Florida Department of Education • K-12 Schools • Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services

Q & A

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Rigorous Reading Requirement for Students with Disabilities

Elementary

1.

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Do

all

elementary students with disabilities scoring level 1 or level 2 on the

minutes of reading instruction daily?

Yes. Through the K-12 Comprehensive Research-Based Reading Plan,

all

students

in grades K-5 are required to receive 90 minutes of daily, uninterrupted,

scientifically based reading instruction. This requirement also includes students

who are exempted from the FCAT. However, for students who have significant

cognitive impairments, the individual educational plan (IEP) team may determine

that other instruction, such as language acquisition or other pre reading skills, is

more appropriate for the student during the 90-minute reading block. All students

must be provided with remedial or supplemental instruction until the student reads

on grade level.

2.

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Can an IEP team make the decision to decrease the 90-minute reading

requirement in elementary school for a student with disabilities?

No. All students in grades K-5 are required to receive 90 minutes of daily,

uninterrupted, scientifically based reading instruction. However, for students who

have significant cognitive impairments, the IEP team may determine that the 90-

minute reading block be broken into two or three smaller increments throughout

the day.

3.

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Can the 90-minute uninterrupted reading block in elementary school be divided

between settings (i.e., a general education setting and an ESE resource setting)?

No. At this time, the uninterrupted reading block must take place in the same

setting throughout the entire 90 minutes. Schools are encouraged to include all

students in the general education setting for the 90-minute reading block. An ESE

teacher or a speech/language pathologist (SLP) may provide services in accordance

with the IEP in the general education setting during the reading block. The ESE

teacher or the SLP is not required to remain in the general education setting for the

entire 90-minute reading block. An IEP team may determine that a student should

receive the entire 90-minute reading block in an ESE setting. Students may also

receive the 90-minute reading block in the general education setting and receive

additional instructional time in the ESE setting.

4.

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Are ESE teachers considered highly qualified to teach reading in the elementary

grades if they do not have the reading endorsement or reading certification?

It has been determined that a teacher who has certification in an appropriate

Exceptional Student Education (K-12) area to match the ESE table in the Course

Code Directory and is teaching reading to ESE students in grades K-6 is not

required to have the reading endorsement or reading certification. This includes

sixth grade in an elementary or middle school. Additional information relating to

the required certification for teaching reading to exceptional education students was

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Florida Department of Education • K-12 Schools • Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services

provided in a memorandum dated June 15, 2004, and may be viewed at

http://info.fldoe.org/dscgi/ds.py/Get/File-2132/04-129.pdf.

Middle and High School

5.

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Are ESE teachers who teach reading in grades 7-12 required to have the reading

endorsement or reading certification?

Yes. In order to be considered highly qualified, they must earn a reading

endorsement or reading certification by June 30, 2006. According to the course

code directory, it is required for the following ESE courses: #7810020, #7910100,

# 7910400.

6.

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How many minutes of intensive reading instruction are required for students in

grades 6-12?

The number of minutes of reading instruction in middle and high schools may vary

according to the district’s K-12 comprehensive reading plan and course schedules,

such as traditional or block scheduling.

7.

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Can an IEP team make the decision to decrease the reading requirement in

middle and high school for students with disabilities?

No. The amount of time students are scheduled into a reading class must be

congruent with the K-12 Comprehensive Reading Plan. The IEP team may

determine that the student's functioning level is not appropriate for the intensive

reading course, or that other instruction is more essential for the student. The IEP

team may determine that other instruction, such as language acquisition or applied

functional reading in a community, vocational, or work setting, is more appropriate

for the student. This instruction may occur in an ESE reading course per the course

code directory (#7810020, #7910100, #7910400) or could be addressed in another

ESE course.

All students must be provided with remedial or supplemental instruction until the

expectations are met; the student graduates from high school, or is no longer

subject to compulsory school attendance and has chosen to withdraw from school.

[Section 1008.25 (4)(c), Florida Statutes]

8.

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Can an IEP team make the decision to waive the requirement for an intensive

elective?

No. The district K-12 comprehensive reading plan applies. Students with

disabilities scoring level 1 or level 2 on the FCAT reading portion (or working

below grade level if FCAT scores are unavailable) are required to receive intensive

reading instruction. Within the confines of the district K-12 comprehensive reading

plan, flexibility is allowable for secondary students scoring level 2 in that they may

receive the reading instruction in a content area class with a teacher who is either

reading endorsed or currently working toward the reading endorsement. All

students must be provided with remedial or supplemental instruction until the

expectations are met, the student graduates from high school, or is no longer

subject to compulsory school attendance and has chosen to withdraw from school.

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Florida Department of Education • K-12 Schools • Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services

[Section 1008.25 (4)(c), Florida Statutes] For further information about scheduling

for middle and high school students, refer to the memorandum dated October 28,

2005, regarding K-12 comprehensive reading plans and intensive courses at

http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3350/crpmemo.pdf.

9.

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Can the personalized middle school success plan (PMSSP) be a separate

document from the IEP?

According to Florida Statutes Section 1003.415 (7) (c), the PMSSP must be

incorporated into

any

individual student plan required by federal or state law,

including:

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the academic improvement plan (AIP) required in Section 1008.25,

Florida Statutes,

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an IEP for a student with disabilities,

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a federal 504 plan, or

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an ESOL plan

If districts choose to keep the AIP separate from the IEP, they may choose to

incorporate the PMSSP into the AIP thereby avoiding IDEA compliance

requirements that will apply to PMSSP components if included in the IEP.

If districts choose to incorporate both the AIP and PMSSP components into the

IEP, they are advised to review their policy for content to ensure that the

components can be appropriately included in the student's IEP. For example, the

IEP typically does not include the name of a specific instructional program, but

may identify the type of instruction needed for the student, i.e., instruction in

decoding unfamiliar vocabulary words.

Further clarification on the requirements of the middle grades reform act, including

implementation guidelines for the PMSSP, can be found in technical assistance

paper (TAP) #FY 2005-04. This TAP can be found online at

http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2457/05-042tap.pdf. An

additional TAP to provide further information about the components of a quality

PMSSP is currently under development by the department.

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