Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Eligibility for participation. The
commissioner of education shall determine a school district's or
open-enrollment charter school's eligibility to participate in the Reading
Excellence Team Pilot Program based on the following:
(1) a school district's or open-enrollment
charter school's performance on a reading instrument administered in accordance
with the Texas Education Code (TEC), §
28.006(c); or
(2) a school district's
performance on a Grade 3 reading assessment instrument administered under the
TEC, §
39.023(a),
relative to other districts in the district's region.
(b) Selection of districts.
(1) Education service centers (ESCs) selected
to administer the pilot program by the commissioner shall establish an
application deadline for school districts and open-enrollment charter schools
to request assignment of a reading excellence team.
(2) The ESCs shall prioritize the assignment
of reading excellence teams to the lowest performing school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools that apply for assistance, as measured by the
reading instruments referenced in subsection (a)(1) and (2) of this section.
(3) After assignment of reading
excellence teams under the initial application, if any capacity to assign
reading excellence teams remains, the ESCs may accept additional applications
and provide reading excellence team support to additional school district and
open-enrollment charter school applicants based on the lowest performing school
districts or open-enrollment charter schools, as measured by the reading
instruments referenced in subsection (a)(1) and (2) of this section.
(c) Qualifications for reading
instruction specialist. A reading instruction specialist must have:
(1) significant expertise in reading
instruction with a minimum of three years of classroom teaching experience;
(2) experience in providing
instruction directly related to the curriculum in Chapter 110 of this title
(relating to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and
Reading), specifically in kindergarten-Grade 3; and
(3) knowledge of developmentally appropriate
and research-based strategies for students in kindergarten-Grade 3.
(d) Assignment of reading
excellence teams. ESCs shall assign reading excellence teams upon
prioritization of the applications and in accordance with this section and the
TEC, §
28.0061.
(e) Requests for student
achievement data. Participating school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools will comply with requests for student achievement data made by reading
excellence teams or their sponsoring ESC that will assist in monitoring the
implementation as well as the effectiveness of the overall pilot program. The
sponsoring ESC shall adopt procedures to ensure compliance with applicable
state and federal privacy laws. The sponsoring ESC shall comply with requests
for student achievement data made by the Texas Education Agency.
