About Act 20

Act 20 Requirement

All kindergarten through grade 3 (K-3) teachers, principals, in schools where there are grades K-3, and reading specialists must begin training on science-based literacy instruction by July 1, 2025.  This must be from an approved list.

Wausau School District Plan

All 4K-5th grade teachers (including reading teachers, special education teachers, and teachers of multilingual learners) will complete the Cox Campus K-3 Structured Literacy Program during the 2025-26 school year.

Act 20 Requirement

Act 20 states that all Wisconsin schools are required to provide science-based early literacy instruction in both universal and intervention settings.  Science-based early literacy instruction is systematic and explicit and consists of all of the following: 

• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Building background knowledge
• Oral language development
• Vocabulary building
• Instruction in writing
• Instruction in comprehension
• Reading fluency

See the Wisconsin Reads website for more information.

*School boards retain the independent authority to select the early literacy instructional materials they will adopt and implement.  Those instructional materials are required to meet the definition of "science-based early literacy instruction" found in Act 20. 

Wausau School District Plan

The Wausau School District continues to align all literacy curricula to the Wisconsin Model Standards.  For students to demonstrate proficiency in the areas emphasized within those standards, the Wausau School District continues to utilize core instructional resources that embed the principles of the science of reading body of research.  In the Fall of 2024, our 5K-2nd grade classrooms adopted 'Really Great Reading' as our core instructional resource for systematic and explicit foundational literacy instruction.  The district also uses 'Wit & Wisdom' in grades 5K-5th to support the knowledge literacy instruction. 

Act 20 Requirement

4K Assessment:  Students are to be assessed twice during the school year using aimswebPlus, a fundamental skills screening assessment selected by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).  The first is to be completed by the 45th school day and the second by 45 days before the end of the school year.

5K-3 Assessment:  Administer at least 3 universal screenings during the school year.  The first must be before the 45th day of the school year, the second in the middle of the school year, and the third by 45 days left in the school year.  Universal screenings must include phonemic awareness, decoding, alphabet knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and oral vocabulary.

A diagnostic assessment must be used when a universal screening assessment indicates a student is at risk (below the 25th percentile).  This occurs no later than the second Friday of November for the Fall assessment or within 10 days after the second universal screening.  Diagnostic assessments must also be given within 20 days when a teacher or parent suspects a student has characteristics of dyslexia and submits a request.

Wausau School District Plan

Four-year-old kindergarten educators will use aimswebPlus fundamental skills screening assessments twice during the school year in accordance with the DPI screening windows.  Educators of 5-year-old kindergarten through 3rd grade will assess students three times per year in accordance with DPI screening windows using aimswebPlus assessments. 

When we assess, we are checking to see how well students are doing in different reading skills.  There are five skills that are the building blocks of reading.  They will help children recognize, understand, and pronounce words correctly, which is essential for becoming a successful reader.  Without these foundational skills, it's difficult for children to read fluently and understand what they're reading.

• Phonemic awareness:  This skill involves recognizing and manipulating the individual sounds in words.  Tasks might include identifying the first or last sound in a word or blending sounds together to make a word (e.g.: /c/ + /a/ + /t/ + "cat"). 
• Oral vocabulary:  Oral vocabulary refers to knowing the meanings of words when heard or spoken.  Tasks might include learning new words through conversation, storytelling, or picture books and understand these words in different contexts.
• Alphabet knowledge:  This involves recognizing and naming letters, both uppercase and lowercase.  Tasks usually include matching letters with pictures or playing games that involve identifying letters.
• Letter sound knowledge:  This skill is about knowing the sounds that each letter or combination of letters makes.  Tasks might include saying the sound when shown a letter, matching letters to their sounds, or practicing with flashcards.
• Decoding skills:  Decoding is the ability to sound out and read words by connecting letters to their sounds.  Tasks might include reading simple words, sounding out new words, and practicing reading short sentences.

These skills help children learn to read by teaching them how to hear, say, recognize, and understand words.  For example, they can learn the sounds the letters make, how to blend those sounds to read words, and what those words mean when they hear or say them.  By practicing these skills, children can become better readers. 

