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Governor Fallin Signs Four Education Bills

Governor Mary Fallin signed a slew of education bills on Wednesday, aiming to improve education in the state. Here’s a run-down of four of them.

SENATE BILL 630

Probably the most talked about piece of legislation was Senate Bill 630. This bill deals with the Reading Sufficiency Act and the third grade reading test that students must pass before they can move on to the fourth grade.

Under the RSA, third graders that do poorly on the test can be automatically held back if they don’t meet an exemption.

Senate Bill 630 allows reading teams, comprised of parents and teachers, to evaluate a students’ literacy level, and pass them on to the fourth grade despite a low score on the test.

Governor Fallin vetoed a similar bill last year, saying that reading teams would socially promote children to the fourth grade even though they weren’t ready to move on.

“Children ‘learn to read’ from kindergarten through third grade; in higher grades, they ‘read to learn,’” Fallin said in a press release. “If children are to succeed in fourth grade and beyond, they need to have grade-appropriate reading skills.”

The legislature over rode her veto last year, and the reading teams were in place for just two school years. This bill extends them for another three.

Senate Bill 630 also raises the bar for student literacy. Previously, if students scored “Unsatisfactory” on the test—the lowest of four scores—then they were at risk of automatic retention. Now, if they score “Unsatisfactory” or “Limited Knowledge” they could possibly be held back, and will have to be evaluated by a reading team.

The four scores are Unsatisfactory, Limited Knowledge, Proficient, and Advanced.

SENATE BILL 711

This bill aims to improve student safety. Senate Bill 711 requires the superintendent of a school district to inform the State Board of Education when a teacher is dismissed or resigns because of accusations that are sexual in nature.

SENATE BILL 706

Senate Bill 706 modifies the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Evaluation System, also known as the TLE. The bill made several modifications to the way teachers are evaluated, placing less emphasis on student’s test scores. The new evaluation system will be implemented in the 2017-2018 school year.

HOUSE BILL 1823

This bill requires the State Board of Education to study the controversial evaluation system that rates school performance. Many school administrators have called the A-F School Report Card misleading and inaccurate. The SBE will look for ways to improve the evaluation system, and will make recommendations to the legislature next year.

Emily Wendler was KOSU's education reporter from 2015 to 2019.
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