(a) County offices of education may apply to the State Board of Education to design a reading leadership program and develop materials that focus on systematically explicit phonics instruction, phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationships, decoding, word-attack skills, spelling instruction, diagnosis of reading deficiencies, research on how children learn to read, research on how proficient readers read, the structure of the English language, relationships between reading, writing, and spelling, planning and delivery of appropriate reading instruction based on assessment and evaluation, and independent pupil reading of high quality books and the relationship of that reading to improved reading performance.

(b) From the applications received pursuant to this section, the State Board of Education shall select one county office of education that has a proposed reading leadership program and a proposed materials development program that, in the judgment of the State Board of Education, will provide an effective reading leadership training program addressing the elements listed in subdivision (a) of this section and meet the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 53003. The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to allocate from moneys appropriated to it an amount sufficient to fund the reading leadership program selected pursuant to this section.

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(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 196, Sec. 2. Effective July 22, 1996.)