Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen all
pupils enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten at least two times each school year
using a fundamental skills screening assessment. The bill specifies that the first
screening must occur before the 46th day of the school term and that both screenings
be completed by no later than 45 days before the last day of school. The bill defines
a “fundamental skills screening assessment” as an assessment that evaluates a
pupil's phonemic awareness and letter sound knowledge.
Tier 1 – Universal early learning screening assessments and interventions
Required universal screening assessments
Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen all
pupils enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade at least three times
each school year using a universal screening assessment. The bill specifies that the
first universal screening must occur before the 46th day of the school term, the
second universal screening must occur in the middle of the school term, and the third
universal screening must occur no later than 45 days before the last day of school.
The bill defines a “universal screening assessment” as an assessment that evaluates
a pupil's skill in phonemic awareness, decoding skills, rapid naming skills, alphabet
knowledge, and letter sound knowledge.
Personal reading plan; at-risk pupils
If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment, the
bill requires the school board or independent charter school to create a personal
reading plan for the pupil. Under the bill, a personal reading plan must include
various components related to addressing the pupil's specific early literacy
deficiencies, including interventions that will be provided to the pupil, how the
pupil's progress will be monitored, and strategies the pupil's parent is encouraged to
use to help the pupil achieve grade-level literacy skills. The bill further requires the
school board or independent charter school to 1) provide the interventions included
in the personal reading plan to the pupil, as soon as practicable; 2) monitor the pupil's
progress at least weekly; 3) provide a copy of the personal reading plan to the pupil's
parent; 4) obtain a copy of the reading plan signed by the pupil's parent; and 5) after
12 weeks of providing the interventions required in the personal reading plan, notify
the pupil's parent of the pupil's progress.
Tier II – Level 1 screening assessments and interventions
Required level 1 screening assessments
Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen a
pupil enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade using a level 1
screening assessment within 20 days of both of the following having occurred: 1) the
pupil being identified as at risk on a universal screening assessment and 2) the pupil
demonstrating an inadequate rate of progress in the pupil's early literacy skills after
12 weeks of receiving interventions outlined in the pupil's personal reading plan. A
school board or independent charter school must also screen a pupil using a level 1
screening assessment within 20 days of a request by a teacher or parent who suspects
that the pupil has characteristics of dyslexia. The bill defines a “level 1 screening

assessment” as a screening tool that evaluates a pupil's skill in the skills assessed
in a universal screening assessment as well as phonological awareness and encoding,
and provides the pupil's parent the opportunity to complete a family history survey
about learning difficulties in the pupil's family.
Personal reading plan after a level 1 screening assessment
If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a level 1 screening assessment, the
bill requires the school board or independent charter school to modify the personal
reading plan for the pupil. Under the bill, the modified personal reading plan must
include the same components as a personal reading plan based on a universal
screening assessment, except the modified personal reading plan must be created to
address the specific early literacy deficiencies identified by the level 1 screening
assessment and must include intensive interventions to address those early literacy
deficiencies. Under the bill, an “intensive intervention” is an intervention that
includes instruction that 1) is explicit, direct, systematic, sequential, and cumulative
and follows a logical plan of presenting the alphabetic principle that targets the
specific needs of the pupil without presuming prior skills or knowledge of the pupil;
2) is individualized to meet the specific needs of a pupil in a setting that uses
intensive, highly concentrated instruction methods and materials that maximize
pupil engagement; and 3) incorporates the simultaneous use of two or more sensory
pathways during teacher presentations and pupil practice. A school board or
independent charter school must provide the intensive interventions included in the
personal reading plan to the pupil, as soon as practicable, and again monitor the
pupil's progress at least weekly, provide a copy of the personal reading plan to the
pupil's parent, obtain a copy of the reading plan signed by the pupil's parent, and
notify the pupil's parent of the pupil's progress after 12 weeks of providing
interventions under this personal reading plan.
Tier III – Level 2 screening assessments
Required level 2 screening assessments
Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must screen a
pupil enrolled in five-year-old kindergarten to second grade using a level 2
screening assessment within 20 days of both of the following having occurred: 1) the
pupil being identified as at risk on a level 1 screening assessment and 2) the pupil
demonstrating an inadequate rate of progress in the pupil's early literacy skills after
12 weeks of receiving intensive interventions outlined in the pupil's personal reading
plan, described above. A school board or independent charter school must also assess
a pupil's early literacy skills using a level 2 screening assessment within 20 days of
a request by a teacher or parent who suspects that the pupil has characteristics of
dyslexia. The bill defines a “level 2 screening assessment” as a screening tool that
evaluates a pupil's skill in the skills assessed in a universal screening assessment
as well as phonological awareness, word recognition, fluency, spelling, reading
comprehension, and listening comprehension, and provides the pupil's parent the
opportunity to complete a family history survey about learning difficulties in the
pupil's family. If a pupil is identified as at-risk based on a level 2 screening
assessment, the bill requires the school board or independent charter school to

provide information to the pupil's parent about how to make a special education
referral.
