Section 281.62.2. Assessment of reading proficiency.

 All school districts shall assess reading proficiency of all students, as required by this rule.

         62.2(1) Assessment at beginning of school year. A school district shall assess all students enrolled in kindergarten through grade three at the beginning of each school year for the students’ level of reading or reading readiness.

         62.2(2) Subsequent assessments throughout school year. A school district shall provide to all students additional, brief assessments of reading achievement in a manner required by the department, using assessments that meet the standards described in subrule 62.2(5).

         62.2(3) Progress-monitoring instruments. For students identified as being persistently at risk in reading, as well as students who are becoming persistently at risk in reading, a school district shall monitor the students’ progress in reading with instruments that meet the standards in subrule 62.2(5), in at least a frequency required by the department.

         62.2(4) Statewide or locally determined assessments. Assessments may be locally determined or statewide, including an annual standard-based assessment, provided that all assessments for purposes of implementing this chapter meet the standards described in subrule 62.2(5).

         62.2(5) Standards for approval for assessments. Any assessment of reading or reading readiness required by this rule and used to implement this chapter shall meet the following minimum standards before use by a school district.

            a.                Standards for all assessments. Any assessment used under this chapter, including instruments described in paragraphs 62.2(5)“b”  and “c,” shall meet department-adopted minimum standards for reliability and validity, at the appropriate grade level and for the skills assessed. In addition, all assessments must have information available concerning administration time per student, access to student data after completion, and amount of teacher training required.

            b.                Standards for universal-screening instruments. Any assessment used for universal-screening purposes under this chapter shall meet department-adopted minimum standards for the following statistical measures: area under the curve and specificity/sensitivity.

            c.                Standards for progress-monitoring instruments. Any assessment used for progress-monitoring purposes under this chapter shall meet department-adopted standards for number of forms of demonstrated equivalence and for the following statistical measure: reliability of slope.

            d.                Department publication of approved assessments. The department shall annually publish or update a list of assessments approved pursuant to this subrule. Approved assessments will have a demonstrated ability to predict future reading performance.

         62.2(6) Basic levels of reading proficiency on approved assessments. The department shall determine benchmarks for basic levels of reading proficiency to be used with approved assessments based on the ability to predict meaningful future outcomes of a student’s reading performance that is sufficient to master appropriate grade four reading skills prior to the student’s promotion to grade four.

         62.2(7) Assessment measures. Assessments administered to implement this chapter, when taken as a whole, shall measure phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

         62.2(8) Noncompliant assessments. Assessments that do not meet the requirements of this rule shall not be used by any school district to implement this chapter.

[ ARC 1331C , IAB 2/19/14, effective 3/26/14;    ARC 2862C , IAB 12/7/16, effective 1/11/17]