AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Utah's early literacy bill would build a statewide framework aimed at getting 80% of third graders reading at grade level by 2030, requiring schools to administer benchmark reading assessments to students from kindergarten through third grade three times a year and, for students scoring below grade level, to create an individualized reading plan within 45 days that lays out specific, science-of-reading-based interventions developed by a "literacy team" of parents, teachers, and school staff. Starting with the 2029-2030 school year, third graders who still score below benchmark at year's end would be retained unless a specific exemption applies, such as being a recent English learner, having an IEP that makes the assessment inappropriate, or demonstrating proficiency through an approved alternative method; schools would also need to steer at least half of certain Teacher and Student Success Program funding toward literacy interventions if their third graders fall below the statewide goal. The bill would ban the "three-cueing" reading method — which teaches students to guess words from context or pictures rather than sounding them out — from school curricula except in specific special education cases, and would require teachers and principals in early grades to receive science-of-reading training and be evaluated on their literacy instruction. It would also direct state funding toward regional literacy coaching and training (with a base amount of at least $75,000 per regional education service agency or eligible school district), at least $15 million for classroom paraprofessionals who support literacy, and $1 million for charter schools, while directing Utah State University's Center for the School of the Future and the Utah Board of Higher Education to develop a plan improving how well new teacher graduates understand and can apply the science of reading.