A. The State Board of Education shall ensure that the reading competencies for elementary teachers are included in the competencies for special education teachers.

B. The State Board of Education and the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shall ensure that all teachers of early childhood education, elementary education and special education are provided quality training in intervention, instruction and remediation strategies in order to meet the needs of students in kindergarten through third grade who are determined to be at risk of reading difficulties. In addition, quality education for prospective teachers shall be provided in research-based instructional strategies for instruction, assessment and intervention for literacy development for all students, including advanced readers, typically developing readers and struggling readers who are coping with a range of challenges, including, but not limited to, English learners and learners with handicapping conditions and learning disabilities (including dyslexia). Quality training shall include guidance from professional resources such as the Report of the National Reading Panel, Response to Intervention guidelines and professional organizations such as the Council for Exceptional Children, International Dyslexia Association, International Literacy Association, National Council of Teachers of English and National Association for the Education of Young Children.

C. All institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education that offer elementary, early childhood education or special education programs approved by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability shall incorporate into those programs the requirement that teacher candidates study the five elements of reading instruction which are phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Teacher candidates shall study strategies including, but not limited to, instruction that is explicitly taught, sequenced, multimodal (reading, writing, speaking, listening, hands-on, etc.), multidisciplinary and reflective to adapt for individual learners.

D. Effective July 1, 2010, teacher candidates enrolled in an institution within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education in a special education program approved by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability shall pass, prior to graduation, a comprehensive assessment to measure their teaching skills in the area of reading instruction. The assessment shall be developed and administered by the institutions that offer special education programs that lead to certification. The assessment shall measure the knowledge and understanding of the teacher candidate in the teaching of the five elements of reading instruction which are phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The results of the assessment shall be reported annually by the institution to the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability as a part of the required annual report for the institution. The Commission shall include the data in the annual report to the Oklahoma Legislature as required pursuant to Section 6-186 of this title. It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that teachers graduating from institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education have the knowledge and skills to effectively teach reading to all children.

Added by Laws 2005, c. 431, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2005. Amended by Laws 2009, c. 97, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2017, c. 60, § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; Laws 2019, c. 208, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019.