Reading Academies

For further clarification, please visit TEA'S HB3 Reading Academy site.

1. Who is required to take House Bill 3 (HB 3) Reading Academies? All K-3 teachers, including special education teachers, and principals are required to attend the HB 3 Reading Academies by the 2022-2023 school year. Districts (LEAs) continue to have authority to exempt art, health education, music, physical education, speech communication and theatre arts, or theatre teachers.

Both state and local requirements identify individuals who must complete Texas Reading Academies. Districts and charter school have the authority to require additional staff to take the Reading Academies.

Required by HB3

• K-3 general education classroom teachers
• K-3 special education classroom teachers
• Principals who have K-3 classrooms on their campus

General rule of thumb - "teacher of record"

*Strongly Encouraged*

• Assistant Principals
• Reading Interventionists
• Literacy Coaches
• Dyslexia Teachers
• Speech Pathologists
• Librarians
• Full-time employees who tutor students in ELAR/SLAR
• 4th and 5th grade teachers (all content areas)
• District ELAR Coordinators

Local District Decision

• Pull out GT teachers
• Part-time tutors
• *Math interventionists
• Hourly interventionists
• *STEM teachers
• Pull out TVI teachers
• Superintendents
• *Health, Art, PE, and Theatre teachers

*Participation would be rare

2. Do charter school teachers and principals have to complete the Texas Reading Academies? Yes.

3. Do K-3 teachers who only offer instruction in math and/or science need to complete the Texas Reading Academies? Yes. K-3 math and science teachers who are teachers of record must complete Reading Academies because literacy plays an important role in math and science instruction, and all K-3 teachers will benefit from the information learned in the Texas Reading Academies. For example, word problems are very common in math. If a child is unable to decode or comprehend the word problem, they will not be able to solve it. In science, children rely heavily on building their vocabulary and comprehension skills to be able to understand the content. In addition to that, many K-3 math or science teachers also provide tutoring and intervention support. Those teachers must understand the science of teaching reading to effectively support learner needs, especially those with reading difficulties. To make the Texas Reading Academies more relevant for these teachers, we have included cross-curricular connections throughout the modules and explicitly discuss how literacy is embedded in math, science, and social studies. An application is available for districts that wish to request a waiver for reading academies for mathematics teachers. Districts will need to provide basic information in the application, a screenshot showing the teacher's STR certification, and an assurance that the teacher will only teach mathematics in the 2024-25 school year. 

4. How will teachers new to the profession or specific grade level be trained? Will districts not be allowed to hire a new teacher for K-3 prior to enrolling in the Texas Reading Academies? Each classroom teacher initially employed to teach kindergarten, first, second, or third grade and each principal at a campus with kindergarten, first, second, or third grade for the 2022-2023 school year or beyond must attend the Texas Reading Academies by the end of their first year of placement in that grade level or campus [TEC, §28.0062(2)(B)].

5. Will attending the Reading Academy be required to keep existing certifications? What about school and district staff who hold teacher certifications but are not currently classroom teachers? Texas Reading Academies are required for K-3 teachers and principals. While it is recommended that other school and district staff attend to understand the content and better support K-3 teachers, it is not a requirement to keep existing certifications.

6. If a teacher has attended previous versions of the Reading Academies (or participated in the READ grant), will that count for HB 3 credit? Teachers who participated in the 2018-2019 READ Grant can count that participation as credit for the Texas Reading Academies because they were designed to align to the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and required teachers to demonstrate competencies throughout the school year. The HB3 Reading Academies contain new content that currently appears only in the READ Grant sessions. Teachers who did not participate in the READ Grant need to participate in the current Texas Reading Academies in order to teach in grades kindergarten through third grade given the new standards, regardless if they attended a previous version of the Texas Reading Academies.

7. What happens if a participant does not complete or pass on the first attempt? If a participant does not complete or pass the Texas reading Academies on the first attempt, they must enroll again in the next available cohort. It is strongly encouraged that Authorized Providers create a Support Plan with the Cohort Leader, district/charter (LEA), and participant to assist the learner through the course.

8. Is there a set fee to enroll in the Texas Reading Academies? The cost for the blended model is $400 per participant. The comprehensive model is $3,000. Districts are responsible for paying for staff to enroll in the Texas Reading Academies.

9. When you say “with the start of the 2022-23 school year,” when does this exactly start? Year three of the Texas Reading Academies includes the following launch dates: June 2022, July 2022, August 2022, September 2022, and January 2023 and June 2023.

