The Read to Succeed Office must guide and support districts and collaborate with university teacher training programs to increase reading proficiency through the following functions, including, but not limited to:
(1) providing professional development to teachers, school principals, and other administrative staff on reading and writing instruction and reading assessment that informs instruction;
(2) providing professional development to teachers, school principals, and other administrative staff on reading and writing in content areas;
(3) working collaboratively with institutions of higher learning offering courses in reading and writing and those institutions of higher education offering accredited master's degrees in reading-literacy to design coursework leading to a literacy teacher add-on endorsement by the State;
(4) providing professional development in reading and coaching for already certified reading/literacy coaches and literacy teachers;
(5) developing information and resources that school districts can use to provide workshops for parents about how they can support their children as readers and writers;
(6) assisting school districts in the development and implementation of their district reading proficiency plans for research-based reading instruction programs and assisting each of their schools to develop its own implementation plan aligned with the district and state plans;
(7) annually designing content and questions for and review and approve the reading proficiency plan of each district;
(8) monitor and report to the State Board of Education the yearly success rate of summer reading camps. Districts must provide statistical data to include the:
(a) number of students enrolled in camps;
(b) number of students by grade level who successfully complete the camps;
(c) number of third-graders promoted to fourth grade;
(d) number of third-graders retained; and
(e) total expenditure made on operating the camps by source of funds to include in-kind donations; and
(9) provide an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the implementation of the South Carolina Read to Succeed Act and the State and the district's progress toward ensuring that at least ninety-five percent of all students are reading at grade level.
HISTORY: 2014 Act No. 284 (S.516), Section 1, eff June 11, 2014.