For School Board Members

We welcome the opportunity to partner with you to find answers. Please reach out to us if you have questions that your district teachers or parents have brought to you that you would like some clarification on.

The READ Act is likely a heavy lift for your district right now due to the cost of professional development, training, a literacy coach, and the cost of materials and implementation. These upfront costs are significant, until you compare them to the cost of getting it wrong. Districts state-wide are concerned about their general fund, the rising costs of special education, and the limited improvement that keeps students in intervention and special education throughout their K-12 experience. These costs can and should be mitigated through the proper implementation of the READ Act.

Identifying Impacted Students
­­­These students are the students marked as “does not meet” or “partially meets” in assessments and often enter programs like Reading Corps, Title 1, or Basic Skills at an early age. They may show signs of needing intervention or they may just be on the cusp. Unfortunately, many are mischaracterized as disengaged or unmotivated, leading to a cycle of inadequate support and resource strain, often resulting in further decline.

Costs of Improper Remediation
When struggling students fall behind in the general classroom, they increasingly rely on district resources moving through interventionists, SST, and MTSS. When all of those services fail, it is due to a lack of knowledge in the Science of Reading and a student moves to more expensive supports due to parents asking for IEP evaluations. According to MDE the cost to the school for an evaluation for an IEP in 2020 was $1,200-$2,500. This is before the child qualifies for SPED. If the child qualifies, (SLD makes up 32% of our SPED population) MDE says the average cost for services in 2022 was $11,651 per year. A child who is in SPED at the end of 4th grade is not likely to exit the program before graduation making this a continuing cost. Additionally, there are costs associated with addressing potential mental health and behavioral issues arising from insufficient early intervention. Implementing a good structured-literacy curriculum with teachers that understand how to teach it, reduces referrals to Title 1, basic skills, and special ed. Curriculum based on the science of reading is vital for children with dyslexia and a better way to teach ALL kids how to read. Take the time now to get it right!

Savings from Appropriate Remediation​
Imagine a one size fits all approach to reading that addresses the needs of your highest learners and your struggling readers at the same time in the general education classroom and is supported by both evidence and research. It is a financial investment in your staff! In return, districts get a properly trained teaching staff that can accomplish in a general education setting what is currently being done by interventionist, freeing up interventionists for students who truly need them. Trained staff will be able to catch students who are struggling early, identify their struggles, and help them before intervention is needed. Early intervention reduces the likelihood that a student will need further interventions. You will also see a reduction in classroom supports due to reduced behavior incidents caused from frustration, and a reduction in the need for SST and use of MTSS. This will help districts can keep staffing costs at appropriate levels, prevent staff from being forced to service more students than time allows, and staff will be able to give appropriate individualized interventions to the students with the most need to help them successfully exit the intervention. Districts should not be servicing over 20% of their students in interventions and special education. This means their curriculum is simply not working!

Costs at a Glance­­­

Cost to Schools​

Pay for Interventionists, Title 1, Basic Skills, Special Education, and Paraprofessionals:

  • These are a yearly expense that is incurred by the district.
  • Classroom costs to accommodate the overwhelming numbers of students requiring supports and interventions. SLD makes up 32% of our SPED population.
  • These costs are expected to be reduced once The READ Act is fully implemented due to less need.

IEP Evaluations:

  • Costs $1,000-$2,500 per student (This includes testing materials and staff time to administer and finalize report per MDE).
  • This is the cost of each evaluation of a student. Parents may ask for an IEE (additional cost) if they believe the district’s evaluation failed to identify their child under FAPE.
  • A reduction in IEP referrals is expected as a result of early interventions for students who would fall under the category of SLD.

504 Evaluations:

  • Requires staff time to write and evaluate.
  • It is expected that these would be reduced with early intervention.
  • In-class room supports and Interventions.

Compounding costs:

  • 32% of our Special Education population is SLD.
  • Students categorized under SLD in special education have less than a 20% chance of exiting Special Education after 4th
  • That continuation of support comes at a cost of approx. $11,651 per year (MDE 2022).

Potential Student Loss:

  • The average Per Pupil Funding from the State of MN is $14,000.
  • The ability to school shop through Open Enrollment, means parents can look for districts that are doing it well and move their student, often moving siblings as well.
  • Districts face an even larger loss if the student is a special education student as they no longer control the special education costs that will be billed to them.
  • While a district’s primary goal is to do right by the student, it is also important to keep in mind the financial impacts of not getting this right.

