Chapter 118

118.016(4) (4) Parental notification.

118.016(4)(a) (a) Assessment results. A school board or operator of an independent charter school shall provide the results of a reading readiness assessment, in writing, to a pupil’s parent no later than 15 days after the reading readiness assessment is scored. For purposes of providing results of a reading readiness assessment under this paragraph, a school board or operator of an independent charter school shall provide at least all of the following to a pupil’s parent in the native language of the pupil’s parent:

118.016(4)(a)1. 1. The pupil’s score on the reading readiness assessment.

118.016(4)(a)2. 2. The pupil’s score in each early literacy skill category assessed by the reading readiness assessment.

118.016(4)(a)3. 3. The pupil’s percentile rank score on the reading readiness assessment, if available.

118.016(4)(a)4. 4. The definition of “at-risk” and the score on the reading readiness assessment that would indicate that a pupil is at-risk.

118.016(4)(a)5. 5. A plain language description of the literacy skills the reading readiness assessment is designed to measure.

118.016(4)(b) (b) Special education information. If a diagnostic assessment indicates that a pupil is at-risk, a school board or operator of an independent charter school shall include information about how to make a special education referral under s. 115.777 with the diagnostic assessment results provided to the parent under par. (a).

118.016(4)(c) (c) Dyslexia information; certain pupils. If a school board or operator of an independent charter school is required to assess a pupil’s early literacy skills using a diagnostic assessment, a school board or operator of an independent charter school shall provide all of the following, in writing, to the pupil’s parent:

118.016(4)(c)1. 1. A description of the common indicators and characteristics of dyslexia.

118.016(4)(c)2. 2. Information about appropriate interventions and accommodations for pupils with characteristics of dyslexia.

118.016(4)(d) (d) Early literacy remediation plan; availability. A school board or operator of an independent charter school shall post its early literacy remediation plan, as established under sub. (6), on the school district’s or independent charter school’s website.

118.016(5) (5) Interventions; at-risk pupils.

118.016(5)(a) (a) Personal reading plans. If a pupil enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to 3rd grade is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment or diagnostic assessment, the school board of the school district or operator of the independent charter school in which the pupil is enrolled shall do all of the following:

118.016(5)(a)1. 1. Create a personal reading plan for the pupil that includes at least all of the following:

118.016(5)(a)1.a. a. The pupil’s specific early literacy skill deficiencies, as identified by the applicable assessment.

118.016(5)(a)1.b. b. Goals and benchmarks for the pupil’s progress toward grade-level literacy skills.

118.016(5)(a)1.c. c. How the pupil’s progress will be monitored.

118.016(5)(a)1.d. d. A description of the interventions and any additional instructional services that will be provided to the pupil to address the pupil’s early literacy skill deficiencies.

118.016(5)(a)1.e. e. The programming using science-based early reading instruction, as defined in s. 118.015 (1c) (b), that the pupil’s teacher will use to provide reading instruction to the pupil, addressing the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

118.016(5)(a)1.f. f. Strategies the pupil’s parent is encouraged to use to help the pupil achieve grade-level literacy skills.

118.016(5)(a)1.g. g. Any additional services available and appropriate to accelerate the pupil’s early literacy skill development.

118.016(5)(a)2. 2. Provide the interventions described in the pupil’s personal reading plan to the pupil, as soon as practicable.

118.016(5)(a)3. 3. Monitor the pupil’s progress at least weekly using the method described in the pupil’s personal reading plan to determine whether the pupil demonstrates an inadequate rate of progress.

118.016(5)(a)4. 4. Provide a copy of the pupil’s personal reading plan to the pupil’s parent and obtain a copy of the pupil’s personal reading plan signed by the pupil’s parent.

118.016(5)(a)5. 5. After providing the interventions described in the pupil’s personal reading plan to the pupil for 10 weeks, notify the pupil’s parent of the pupil’s progress, as determined under the pupil’s personal reading plan.

118.016(5)(b) (b) Deadlines for plan creation. If a school board or operator of an independent charter school is required to create a personal reading plan for a pupil under par. (a) 1., the school board or operator shall prepare the personal reading plan as follows:

118.016(5)(b)1. 1. If the pupil is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment administered under sub. (3) (a) 1. or based on a diagnostic assessment administered under sub. (3) (b) 1., no later than the 3rd Friday of November.

118.016(5)(b)2. 2. If the pupil is identified as at-risk based on a universal screening assessment administered under sub. (3) (a) 2. or 3. or based on a diagnostic assessment administered under sub. (3) (b) 2. or 3., within 10 days after the applicable screening assessment is administered.