At each school, educator teams will monitor the results of screening assessments.  Five-year-old kindergarten through 3rd grade students who perform below the 25th percentile will be assessed using diagnostic assessments to gather further information about the next steps for learning.  A diagnostic assessment evaluates a student's skills relative to grade-level expectations for the areas below:

• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Letter sound knowledge
• Alphabet knowledge
• Rapid naming
• Decoding
• Word recognition
• (Oral) Vocabulary
• Spelling
• Listening comprehension
• Oral reading fluency
• Reading comprehension

Diagnostic assessments include an opportunity for a student's parent/guardian to complete a family history survey to provide additional information about learning difficulties in the student's family.  In the Wausau School District, we collect this information from families of students in 5K-3rd grade yearly as part of the district's enrollment paperwork. 

A legal guardian has the right to submit a request for a diagnostic assessment at any time, including the right to request an evaluation for special education.

Act 20 Requirement

Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, provide parents and families with the results of the reading readiness screener no later than 15 days after the assessment is scored in an understandable format that includes all of the following: 

• The pupil's score on the reading readiness assessment
• The pupil's score in each early literacy skill category is assessed by the reading readiness assessment
• The pupil's percentile rank score on the reading readiness assessment, if available
• The definition of "at-risk" and the score on the reading readiness assessment would indicate a pupil is at-risk
• A plain language description of the literacy skills the reading readiness assessment is designed to measure

If a child is promoted to 4th grade without completing their personal reading plan, the parents must be notified in writing, along with a description of the reading interventions that the child will continue to receive.

Wausau School District Plan

Families will receive notification and information throughout the assessment process.  Families are notified of assessment windows before testing and results are shared within 15 days of assessment score availability.  When diagnostic assessments are utilized, additional information specific to those results and subsequent instructional support (personal support plans) will also be shared. 

• Act 20 Family Communication - December 2024
• Act 20 Cover Letter - Winter Window 2025
• Act 20 District Parent Notification - January 2025 

Act 20 Requirement

If students are identified as at-risk on universal screening assessments or diagnostic assessments, a personal reading (support) plan must be created that includes: 

• The specific early literacy skill deficiencies
• Goals and benchmarks for the pupil's progress toward grade-level literacy skills
• How progress will be monitored, a description of interventions, and additional instructional services being provided
• The science-based reading programming the teacher will use
• Strategies for the parent to support grade-level literacy skills and any additional services available and appropriate 

Local education agencies (public schools and independent charter schools) will provide a copy of the personal reading (support) plan to parents, as well as provide progress updates after 10 weeks. 

Wausau School District Plan

Personal Support Plans (PSPs) will be developed for students who score below the 25th percentile on the screener.  Educators will develop and implement Personal Support Plans to support students to grow in the skills necessary to be on track to meet grade-level benchmarks.  Families will be provided with the PSP via eduClimber email or paper copy.  If notified by eduClimber email, families are responsible to review and acknowledge their student's PSP via the guardian email form.  Creators and implementers of a student's PSP are required to provide families with progress updates after 10 weeks.  This will be completed through eduClimber in the Family Update Notification section in the PSP and then the updated PSP will be shared with the family.

Here is an example of a PSP. 

Act 20 Requirement

Schools must have a policy for promotion from 3rd to 4th grade, based on a DPI model policy, by July 1, 2025.  This would go into effect September 1, 2027.

Wausau School District Plan

The Wausau School District Promotion Policy was adopted in the Spring of 2025 and will be implemented by September 1, 2027, to include requirements included in Wisconsin Act 20.

Act 20 Requirement

Act 20 requires each school district to articulate and post an early literacy remediation plan that includes all of the following:

• The name of the diagnostic reading assessment the school district uses;
• A description of the reading interventions the school district uses to address characteristics of dyslexia; 
• A description of how the school district monitors pupil progress during interventions, including the tools used and frequency;
• A description of how the school district uses early literacy assessment results to evaluate early literacy instruction;
• A description of the parent notification policy that complies with Act 20.

School districts are still required to publicly post the academic standards that they use and provide a link to Wisconsin's Informational Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions on their school district website. 

Wausau School District Plan

Please see the Wausau School District Literacy Remediation Plan for more information.