Cost to Families​

Outside Evaluations:

  • Neuropsychological evaluations take 3-6 hours at a clinic, and they are booked months out. A parent may have to take 1-2 days off of work to attend.
  • Cost to the family is $2500 – $5000 per child, making diagnosis impossible for some families due to cost.

Extra Support:

  • Specialized Orton Gillingham style tutoring outside of school cost $60-$125/hour. It is recommended students receive this at least 2x/week.
  • Mental health support. Anxiety and depression are often co-morbid for these kids who are intelligent and yet can’t learn like the other students.

See MDE’s website for the most current timelines: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/READ/

As defined by Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 120B.124, of the Minnesota READ Act:
  • A district or charter school is not required to use an approved curriculum.
  • A district or charter school must use evidence-based curriculum and intervention materials at each grade level that are designed to ensure student mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Starting July 1, 2023, when a district or charter school purchases new literacy curriculum, or literacy intervention or supplementary materials, the curriculum or materials must be evidence-based as defined in Minnesota Statute 2023, section 120B.1118; subd. 4.
    • Evidence-based means “the instruction or item described is based on reliable, trustworthy, and valid evidence and has demonstrated a record of success in increasing students’ reading competency in the areas of phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading comprehension.”
    • Evidence-based literacy instruction is “explicit, systematic, and culturally responsive. It includes phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, comprehension that can be differentiated to meet the needs of individual students. Evidence-based instruction does not include the three-cueing system.”
    • “Three-cueing system, ‘also known as meaning structure visual (MSV),’ means a method that teaches students to use meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues when attempting to read an unknown word.”
    • Structured literacy means “an approach to reading instruction in which teachers carefully structure important literacy skills, concepts, and the sequence of instruction to facilitate children’s literacy learning and progress. Structured literacy is characterized by the provision of systematic, explicit, sequential, and diagnostic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and oral language development, and reading comprehension.”

From MN Dept. of Education’s website.

Read Act 2.0 summary

  1. Screening Frequency: Screening for students K-3 increased from twice a year to three times a year: “(1) within the first six weeks of the school year; (2) by February 15 each year; and (3) within the last six weeks of the school year.”
  2. Reallocation of $35 million from 2023 READ Act Funds: Curriculum funding, previously $35 million, has been reallocated to literacy incentive aid for districts to use to support implementation of evidence-based reading instruction. The eligible uses are:
    “(1) training for kindergarten through grade 3 teachers, early childhood educators, special education teachers, reading intervention teachers working with students in kindergarten through grade 12, curriculum directors, and instructional support staff that provide reading instruction, on using evidence-based screening and progress monitoring tools;
    (2) evidence-based training using a training program approved by the Department of Education under the Read Act;
    (3) employing or contracting with a literacy lead, as defined in section 120B.119;
    (4) approved screeners, materials, training, and ongoing coaching to ensure reading interventions under section 125A.56, subdivision 1, are evidence-based;
  3. Paraprofessional and Volunteer Training: Starting in the 2026-27 school year, in order to provide Tier 2 literacy intervention, a paraprofessional or other unlicensed person (including a volunteer), must be supervised by a licensed teacher who has completed training in evidence-based reading instruction approved by MDE, and has completed evidence-based training developed under the READ Act by Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) or the regional literacy networks….or a training that the department has determined meets or exceeds the requirements.
  4. Interventions: MDE and CAREI must publish a list of 15 recommended evidence-based interventions by November 1, 2025. Starting in the 2025-26 school year, a district must use evidence-based literacy interventions. Districts are strongly encouraged to use intervention materials approved by MDE under the READ Act.
  5. Reporting Requirements: MDE is mandated to report back to the legislature twice on their observations and findings.
  6. Training Timeline Extension: Teachers in phase 1 of training, their deadline has been extended from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026. No change to training deadlines for teachers in phase 2.
  7. School Year Reduction: Schools are allowed to reduce the school year by one day for students (5 hours) to accommodate additional professional development focused on literacy.
  8. PELSB Audit: An audit of the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) is mandated to evaluate how approved teacher training programs meet subject matter standards for reading.
  9. Culturally Responsive Contractor: $1 million in new funding allocated to MDE to hire a contractor for guidance on curriculum cultural responsiveness.
  10. Regional Literacy Networks: Funding allocated to regional literacy networks and CAREI to develop training for volunteer tier 2 interventions.
  11. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Support: A working group for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing community is included in the READ Act, receiving a one-time appropriation of $100,000 in new funding.