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Union Public Schools
Our mission is to graduate 100 percent of our students, college and career ready.

5034 Strong Readers Act

The District shall implement a comprehensive early literacy initiative in compliance with the Strong Readers Act, adopted 2024. This includes: 

  • Screening and progress monitoring of student reading proficiency, 
  • Evidence-based reading instruction and interventions, 
  • Professional development for staff, and 
  • Data collection and reporting as required by the Act. 

All students in grades K–3 will be assessed three times a year using a State Board of Education-approved screening instrument to evaluate reading skills such as phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This will help the District identify students with reading deficiencies, including those showing characteristics of dyslexia. 

A student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second, or third grade with an identified deficiency in reading at any time based upon the screening instrument shall receive a Student Literacy Intervention Plan (SLIP) no later than thirty (30) days after the identification of the deficiency in reading. The reading intervention plan shall be provided in addition to core reading instruction that is provided to all students. The reading intervention plan shall: 
 

1.      Describe the research-based reading intervention services the student will receive to remedy the deficiency in reading, 

2.      Provide explicit and systematic instruction in phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as applicable, 

3.      Monitor the reading progress of the student’s reading skills throughout the school year and adjust instruction according to the student’s needs, and 

4.      Continue until the student is determined to meet grade-level targets in reading based on screening instruments or assessments. 

  

Dyslexia Screening 

Any student enrolled in kindergarten, first, second, or third grade who is assessed through the Strong Readers Act and who is not meeting grade-level targets in reading after the beginning-of-the-year assessment shall be screened for dyslexia. Screening also may be requested for a student by his or her parent or legal guardian, teacher, counselor, speech-language pathologist, or school psychologist. Screening shall be conducted in accordance with the policies developed by the State Board of Education and the Oklahoma Dyslexia Handbook, including policies and information developed relating to universal screening of kindergarten students for characteristics of dyslexia. 

Screening Exemptions 

An exemption to the screening requirement may be provided to students who have documented evidence that they meet at least one of the following criteria as related to the provision of classroom instruction:  

  • the student participates in the Oklahoma Alternate Assessment Program (OAAP) and is taught using alternate methods,  
  • the student’s primary expressive or receptive communication is sign language, 
  • the student’s primary form of written or read text in Braille, or  
  • the student’s primary expressive or receptive language is not English, the student is identified as an English learner using a state-approved identification assessment, and the student has had less than one (1) school year of instruction in an English-learner program.  

For any student granted an exemption from the screening requirement, the district shall maintain ongoing evidence of student progression toward English language acquisition with the same frequency as administration of screening assessments. Evidence may include, but not be limited to, student progression toward OAAP reading essential elements, proficiency in sign language and reading comprehension, and proficiency in Braille and reading comprehension. 

Reporting Requirements  

The district shall annually publish on the school website, and report electronically to the State Department of Education, the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, and the Secretary of Education by September 1 of each year the following information on the prior school year:  

a) expenditures related to implementing the provisions of this policy, the number of staff implementing the provisions of this policy, and average daily classroom time devoted to implementing the provisions of this policy,  

b) by grade, the number and percentage of all students in kindergarten through third grade who did not meet grade-level targets based on a screening instrument administered pursuant to this policy,  

c) by grade, the number and percentage of all students in kindergarten through third grade who have been enrolled in the district for fewer than two (2) years,  

d) by grade, the number and percentage of students in kindergarten through third grade who demonstrated grade-level proficiency based on a screening instrument administered pursuant to this policy, and  

e) by grade, the number and percentage of students in kindergarten through third grade who are on an individualized education program (IEP) in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and who demonstrated grade-level proficiency based on a screening instrument administered pursuant to this policy or an alternative assessment prescribed by the student’s IEP.  

Copies of the results of the screening instruments administered shall be made a part of the permanent record of each student.  

Reference: 70 O.S. §1210.508A, et seq. 

Adopted: 8/11/25