Dear K-3 Grade Parents,

This letter is to provide you with information on Arizona’s Move On When Reading law and the importance it places on your child’s ability to read at or above grade level. The MOWR law will apply to third graders. Arizona Revised Statute§ 15 - 701 states that if data on the third grade statewide reading assessment is available at the end of the school year and demonstrates that a student scored “falls far below” or the equivalent level on the new AzMerit assessment the student shall not be promoted from the third grade. 

There are three exemptions from ARS §15-701. In accordance with the law, a school district governing board or the governing body of a charter school is allowed to promote a student who earns a score of “falls far below” on the third grade statewide reading assessment only for the three following reasons: 

(i) A third grade student is an English Language Learner or Limited English Proficient who has received less than two years of English instruction; or 

(ii) A third grade student with disabilities has an individualized education plan (IEP), and the IEP-team, which includes the student’s parent/guardian, agrees that promotion is appropriate; or

(iii) A third grade students is in the process of a special education referral or evaluation for placement in special education and/or students that have been diagnosed as having a significant reading impairment, including dyslexia. (Dyslexia is defined as, a brain-based learning difference that impairs a person's ability to read and spell that is independent of intelligence and that typically causes a person to read at levels lower than expected. Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis.)


Amendments to S.B. 1461 can be found at the following website: 
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/52leg/1r/adopted/s.1461edu.pdf