Approved reading readiness screening assessments
Under the bill, by July 15, 2022, the Department of Public Instruction must
establish and maintain lists of approved fundamental skills screening assessments,
universal screening assessments, level 1 screening assessments, and level 2
screening assessments (collectively, reading readiness screening assessments) on its
Internet site. DPI must also submit these lists to the appropriate standing
committees of the legislature. During the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, DPI
must include specific assessments on its list of approved fundamental skills
screening assessments and specific assessments on its list of approved universal
screening assessments. On the list of approved fundamental skills screening
assessments, DPI must include the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening
(PALS), the Predictive Assessment of Reading (PAR), and Acadience's Preschool
Early Literacy Indicators (PELI). On the list of approved universal screening
assessments, DPI must include the Dynamics Indicators of Basic Early Literacy
Skills 8th edition, commonly known as DIBELS 8th edition; the Acadience reading
assessment; FastBridge reading assessments; and the Renaissance Star Early
Literacy assessment.
State funding for reading readiness screening assessments
Under the bill, DPI must pay each school board and independent charter school
for the per pupil cost of each reading readiness screening assessment required to be
administered under the bill. However, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, a school
board or independent charter school is eligible for the state funding provided in the
bill only if the school board or independent charter school submits an annual report
to DPI and in that report indicates that the school board or charter school used only
approved reading readiness screening assessments in the previous school year.
Under current law, DPI pays school boards and independent charter schools for the
per pupil cost of the reading readiness assessment selected by the school board or
independent charter school.
Parent notification requirements
Under the bill, a school board or independent charter school must provide a
pupil's results on a reading readiness screening assessment to the pupil's parent by
no later than 15 days after the applicable assessment is scored. The results provided
to the parent must include the pupil's overall score, the pupil's score on each literacy
skill category assessed by the assessment, the pupil's percentile rank score, if
available, the score on the assessment that indicates a pupil is at-risk, and a plain
language explanation of the literacy skills that were evaluated by the assessment.
In addition, if a school board or independent charter school is required to screen a
pupil using a level 1 or level 2 screening assessment, the school board or independent
charter school must provide the pupil's parent with information related to
characteristics of dyslexia, including information about the common indicators of
characteristics of dyslexia and appropriate interventions and accommodations for
pupils with characteristics of dyslexia.

The bill also requires each school board and independent charter school to have
an early literacy remediation plan. An early literacy remediation plan must include
information about screening assessments used to identify at-risk pupils, the
interventions used to address characteristics of dyslexia, and monitoring pupil
progress related to early literacy skills. Under the bill, each school district and
independent charter school must post its early literacy remediation plan on its
Internet site.
Under current law, a school board or independent charter school must report
the results of a reading readiness assessment to a pupil's parent. Current law does
not provide a deadline by which the reading readiness results must be provided to
parents.
Reporting requirements
Under the bill, school boards and independent charter schools must annually,
by July 15, report to DPI 1) the number of pupils who were identified as at-risk based
on a reading readiness screening assessment administered in the previous school
year; 2) the number of five-year-old kindergarten to second grade pupils who began
receiving literacy interventions or remedial reading services in the previous school
year, by grade; and 3) the total number of five-year-old kindergarten to second grade
pupils who received literacy interventions or remedial reading services in the
previous school year. The school board or independent charter school must also
report the names of the specific reading readiness screening assessments the school
board or independent charter school used to screen pupils, as required under the bill,
in the previous school year. Annually, by November 30, DPI must compile the
information it receives from school boards and independent charter schools and
submit a report to the legislature.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB446,1 1Section 1. 115.38 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB446,5,62 115.38 (1) (a) Indicators of academic achievement, including the performance
3of pupils on the tests administered under s. 121.02 (1) (r), the performance of pupils
4on screening assessments required under s. 118.016 (3),
and the performance of
5pupils, by subject area, on the statewide assessment examinations administered
6under s. 118.30.