10. Will the searchable database on the TEA website be backdated to include all completions since year one? Yes, the searchable database will include all participants who have completed the Texas Reading Academies, starting with the year of inception.

11. Anyone who completes any TRA pathway, will fulfill the HB 3 mandate, regardless of their role or if they change roles, correct? It is correct that once an educator receives their HB 3 credit, it will apply to all future roles within a school district. However, a teacher cannot enroll in the Admin Pathway unless they are employed as an administrator or district-level staff member.

12. Does "attend" mean enroll and start during their first year, or complete it during the first year? Attend means enrolled and started. For example, a June 2023 cohort will not finish before the end of the 22-23 school year, but as long as they are actively working through the modules that will meet the HB3 requirement.

13. If a new teacher is hired in August of 2023, can they be enrolled in May 2024 to begin in the summer of 2024 and still meet the requirement? No, because there are not any May launch dates scheduled, so they would need to enroll by June 2024.

14. What are the consequences for currently working teachers who miss the third year? If they do not complete by next year, will it be ok for them to participate in 2023-24 without consequence? If they are currently working as K-3 teachers, they must be enrolled in one of the following cohorts; June 2023, July 2023, August 2023, September 2023, January 2024, or June 2024 or they may not be placed in a K-3 classroom for the 23-24 school year. Please note that the dates have been adjusted to reflect year 4 Reading Academies.

For further clarification, please visit TEA'S HB3 Reading Academy site.

1. What implementation options can districts choose from? Districts can select one of the following implementation options:

• Use an Authorized Provider: Districts can enter into a MOU/contract directly with an Authorized Provider (AP) in which the AP provides all logistical, technological, and content support for the district.
• Implement Locally: Enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU)/contract with an Authorized Provider. The district is responsible for hiring cohort leaders who provide content support to Reading Academy participants.

Note: Districts must implement the comprehensive model locally but use an Authorized Provider to provide the blended model.

2. What is the difference between the Blended and Comprehensive Model?

Comprehensive Model

• Up to 60 participants
• Completed with a combination of Canvas modules and live sessions with extra coaching support
• Participants must achieve 80% mastery on all Canvas assignments (including checks for understanding and artifacts). They must attend live training sessions, participate in group discussions in person, and demonstrate mastery of content during classroom observation by the cohort leader.
• Cohort leader documents and verifies the attendance and completion of all requirements

Blended Model

• Up to 100 participants
• Modules delivered online; a facilitator provides feedback through Canvas and additional office hours
• Participants must complete all modules and demonstrate proficiency on checks for understanding, discussions, and artifacts to receive credit
• Cohort leader affirms completion and at least 80% proficiency on artifacts
• As of July 2023, this model is only available for Administrators and Extenuating Circumstances. Enrollment is with ESC-16 at this link. 

For more information please download the Blended vs Comprehensive Model PDF.

3. What are the different pathways within Reading Academies? Once registered, participants can enroll in one of four pathways:

• Administrator path: designed for site and district leadership staff, including principals.
• Biliteracy path: designed for bilingual general and special education teachers. There is also a dual pathway for cohorts that need to combine ELAR and Biliteracy.
• English Language Arts (or “General Ed.”) path: designed for general and special education teachers.
• Science of Teaching Reading (STR) path: designed for teachers who are STR-certified.

4. What funds can be used to pay for Reading Academies? New reading funding sources, such as the Early Education Allotment, the Dyslexia Allotment, and/or the Basic Allotment increase can be utilized. In addition, you may consider Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) funds, the Bilingual Allotment, or Compensatory Education funds. The decision of which funds to utilize, or to use funds outside this list, is at the district’s discretion.

5. How long will it take for a teacher/administrator to complete Reading Academies? It is designed to be completed in no more than 10 full days over a 12-month period. Districts can personalize time frames for teachers, as long as the teachers are able to complete the full training within 12 months of beginning online content. The teacher pathway contains approximately 60 hours of content; the administrator pathway contains 42 hours of content.

6. Is TEA planning to release a professional development schedule that districts should follow in order to ensure participant completion of the Reading Academies? TEA will not release a required professional development schedule. Districts entering into a MOU/contract with an Authorized Provider should work with the Authorized Provider to determine scheduling. Districts are expected to build adequate time into the master schedule for teachers to complete the Texas Reading Academies coursework.

7. Will TEA provide a screening assessment for districts to determine which participants should be enrolled in a comprehensive versus blended model? There will be no screening assessment provided before teachers begin Reading Academies content. For more information on Reading Academies assessments, please see the Assessment and Exemption section of this FAQ.