New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI, Issue 13 / July
14, 2020
TITLE 6 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
CHAPTER 30 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS - GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
PART 17 STRUCTURED LITERACY INSTRUCTION, INTERVENTIONS, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
6.30.17.1 ISSUING AGENCY: Public Education Department, hereinafter the
department.
[6.30.17.1 NMAC
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6.30.17.2 SCOPE:
This rule applies to all school districts and state-chartered charter
schools.
[6.30.17.2 NMAC
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6.30.17.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Sections 9-24-8, 22-2-2, and 22-13-32 NMSA
1978.
[6.30.17.3 NMAC
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6.30.17.4 DURATION:
Permanent.
[6.30.17.4 NMAC
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6.30.17.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: July 14, 2020, unless a later date is cited
at the end of a section.
[6.30.17.5 NMAC
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6.30.17.6 OBJECTIVE: This rule provides criteria for improving
literacy outcomes for all students through the development and implementation
of structured literacy instruction and structured literacy interventions for
students displaying difficulties in reading or
characteristics of dyslexia, leading to a higher number of students achieving
reading proficiency.
[6.30.17.6 NMAC
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6.30.17.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Department-approved screener” means a tool,
approved by the department, used to identify
characteristics of dyslexia.
B. “First standardized reporting date” means the 40th
day count, or the second Wednesday of October.
C. “Licensed and accredited or credentialed teacher
preparation provider” means a licensed
and accredited professional development provider who specializes in providing
evidence-based training in structured literacy.
D. “Multi-layered system of supports” means a coordinated and comprehensive
framework that uses increasingly intensive
evidence-based academic and behavioral supports that address student needs as
evidenced by student data.
E. “Student assistance team” or “SAT” means the student
assistance team, which is a school-based group of people whose purpose is to provide additional educational support to students
who are experiencing difficulties that are preventing them from benefiting from
general education.
F. “Structured literacy” means
systematic, cumulative, explicit, diagnostic, and multisensory instruction that includes deep content knowledge and specific
teaching expertise that focuses on the elements of phonological awareness, word
recognition, phonics and decoding, spelling, and syntax at the sentence and
paragraph levels for the prevention of reading
deficits.
[6.30.17.7 NMAC
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6.30.17.8 PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN NOTIFICATION: At the beginning of a school year, school
districts and charter schools shall notify parents or legal guardians that
entering first grade students shall be screened for
characteristics of dyslexia. If a
student is determined to display characteristics of dyslexia per the
department-approved screener, school districts and charter schools shall notify
parents of the results of the screening and the structured literacy interventions that are taking place in response to
the results. School districts and
charter schools shall decide the method by which to inform parents or legal
guardians of the results and interventions.
[6.30.17.8 NMAC
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6.30.17.9 REQUIREMENTS FOR SCREENING, EVALUATION, AND INTERVENTION:
A. Using a department-approved screener, elementary schools
shall screen all entering first grade students, in accordance with PED
guidance, for dyslexia by the first standardized reporting date.
B. A student whose screening demonstrates characteristics of
dyslexia shall receive targeted structured literacy interventions with progress
monitoring to determine if the student is making adequate progress, pursuant to
22-13-32 NMSA 1978, or be referred to a student
assistance team.
C. Consideration
shall be given to ensure the student is not demonstrating characteristics of
dyslexia solely due to a lack of appropriate English language program or
services.
D. Pursuant to 22-13-32 NMSA 1978, if a student does not make adequate progress with targeted structured
literacy interventions, a school shall convene a student assistance team to
prescribe more frequent and intensive structured literacy interventions with
progress monitoring to determine the student's level
of progress. The structured literacy
interventions prescribed by the student assistance team shall be in accordance
with the department’s multi-layered system of supports.
E. At no time
should a student identified as demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia stop receiving targeted structured literacy
interventions.
F. Pursuant to 22-13-32 NMSA 1978, a parent or legal guardian
of a student referred to a student assistance team shall be informed of the
parent's right to request an initial special education
evaluation at any time. If the school
district or charter school agrees that the student may have a disability, the
student assistance team shall refer the child for an evaluation without undue
delay, and, shall document attempts at obtaining informed
consent from the student’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s). The student shall be evaluated within 60 days
of receiving the parental consent for an initial evaluation. If the school district or charter school
refuses the parent's request for an initial
evaluation, the school district or charter school shall provide written notice
of the refusal to the parent, including notice of the parent's right to
challenge the school district's or charter school's decision as provided in
state and federal law and rules.
[6.30.17.9 NMAC
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6.30.17.10 REQUIREMENTS FOR DOCUMENTATION: School districts and charter schools shall
submit data in accordance with PED guidance.
[6.30.17.10 NMAC
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6.30.17.11 REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
A. Pursuant to 22-13-32 NMSA 1978, every school district and
charter school shall develop and implement a literacy professional development
plan that includes a detailed framework for the following:
(1) professional development in structured literacy by a licensed and accredited or credentialed teacher
preparation provider for all elementary school teachers, including
English language development teachers or teachers of English as a
second language; and
(2) professional development in evidence-based reading interventions for reading interventionists and
special education teachers working with students demonstrating characteristics
of dyslexia or diagnosed with dyslexia.
B. Every school district and charter school shall provide
sustained professional development for the following:
(1) school administrators and teachers who teach reading to
implement appropriate structured literacy; and
(2) special education teachers to
provide structured literacy for students who are identified with dyslexia as a
specific learning disability and who are eligible for special education
services.
C. The department shall:
(1) provide lists of recommended teacher professional development materials and opportunities for
teachers and school administrators regarding structured literacy for students
at risk for reading failure and displaying the characteristics of dyslexia; and
(2) provide technical assistance for special education diagnosticians and other special education
professionals regarding the formal special education evaluation of students
suspected of having a specific learning disability, such as dyslexia.
[6.30.17.11 NMAC
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HISTORY OF 6.30.17 NMAC:
[RESERVED]