AB446,2 7Section 2. 118.016 of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB446,6,2
1118.016 Reading readiness screening assessments; characteristics of
2dyslexia.
(1) Definitions. In this section:
AB446,6,53 (a) “At-risk” means a pupil scored below the 25th percentile on a universal
4screening assessment, a level 1 screening assessment, or a level 2 screening
5assessment, as indicated by the publisher of the screening assessment.
AB446,6,66 (b) “Dyslexia” means a specific learning disability that is all of the following:
AB446,6,77 1. Neurobiological in origin.
AB446,6,128 2. Characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and
9poor spelling and decoding abilities that typically result from a deficit in the
10phonological component of language. Consequences of these difficulties may include
11problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that may
12impede vocabulary growth and background knowledge.
AB446,6,1313 3. Often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities.
AB446,6,1714 (c) “Family history survey” means a questionnaire that includes questions
15about previous recommendations for summer reading support or outside tutoring,
16general interest in reading and books, family history of characteristics of dyslexia,
17and any known family struggles in reading or spelling.
AB446,6,1918 (d) “Fidelity” means to perform in the manner that the author or publisher of
19a program or screening assessment intends.
AB446,6,2220 (e) “Fundamental skills screening assessment” means an assessment that
21evaluates whether a pupil possesses phonemic awareness and letter sound
22knowledge.
AB446,6,2523 (f) “Inadequate rate of progress” means a rate of improvement that is minimal
24and that with continued intervention the pupil is unlikely to demonstrate
25grade-level skills by the end of the school year.
AB446,7,2
1(g) “Independent charter school” means a charter school established under s.
2118.40 (2r) or (2x).
AB446,7,43 (h) “Intensive intervention” means an intervention that satisfies all of the
4criteria in par. (i) 1. to 3.
AB446,7,55 (i) “Intervention” means an intervention that is any of the following:
AB446,7,86 1. Explicit, direct instruction that is systematic, sequential, and cumulative
7and follows a logical plan of presenting the area of deficit that targets the specific
8needs of the pupil without presuming prior skills or knowledge of the pupil.
AB446,7,119 2. Individualized instruction to meet the specific needs of a pupil in a setting
10that uses intensive, highly concentrated instruction methods and materials that
11maximize pupil engagement.
AB446,7,1312 3. Instruction that incorporates the simultaneous use of 2 or more sensory
13pathways during teacher presentations and pupil practice.
AB446,7,1614 4. Any other instructional approach that is appropriate to target the needs of
15the pupil, as determined by the applicable school board or operator of an independent
16charter school.
AB446,7,1817 (j) “Level 1 screening assessment” means a screening tool that includes all of
18the following:
AB446,7,2019 1. An assessment that evaluates a pupil's skill in the areas listed in par. (n) 1.
20to 5., phonological awareness, and encoding.
AB446,7,2221 2. An opportunity for a pupil's parent to complete a family history survey to
22provide additional information about learning difficulties in the pupil's family.
AB446,7,2423 (k) “Level 2 screening assessment” means a screening tool that includes all of
24the following:
AB446,8,3
11. A standardized, norm-referenced assessment that evaluates a pupil's skill
2in the areas listed in par. (n) 1. to 5., phonological awareness, word recognition,
3fluency, spelling, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension.
AB446,8,54 2. An opportunity for a pupil's parent to complete a family history survey to
5provide additional information about learning difficulties in the pupil's family.
AB446,8,66 (L) “Parent” has the meaning given in s. 115.76 (12) (a).
AB446,8,97 (m) “Reading readiness screening assessment” means a fundamental skills
8screening assessment, universal screening assessment, level 1 screening
9assessment, or level 2 screening assessment.
AB446,8,1110 (n) “Universal screening assessment” means an assessment that evaluates a
11pupil's skill in all of the following areas:
AB446,8,1212 1. Phonemic awareness.
AB446,8,1313 2. Decoding skills.
AB446,8,1414 3. Rapid naming skills.
AB446,8,1515 4. Alphabet knowledge.
AB446,8,1616 5. Letter sound knowledge.
AB446,9,2 17(2) Four-year-old kindergarten; screening requirement. Each school board
18and the operator of each independent charter school shall annually assess the early
19literacy skills of each pupil enrolled in 4-year-old kindergarten at least 2 times
20during the school year using a fundamental skills screening assessment. The school
21board or operator of the independent charter school shall ensure that the first
22screening is administered before the 45th day after the first day of the school term
23and that the 2nd screening is administered by the date that is 45 days before the last
24day of the school term. The school board or operator of the independent charter

1school shall ensure that assessments required under this subsection are
2administered with fidelity.
