House passes reading and math intervention bill

The Texas House passed HB 123 by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) on May 6. Dutton has filed a bill in the past few sessions to ensure students are supported early in their educational journeys and have a solid foundation in reading. This session, he also included early numeracy skills in his bill. 

In committee and on the House floor, Dutton said, "First, children learn to read, then they read to learn." He elaborated, saying that when children do not make it past the first part, the rest of their education fails because they never learned how to acquire information. 

One of the main provisions of the bill is a requirement that K-3 students take short, diagnostic assessments to determine their reading and math abilities. Dutton explained that since STAAR testing begins in third grade, teachers and parents do not know if their child is significantly behind until it is too late for early intervention, and earlier diagnosis would pay dividends in getting students back on track.

HB 123 would also require K-3 teachers to complete reading and math academies. The rollout of reading academies was plagued with logistical failures and unrealistic expectations of teachers to use their own time to finish the program, but Dutton assured his colleagues that lessons learned from the last iteration would be well-heeded this time. Math academies exist today, but participation is low since they are not required; according to policymakers, they would be much less involved than reading academies and would only be a few days' work. Teachers would also be compensated for time spent outside of contract hours.

Originally, the bill required K-8 teachers to participate in the academies, but a TCTA-initiated amendment pared that down to K-3, matching the intent of the bill to focus on student intervention before STAAR testing begins. 

Finally, the bill would require students who are deficient in K-3 reading or math to receive tutoring services. 

HB 123 will now head to the Senate K-16 Education Committee for a hearing. With only a few weeks left in the session, the bill must clear a few more hurdles to make it to the governor's desk.