The proposed bill will eliminate key statutory language with respect to evidence-based reading instruction. The language serves as a bedrock of evidence-based best practices in effective foundational reading instruction and should not be removed from California education law. SB 614 also proposes to eliminate the only state-level standardized, validated and reliable test of foundational reading skills that new teachers are required to take for State licensure purposes.
The bill will allow teacher credentialing candidates to gain licensure without ensuring they have basic knowledge of reading instruction and it eliminates current foundational reading instruction content specifications used by teacher preparation programs in determining coursework and in setting course syllabi. By moving away from a State level individual testing requirement of foundational reading instructional skills, the State will lose its ability to maintain sufficient oversight over the teacher credentialing process and teacher preparation programs, as the State will no longer have access to valid, reliable, and comparable outcomes data.
Learning Rights submitted a letter to State Assembly Committee on Education Chair Patrick O'Donnell. You can read that letter here.