AB446,9,6 3(3) Early literacy screenings; 5-year-old kindergarten to 2nd grade. Each
4school board and the operator of each independent charter school shall annually
5assess the early literacy skills of each pupil enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to
62nd grade in the school district or in the independent charter school as follows:
AB446,9,107 (a) Universal screenings. Screen the pupil at least 3 times during the school
8year using a universal screening assessment. The school board or operator of the
9independent charter school shall ensure that the universal screening assessments
10are administered at the following times during the school year:
AB446,9,1211 1. The first universal screening is administered before the 45th day after the
12first day of the school term.
AB446,9,1413 2. The 2nd universal screening is administered in the middle of the school term,
14as determined by the school board or operator of the independent charter school.
AB446,9,1615 3. The 3rd universal screening is administered by the date that is 45 days
16before the last day of the school term.
AB446,9,1817 (b) Level 1 screening. Screen a pupil using a level 1 screening assessment
18within 20 days of any of the following:
AB446,9,2019 1. A universal screening assessment indicated that the pupil is at-risk and the
20pupil demonstrates an inadequate rate of progress after 12 weeks of intervention.
AB446,9,2221 2. A teacher or parent who suspects that the pupil has characteristics of
22dyslexia submits a request for a level 1 screening assessment.
AB446,9,2423 (c) Level 2 screening. Screen a pupil using a level 2 screening assessment
24within 20 days of any of the following:
AB446,10,3
11. A level 1 screening assessment indicated that the pupil is at-risk and the
2pupil demonstrates an inadequate rate of progress after 12 weeks of intensive
3intervention.
AB446,10,54 2. A teacher or parent suspects the pupil has characteristics of dyslexia and
5submits a request for a level 2 screening assessment.
AB446,10,76 (d) Administering screening assessments with fidelity. Ensure that each
7screening assessment required under this subsection is administered with fidelity.
AB446,10,14 8(4) Parental notification. (a) Screening results. A school board or operator
9of an independent charter school shall provide the results of a reading readiness
10screening assessment, in writing, to a pupil's parent no later than 15 days after the
11reading readiness screening assessment is scored. For purposes of providing results
12of a reading readiness screening assessment under this paragraph, a school board
13or operator of an independent charter school shall provide at least all of the following
14to a pupil's parent:
AB446,10,1515 1. The pupil's score on the reading readiness screening assessment.
AB446,10,1716 2. The pupil's score in each early literacy skill category assessed by the reading
17readiness screening assessment.
AB446,10,1918 3. The pupil's percentile rank score on the reading readiness screening
19assessment, if available.
AB446,10,2120 4. The definition of “at-risk” and the score on the reading readiness screening
21assessment that would indicate that a pupil is at-risk.
AB446,10,2322 5. A plain language description of the literacy skills the reading readiness
23screening assessment is designed to measure.
AB446,11,324 (b) Special education information. If a level 2 screening assessment indicates
25that a pupil is at risk, a school board or operator of an independent charter school

1shall include information about how to make a special education referral under s.
2115.777 with the level 2 screening assessment results provided to the parent under
3par. (a).
AB446,11,74 (c) Dyslexia information; certain pupils. If a school board or operator of a
5independent charter school is required to assess a pupil's early literacy skills using
6a level 1 or level 2 screening assessment, a school board or operator of an independent
7charter school shall provide all of the following, in writing, to the pupil's parent:
AB446,11,88 1. A description of the common indicators and characteristics of dyslexia.
AB446,11,109 2. Information about appropriate interventions, intensive interventions, and
10accommodations for pupils with characteristics of dyslexia.
AB446,11,1311 (d) Early literacy remediation plan; availability. A school board or operator of
12an independent charter school shall post its early literacy remediation plan on the
13school district's or independent charter school's Internet site.
AB446,11,18 14(5) Interventions; at-risk pupils. (a) Personal reading plans. If a pupil
15enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to 2nd grade is identified as at-risk based on
16a universal screening assessment or a level 1 screening assessment, the school board
17of the school district or operator of the independent charter school in which the pupil
18is enrolled shall do all of the following:
AB446,11,2019 1. Create a personal reading plan for the pupil that includes at least all of the
20following:
AB446,11,2221 a. The pupil's specific early literacy skill deficiencies, as identified by the
22applicable screening assessment.
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