Section 15H.7. Iowa reading corps.

  1.  a.  The Iowa commission on volunteer service, in collaboration with the department of education, may establish an Iowa reading corps program to provide Iowa reading corps Americorps members with a data-based, problem-solving model of literacy instruction to use in tutoring students from prekindergarten to third grade who are not proficient in reading or who are at risk of becoming not proficient in reading.

  b.  The program shall use models of early literacy instruction reviewed and approved by the department of education pursuant to section 256.9, subsection 53, paragraph “c”.

  c.  The commission and the department of education shall grant Americorps programs that are operating an early literacy intervention program within a single school district on April 14, 2015, that seek to be included in the Iowa reading corps program adequate time to make adjustments to align the currently operating program with commission and department goals and strategies for the Iowa reading corps program.

  2.  a.  The models of literacy instruction utilized by Iowa reading corps Americorps members shall align with literacy program goals and strategies developed by the state department of education, the local school district, and the Iowa reading research center.

  b.  The commission, in collaboration with the department of education, may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement and administer this section.

  3.  The commission may use moneys in and lawfully available to the community programs account created in section 15H.5 to fund the program.

  4.  The commission shall submit an annual report to the general assembly and the state department of education that records and evaluates program data to determine the efficacy of the program.

2015 Acts, ch 34, §2

NEW section