds. Open Court focuses explicitly on teaching each of the 44 sounds and the 150 representations of these sounds in a logical sequence that fosters independence. This method ensures that students possess the knowledge necessary to tackle any text and any word.

Additionally, Open Court enhances young children's language and background knowledge. Students are exposed to rich, complex texts through daily read-aloud sessions, engage in text-based discussions about the content, and build connections from the text to classroom work through extension activities. The content-rich reading required of students creates an optimal context for interactive discussions and activities that develop skills conducive to understanding complex sentences and ideas. The content in Open Court fosters rich, academically oriented oral language experiences that promote both receptive and expressive language skills.

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The myView Literacy Program used in grade 3 is designed to intertwine foundational skills with higher-level comprehension and meaning-making. MyView texts are organized around topics, utilizing weekly theme-based essential questions to explore those topics in depth. The questions and tasks included in the units support students as they analyze individual texts, as well as the knowledge and ideas shared across multiple texts. Throughout all units, students receive instruction and practice in phonics, fluency, and word recognition and analysis skills.  

The myView sequence of topics builds upon the broad base of knowledge that students acquired in grades K-2. Developing a broad base of knowledge about the world enables students to comprehend increasingly complex ideas and texts, make connections and inferences, and engage in extended discussions about the works they are reading or having read aloud to them.

Section 2:  Strategic Early Literacy Assessment System

The Randolph School District will implement the required Early Literacy screening assessments provided by the state (aimswebPLUS).

Randolph School District will assess students in 4K twice per year and students in K-3 three times per year.  Universal screenings using aimswebPlus will include phonemic awareness, decoding, alphabet knowledge, letter sound knowledge, and oral vocabulary as noted in the chart below.

In addition to aimswebPlus, Randolph School District will administer the Star early literacy or Star reading test in grades 1-3 to pinpoint students’ strengths and areas of growth in reading offering insight into which areas need improvement.  Star results are used for:

• Screening
• Progress monitoring
• Instructional planning
• Standards benchmarking
• Skill gap diagnosis

ESGI testing platform is used in 4K-K as another tool used to identify student strengths and growth areas in early literacy development.

Diagnostic tools are used when students score below the 25th percentile or additional information is needed to determine and confirm specific instructional needs. Star Reading is the main diagnostic tool Randolph School District uses.  Additional diagnostic tools may include EasyCBM, Heggerty Phonemic/Phonological Awareness Tests, Star CBM, LETRS Phonics and Word Reading Survey, Words Their Way Spelling Inventory, and AIMSWeb Diagnostics. This is not an exhaustive list.  Other DPI approved diagnostic tools may be administered.  

Section 3:  Additional Student Support

Students in grades K-3 who score lower than the 25th percentile (nationally) and are given diagnostic assessments will also be discussed by the building's student problem solving team. This team is comprised of building administration, reading specialists, classroom teachers, special education teachers (as needed), speech and language pathologists (as needed), school counselors (as needed), school psychologists (as needed), and any other staff members as appropriate. The team reviews all of the data, aligns intervention supports to the student's needs and creates a Personal Reading Plan for each student. All elementary classrooms have a minimum of a 30-minute intervention and enrichment time built into their schedule to offer targeted intervention or enrichment support. All students continue to receive high-quality classroom instruction and support.

Evidence Based Interventions 

Please refer to the Intervention Toolkit for a description of available interventions, the literacy strand aligned to the interventions, progress monitoring strategies, fidelity checks, and entrance/exit criteria.  

Personal Reading Plan

The Personal Reading Plan (PRP) will include the following:

• Specific early literacy skill deficiencies identified by the applicable assessment
• Goals and benchmarks that the team sets so the student progresses toward grade-level literacy skills
• Description of how the student’s progress will be monitored
• A description of the interventions to be used in addition to core programming
• A description of the classroom reading instruction programming
• Parent/guardian strategies for at-home practice

Progress Monitoring

• Each student’s personal reading plan will include a plan to monitor progress in the interventions that the student is participating in. Progress monitoring will be done once per week for students participating in Tier 3 interventions and students qualifying for Personal Reading Plans.  These results will be recorded in the eduClimberSystem. The team creating the Personal Reading Plan will decide on the appropriate progress monitor based on the targeted area of intervention. Progress monitoring assessments that will be used may include any of the following:

• Onset sounds
• Word blending
• Word Segmenting
• Letter Names
• Letter Sounds
• Decodable Words
• Nonsense Words
• Sight Words
• CBM reading
• Teacher narrative of student progress
• Other measures as determined by the team

Process for Exiting a Student on a Personal Reading Plan

A plan is considered completed when the team decides that the child has met the goals of the plan and has shown an adequate rate of progress according to grade-specific measures. 

