Amends GS 115C-83.3, which provides definitions that apply in the North Carolina Read to Achieve Program (Part 1A of Article 8 of GS Chapter 115C).

Amends the term "alternative assessment" to require the State Board of Education (SBE) to complete the annual review and approval process of all alternative assessments by September 15 of each year.

Amends "student reading portfolio" to clarify that the portfolio is intended to be a measure of a student's reading proficiency (was, reading ability). Specifies that student work samples are to be used to evaluate each reading standard (was, benchmark) and reduces the required number of student work samples gathered over the course of the school year to determine the student's reading proficiency to two (was, three). Provides that if a student responds correctly to 80% of the comprehension questions about one reading passage, then that one work sample suffices to demonstrate student reading proficiency on the standards covered in that sample. Requires compiling a student portfolio only when it is determined that administration of a standardized test of reading comprehension is unlikely to yield positive findings of a student's reading proficiency.

Amends GS 115C-83.7(b)(4), which exempts a student from mandatory retention in third grade if the student demonstrates reading proficiency via a student reading portfolio, to require that the SBE limit the use of the portfolio process to a student for whom it is appropriate as determined by the student's principal, after consulting with the student's teacher and parents.

Amends GS 115C-83.8, which encourages parents or guardians of students not demonstrating reading proficiency to enroll their students in a reading camp provided by the local school administrative unit, to provide if the parent or guardian elects not to enroll the student in a reading camp, the parent or guardian must notify the school the student attends of any alternative reading interventions or instructional supports that are being provided to aid the student in achieving reading proficiency. Provides that a student who attended a reading camp for a minimum of 64 hours of instructional time is to be placed in a transitional third and fourth grade class combination.

Amends GS 115C-83.9 to direct principals to provide at minimum one information session for parents and guardians within the first 30 days of school regarding the reading proficiency requirement for third grade students.

Effective when this act becomes law and applies beginning with the 2015-16 school year.