Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas A Bill
2 95th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 206
4
5 By: Senator Crowell
6 By: Representative R. Burkes
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND THE RIGHT TO READ ACT; TO AMEND THE
10 AMOUNT OF THE LITERACY TUTORING GRANT AWARDED UNDER
11 THE RIGHT TO READ ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
12
13
14 Subtitle
15 TO AMEND THE RIGHT TO READ ACT; AND TO
16 AMEND THE AMOUNT OF THE LITERACY
17 TUTORING GRANT AWARDED UNDER THE RIGHT
18 TO READ ACT.
19
20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
21
22 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(b) and (c), concerning
23 requirements for certain individuals to have proficient knowledge and skills
24 to teach reading and obtain certain professional development under the Right
25 to Read Act, are amended to read as follows:
26 (b)(1)(A) No later than 2023, the The following shall have proficient
27 knowledge and skills to teach reading consistent with the best practices of
28 scientific reading instruction:
29 (i) A person who completes a state-approved educator
30 preparation program; and
31 (ii) A person seeking teacher licensure by
32 reciprocity or by adding an endorsement.
33 (B) No later than 2023, a A person who completes a state-
34 approved educator preparation program other than a teacher of elementary
35 education program shall demonstrate an awareness of the best practices of
36 scientific reading instruction.
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1 (2) Beginning no later than the 2022-2023 school year, each Each
2 state-approved educator preparation program shall post on its website
3 information describing its program to prepare teachers to teach reading using
4 scientific reading instruction aligned with but not limited to the content
5 measured by the stand-alone reading assessment adopted by the State Board of
6 Education under � 6-17-402.
7 (c)(1) Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, a Each public school
8 district and an open-enrollment public charter school shall provide the
9 following professional development in scientific reading instruction:
10 (A) For teachers licensed at the elementary level in
11 kindergarten through grade six (K-6), teachers with a special education
12 license in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12), and teachers licensed as
13 reading specialists in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12), professional
14 development for one (1) of the prescribed pathways to obtaining a proficiency
15 credential in knowledge and practices in scientific reading instruction; and
16 (B) For teachers licensed at a level other than the
17 elementary level in kindergarten through grade six (K-6), teachers with a
18 special education license in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12), and
19 teachers licensed as reading specialists in kindergarten through grade twelve
20 (K-12), professional development for one (1) of the prescribed pathways to
21 obtaining an awareness credential in knowledge and practices in scientific
22 reading instruction.
23 (2) Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, a Each public
24 school or open-enrollment public charter school that does not provide the
25 professional development under subdivision (c)(1) of this section shall:
26 (A) Be placed in probationary status; and
27 (B) Provide notice to parents that the public school
28 district has not met the requirements of this section.
29
30 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(d)(2), concerning the requirement
31 for teachers to demonstrate proficiency or awareness in the knowledge and
32 practices of scientific reading instruction under the Right to Read Act, is
33 amended to read as follows:
34 (2) All teachers who begin employment in the 2023-2024 school
35 year and each following school year shall demonstrate proficiency or
36 awareness in knowledge and practices of scientific reading instruction as is
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1 applicable to their teaching position by completing the prescribed
2 proficiency or awareness in knowledge and practices of scientific reading
3 instruction credential either:
4 (A) As a condition of licensure; or
5 (B) Within one (1) year if the teacher is:
6 (i) Already licensed; or
7 (ii) Employed under a waiver from licensure.
8
9 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(f)-(h), concerning resources,
10 curriculum programs, and professional development requirements under the
11 Right to Read Act, are amended to read as follows:
12 (f) By the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, the The division
13 shall identify and create an approved list of materials, resources, and
14 curriculum programs for public school districts and open-enrollment public
15 charter schools that are supported by the science of reading and based on
16 instruction that is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic,
17 including without limitation:
18 (1) Dyslexia programs that are evidence-based and:
19 (A) Aligned to structured literacy; or
20 (B) Grounded in the Orton-Gillingham methodology;
21 (2) Evidence-based reading intervention programs; and
22 (3) Evidence-based reading programs that are grounded in the
23 science of reading.
24 (g)(1) By the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, any A public
25 school district and open-enrollment public charter school purchasing that
26 purchases a curriculum program shall choose a curriculum program from the
27 division's approved list of curriculum programs created under subsection (f)
28 of this section.
29 (2) A public school district or open-enrollment public charter
30 school that chooses to purchase a curriculum program that is not from the
31 division's approved list of curriculum programs shall submit the following to
32 the division for approval of the alternative curriculum program:
33 (A) A rationale for choosing the alternative curriculum
34 program; and
35 (B) Evidence-based research regarding the alternative
36 curriculum program.
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1 (3) By the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, any A public
2 school district or open-enrollment public charter school that is using uses a
3 curriculum program that is not from the division's approved list created
4 under subsection (f) of this section shall notify all parents, legal
5 guardians, and persons standing in loco parentis to students in writing and
6 on the public school district's or open-enrollment public charter school's
7 website.
8 (h) By the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, a Each public
9 school district and an open-enrollment public charter school shall establish
10 a professional development program as required by � 6-15-2914(b)(1)(B) that
11 shall:
12 (1) Include without limitation instruction based on the science
13 of reading; and
14 (2) Be provided on an annual basis after the professional
15 development required under subdivision (c)(1) of this section is complete.
16
17 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(i)(3)(B)(i), concerning
18 notification of a public school district's or an open-enrollment public
19 charter school's violation of requirements under the Right to Read Act, is
20 amended to read as follows:
21 (B)(i) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, if If the
22 state board determines that a public school district or an open-enrollment
23 public charter school has violated subdivision (i)(3)(A) of this section, the
24 state board shall notify the public school district or the open-enrollment
25 public charter school of its violation.
26
27 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(j)(2)(B), concerning the
28 establishment, administration, and amount of a literacy tutoring grant under
29 the Right to Read Act, is amended to read as follows:
30 (B) The literacy tutoring grant created under subdivision
31 (j)(2)(A) of this section shall be in the amount of five hundred dollars
32 ($500) one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per eligible student per
33 year on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to eligible
34 students who are to be retained in grade three (3).
35
36 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code � 6-17-429(j)(2)(C)(vi), concerning
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1 responsibilities of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education to
2 administer and implement the literacy tutoring grant under the Right to Read
3 Act, is amended to read as follows:
4 (vi) Remit payment for services provided, up to a
5 maximum of five hundred dollars ($500) one thousand five hundred dollars
6 ($1,500) per eligible student per school year, which may be used for any of
7 the following purposes designed to improve reading or literacy skills:
8 (a) Online or in-person, high-dosage tutoring
9 services from a list of state-approved providers whose employees are trained
10 in the science of reading and hold:
11 (1) Valid teaching certificates in
12 either elementary education or reading; or
13 (2) Baccalaureate or graduate degrees in
14 education, English, or another subject area indicative of expertise in
15 reading and literacy; or
16 (b) Evidence-based digital literacy
17 applications or software programs from a list of state-approved programs that
18 are in alignment with the science of reading;
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5 02/06/2025 7:44:04 AM TNL105Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.