Adequate progress for exiting a personal reading plan will be based on the following categories:

5K - Nonsense Word Fluency and Phoneme Segmentation

1st/2nd - Oral Reading Fluency

3rd - Oral Reading Fluency and results of the Wisconsin Forward Exam

At this time, the process of exiting the student from the personal reading plan may begin. The teacher providing the intervention will do the following:

• document on the PRP the assessment scores and the body of evidence that supports the student has demonstrated grade level reading competency  
• ensure the PRP, supporting documentation for the plan and the body of evidence that demonstrates the student has reached grade level reading competency is included in the student’s cumulative file  
• communicate with the student’s parent or guardian that the student has reached grade level competency in reading and will be removed from the PRP

Once a PRP is discontinued, the student will continue to receive scientifically based and evidence-based reading instruction and be assessed using the district approved screening tool. If through subsequent assessments it is later determined that the student fails to maintain grade level reading competency in any grades kindergarten through third grade and is again determined to have a significant reading deficiency, a new PRP may be initiated.  

Wisconsin’s Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions

Grade level potential indicators to look for in considering dyslexic characteristics are found on pages 19-27 in the guidebook.

On the top of page 26, the resource suggests an outside evaluation diagnosing a reading disorder such as dyslexia may provide useful information in programming for reading difficulties in school.

Page 48 suggests home activities and strategies that support literacy development.

Promotion Policy

PROMOTION, PLACEMENT, AND RETENTION - po5410

*This policy will be updated following the release of DPI's model policy

Updated policy for promotion from 3rd to 4th grade, based on a DPI model policy, will be adopted by July 1, 2025 going into effect for the 2025-2026 school year.

Summer Reading Support

Students in grade 3 and above who have not demonstrated proficiency on existing personal reading plans will be personally notified of the opportunity to participate in a summer reading intervention program.  All Students in grades K-3 will be offered the opportunity to participate in universal summer school which may include additional intervention support.

Continuous Improvement

Each year the Randolph School District will analyze benchmark and curriculum early literacy assessment data as well as Wisconsin Forward Exam data to create literacy-based improvement plans for the upcoming year. This work is in alignment with our elementary building’s Title I plan. Our district reading specialist works alongside the administrative team to annually evaluate our 4K-3 literacy curriculum, instruction, and professional learning needs to ensure all students make progress toward reading success. Each classroom teacher is engaged in cycles of instructional coaching focused on high leverage literacy instructional practices.  

We welcome your feedback about our building’s early literacy goals. Families and community members are key partners in achieving the goal of literacy success for every learner. Please contact your child’s teacher, the elementary principal or the director of curriculum and instruction with any questions you may have.  

Parent Notification

Assessment

Benchmark screening assessment results will be communicated to parents in backpack mail no more than 15 days after the closing of the assessment window.  The parent report will include:

• The student’s overall score on the assessment
• The student’s score in each assessed early literacy skill category
• The student’s percentile rank score on the assessment (if available)
• A parent letter containing a definition of “at risk” and the score on the reading readiness assessment that would indicate the student is “at risk”.
• A parent-friendly description of the literacy skills the reading readiness assessment is designated to measure
• Information about the characteristics of dyslexia or related conditions and special education

For any student who scores below the 25th percentile on the early literacy screener, the district will also provide an opportunity for the student’s family to complete a family history survey that invites you to share information about your family’s history and/or experiences with reading and writing.

Section 4:  Family and Community Engagement

Personal Reading Plan Family Communication

A school based team of teachers who know the student best will develop a personal reading plan for all K-3 students determined to be “at risk” by the benchmark and subsequent diagnostic assessments. Within 10 days after the diagnostic testing is complete, the parents of students scoring below the 25th percentile on the early literacy screener should expect the following communication from the school:

• A conference with the teacher will be offered to explain the components of the Personal Reading Plan, which includes strategies for home reading.

• Once the plan is complete, the parent will be asked to sign the plan to acknowledge that they have received it.

• A progress report within 10 weeks after the intervention has begun to demonstrate progress toward the goals

• The parent will be asked to sign a copy of the progress report to acknowledge that they have received it.

• An end-of-the-year report to show plan completion and future steps including

summer programming and the next year.

Parent-Requested Diagnostic Assessment

If a student scores above the 25th percentile on the early literacy screener and the parent/family has concerns about their performance, the parent/family or the student’s teacher may request additional diagnostic literacy testing and complete a family history survey. Upon receiving a request, diagnostic assessment(s) would be administered within 20 days. Please note that the request is not a referral for special education, nor does it require a special education evaluation.