118.016(5)(c) (c) Inadequate rate of progress. For purposes of determining whether a pupil demonstrates an inadequate rate of progress under par. (a) 3., a school board or operator of an independent charter school shall determine whether the pupil is likely to demonstrate grade-level skills by the end of the school year by assessing one of the following:

118.016(5)(c)1. 1. For a pupil enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten, nonword or nonsense word fluency and phoneme segmentation fluency.

118.016(5)(c)2. 2. For a pupil enrolled in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade, oral reading fluency.

118.016(5)(d) (d) Plan completion; 3rd grade. A 3rd grade pupil who has a personal reading plan under par. (a) 1. is considered to have completed the personal reading plan if the pupil’s parent and the pupil’s school agree that the pupil has met the goals outlined in the personal reading plan and the pupil scores at grade-level in reading on a summative assessment, as defined by the department by rule.

118.016(6) (6) Early literacy remediation plan; school district or independent charter school. A school board or operator of an independent charter school shall establish an early literacy remediation plan for grades 5-year-old kindergarten to 3 that includes all of the following:

118.016(6)(a) (a) The assessments the school board or operator of the independent charter school uses to satisfy the requirements under sub. (3).

118.016(6)(b) (b) A description of the interventions the school board or operator of the independent charter school uses to address characteristics of dyslexia.

118.016(6)(c) (c) A description of how the school board or operator of the independent charter school monitors pupil progress during interventions, including the frequency of monitoring pupil progress during interventions and any assessment tools used to monitor pupil progress during interventions.

118.016(6)(d) (d) How the school board or operator of the independent charter school uses results of assessments required under sub. (3) to evaluate early literacy instruction being provided in the school district or at the independent charter school.

118.016(6)(e) (e) A parent notification policy that complies with subs. (4) and (5) (a) 4. and 5.

118.016(7) (7) Reporting assessment data. By no later than July 15, 2025, and each July 15 thereafter, a school board shall report for each school and for the school district, and the operator of an independent charter school shall report for the independent charter school, all of the following to the department:

118.016(7)(a) (a) The number of pupils who were identified as at-risk as the result of a fundamental skills screening assessment administered in the previous school year.

118.016(7)(b) (b) The number of pupils who were identified as at-risk as the result of a universal screening assessment administered in the previous school year.

118.016(7)(c) (c) The number of pupils who were identified as at-risk as the result of a diagnostic assessment administered in the previous school year.

118.016(7)(d) (d) The names of the diagnostic assessments used to assess pupils in the previous school year.

118.016(7)(e) (e) The number of pupils enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to 3rd grade who began receiving interventions during the previous school year, by grade.

118.016(7)(f) (f) The total number of pupils enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to 3rd grade who received interventions under a personal reading plan during the previous school year.

118.016(7)(g) (g) The number of pupils enrolled in 5-year-old kindergarten to 3rd grade who exited interventions during the previous school year, by grade.

118.016(7)(h) (h) The number of pupils for whom a referral under s. 115.777 was made during the previous school year based on diagnostic assessment results provided to a parent under sub. (4) (a).

118.016(8) (8) Department; duties.

118.016(8)(a) (a) Selected and approved reading readiness assessments.

118.016(8)(a)1. 1. By no later than July 15, 2024, and subject to subd. 2., the department shall select a fundamental skills screening assessment and a universal screening assessment, and establish and maintain a list of diagnostic assessments that are approved by the department for use under this section.

118.016(8)(a)2. 2. The department may select or approve an assessment under subd. 1. only if the assessment meets all of the following criteria:

118.016(8)(a)2.a. a. The assessment has a sensitivity rate of at least 70 percent.

118.016(8)(a)2.b. b. The assessment has a specificity rate of at least 80 percent.

118.016(8)(a)2.c. c. The assessment includes a growth measure.

118.016(8)(a)3. 3. The department shall publish a list of the assessments selected or approved under subd. 1. on its website and submit the lists of approved assessments to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3). If the department modifies a list under subd. 1., the department shall submit the modified list to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3).

118.016(8)(b) (b) Reports to the legislature. By November 30, 2025, and by each November 30 thereafter, the department shall compile the information it receives under sub. (7) and submit a report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) that includes the number of pupils identified as at-risk in the previous school year, by school and by school district.

118.016(9) (9) State support.

118.016(9)(a) (a) Payments and assessments. From the appropriation under s. 20.255 (1) (f) and subject to par. (b), the department shall pay a school board or operator of an independent charter school the per pupil cost of each reading readiness assessment required to be administered under sub. (3) (b). Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the department may pay a school board or operator of an independent charter school under this paragraph only if the school board or operator of the independent charter school does all of the following:

118.016(9)(a)1. 1. Submits the report required under sub. (7) for the previous school year.

