(a)(1) Starting no later than December 1, 2022, OSSE shall convene a task force of District government agency representatives, which shall be known as the Early Literacy Education Task Force ("task force"). The task force shall include representatives from the following District government agencies:
(A) OSSE;
(B) DCPS;
(C) Public Charter School Board;
(D) State Board of Education; and
(E) Deputy Mayor for Education.
(2) The Chairman of the Council shall appoint a Council representative to the task force.
(b)(1) The task force shall submit an early literacy education report to the Mayor and Council by September 30, 2023.
(2) The report shall identify implementable steps to accomplish the following in 4 years:
(A) Provide all public elementary school general education teachers, special education teachers, ELL teachers, and librarians, at least 45 hours of structured literacy training over 2 years;
(B) Provide ELL teachers serving public elementary school students the option to receive bilingual structured literacy training;
(C) Provide all public elementary school administrators, instructional coaches, and EPP faculty responsible for evaluating or providing instructional support to general education teachers, with structured literacy training, including the option to receive specialized administrator structured literacy training;
(D) Establish a mechanism for tracking public elementary school teacher and school leader completion of 45 hours of structured literacy training;
(E) Ensure all public elementary school instructional staff have access to and use culturally responsive, high-quality instructional materials reviewed by an expert review organization to ensure alignment with District of Columbia Common Core State English and Language Arts standards; and
(F) Provide all public elementary school teachers access to on-the-job support from an expert in structured literacy training.
(3) The report shall further:
(A) Identify one literacy training program vendor to provide training to all trainees or provide justification of why more than one vendor is needed and how the structured literacy training provided by multiple vendors complement one another; and
(B) Recommend whether it is advisable to provide pre-kindergarten educators and educators serving DCPS and public charter school students above grade 5 with structured literacy training in future years.
(c) The task force shall meet every 6 weeks until it submits the report required pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(d) The task force shall not be considered a public body for purposes of subchapter IV of Chapter 5 of Title 2.
(Sept. 21, 2022, D.C. Law 24-167, § 4114, 69 DCR 009223.)
For temporary (90 days) creation of this section, see § 4114 of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-470, July 13, 2022, 69 DCR 008707).