Read to succeed

Act 284, Read to Succeed legislation, was created in 2015 to address literacy performance in South Carolina and put in place a comprehensive system of support to ensure SC students graduate on time with the literacy skills they need to be successful in college, careers and citizenship. Act 284 provides for a strong assessment and intervention system for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade with a goal of all students becoming proficient readers by the end of third grade.

Components of Act 284

State, District and School Reading Plans

Third Grade Retention

Summer Reading Camps

Interventions

Literacy Competencies and Endorsements

Early Learning and Literacy (Child Early Reading Development and Education Program, CERDEP)

Teacher Preparation

Reading Coaches

LETRS/ The Science of Reading

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is partnering with Lexia to offer eligible educators access to Lexia’s LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) suite of professional learning programs. LETRS teaches the skills needed to master the foundational and fundamentals of reading and writing instruction – phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and written language.

Reading Coach

The Reading Coach/Literacy Coach will assist teachers in ensuring that all teachers are teachers of reading and implement effective literacy strategies. Coaches will work with all teachers (content teachers and elective areas) in the school he or she serves, prioritizing time for those teachers, activities, and roles that will have the greatest impact on student achievement, namely coaching and mentoring in classrooms.

Summer Reading Camp (SRC)

Act 284 (Read to Succeed Act) requires districts offer SRC for third grade students significantly behind grade level in reading.

  • Successful completion of SRC is one Good Cause Exemption available to third grade students to avoid mandatory retention.
  • Districts may also invite students from other grade levels to participate in SRC.

Third Grade Retention

Act 284 (Read to Succeed) requires that a student must be retained in the third grade if the student fails to demonstrate reading proficiency at the end of third grade as indicated by scoring at the lowest achievement level on the state summative reading assessment SC READY.

A student may be exempt for good cause from the mandatory retention but shall continue to receive instructional support and services and reading intervention appropriate for their age and reading level.

All resources can be found at this link. Click the links below for more information. 

Act 284 (Read to Succeed)

Summer Reading Camp

SRC FAQs

School Reading Plans

The Read to Succeed legislation (Act 284) requires that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) with the approval of the State Board of Education develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously refine a comprehensive state plan for prekindergarten through grade twelve to improve reading achievement.

The South Carolina State Reading Plan  has been developed to guide the support of the State Department of Education for districts and schools. The South Carolina State Reading Plan  also provides guidance to district and school plans as they work to support the reading and writing development of their students with research-based, outcomes-oriented strategies. 

The South Carolina State Reading Plan was approved by the South Carolina State Board of Education on June 10, 2015.

All schools should submit their reading plans via the reflection tool links below.

Please note: The format for the reading plans remains overall the same as the prior year, with the addition of new questions required by budget provisos asking schools to reflect on their plans for literacy instruction, intervention, and curriculum. Please only use the updated Formstack and Word links below, as prior year documents do not include the new information.

Summer Reading Camp Grant

The purpose of the Summer Reading Camp (SRC) Community Partnership Grant (CPG) is to provide students who are significantly below grade-level reading proficiency with the opportunity to receive quality, intensive instructional services, and support.

Eligible applicants are South Carolina community partnerships made up of community organizations and local school districts that are collaborating to provide SRCs and instructional support to struggling readers in elementary schools with a poverty index of 40 percent or greater.

Teacher Preparation

To support the literacy needs of students, the Read to Succeed (R2S) Act seeks to strengthen pre-service and in-service programs that prepare educators in the teaching of reading.

CONTACT

Callison MAdsen

Coordinator of State Programs
(803) 543-1273
[email protected]