118.016(9)(a)2. 2. In the report required under sub. (7) for the previous school year, indicates that the school board or operator of the independent charter school used only reading readiness assessments selected or approved under sub. (8) (a) for that school year.

118.016(9)(b) (b) Proration. If the appropriation under s. 20.255 (1) (f) in any fiscal year is insufficient to pay the full amount of aid under par. (a), the department shall prorate state aid payments among the school boards and operators of independent charter schools entitled to the aid.

118.016(9)(c) (c) Assessments. The department shall provide to each school board and operator of an independent charter school the reading readiness assessments required for the school board or operator to comply with subs. (2) and (3) (a), at no cost to the school board or independent charter school.

118.016(10) (10) Enforcement.

118.016(10)(a) (a) If a parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled in 4-year-old kindergarten to 3rd grade in a school district or independent charter school believes that the school board or operator of the independent charter school is not in compliance with this section, the parent or guardian may file a complaint with the department that describes the specific manner in which the school board or operator is not in compliance with this section. The department shall review a complaint received under this paragraph and issue a determination on whether the school board or operator is in compliance with this section. If the department determines that a school board or operator of an independent charter school is not in compliance with this section, the department shall notify the school board or operator of its determination and shall include in the notice the specific actions required for the school board or operator to be in compliance with this section.

118.016(10)(b) (b) If the department determines under par. (a) that a school board or operator of an independent charter school is not in compliance with this section and the school board or operator continues to fail to comply with this section, the complainant under par. (a) may bring an action for injunctive relief or a writ of mandamus in circuit court to compel the school board to comply with this section.

118.016(11) (11) Rules. The department may promulgate rules under this section only on the following:

118.016(11)(a) (a) A process to select or approve assessments under sub. (8) (a).

118.016(11)(b) (b) A process to request that a specific diagnostic assessment be approved by the department.

118.016 History History: 2011 a. 166; 2013 a. 20; 2015 a. 55; 2023 a. 20; s. 35.17 correction in (9) (c).

118.017 118.017 Foreign language instruction.

118.017(1) (1) All instruction shall be in the English language, except:

118.017(1)(a) (a) Those programs established under subch. VII of ch. 115 where instruction shall be in the English language and in the non-English language of the bilingual-bicultural education program.

118.017(1)(b) (b) The school board may cause any foreign language to be taught to pupils who desire it.

118.017(1)(c) (c) The school board may cause any course to be taught in a foreign language if the purpose is to facilitate the instruction of English speaking pupils in that language.

118.017(2) (2) A school board may grant foreign language credit to a pupil who has satisfactorily completed a high school course in American sign language.

118.017 History History: 1983 a. 412 ss. 4, 5; Stats. 1983 s. 118.017; 1989 a. 280.

118.019 118.019 Human growth and development instruction.

118.019(1) (1) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to foster a partnership between parents of pupils attending schools in the school district and the schools in the school district to promote the optimal health and well-being of the pupils. The provisions of this section are in addition to, and do not supplant, the requirements under ss. 118.01 (2) (d) 2. c. and 8. and 118.13 (1), which are critical to maintaining the physical and psychological health of each pupil.

118.019(1m) (1m) Definitions. In this section:

118.019(1m)(a) (a) “Age-appropriate” means suitable to a particular age group of pupils based on their developing cognitive and emotional capacity and consistent with adolescent development and community standards.

118.019(1m)(b) (b) “Medically accurate information” means information that is scientifically-based and published, where appropriate, in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.

118.019(2) (2) Subjects. A school board may provide an instructional program in human growth and development in grades kindergarten to 12. If the school board elects to provide an instructional program under this section, when the school board establishes the curriculum for the instructional program, the school board shall make determinations as to whether and, if so, for what subjects covered in the curriculum the pupils shall be separated by gender. If an instructional program is provided, the following instructional program is recommended:

118.019(2)(a) (a) Present medically accurate information to pupils and, when age-appropriate, address the following topics:

118.019(2)(a)1. 1. The importance of communication about sexuality between the pupil and the pupil’s parents or guardians.

118.019(2)(a)2. 2. Reproductive and sexual anatomy and physiology, including biological, psychosocial, emotional, and intellectual changes that accompany maturation.

118.019(2)(a)5. 5. The benefits of and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity. Instruction under this subdivision shall stress the value of abstinence as the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and shall identify the skills necessary to remain abstinent.

118.019(2)(a)7. 7. Methods for developing healthy life skills, including setting goals, making responsible decisions, communicating, and managing stress.

118.019(2)(a)8. 8. How alcohol and drug use affect responsible decision making.