Senate Bill 1778 by Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, and Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would update the state’s existing Strong Readers Act.
“We want to talk about career pathways and dream jobs for our students, but our children will be perpetually underemployed if they cannot read,” Hilbert said in a news release. “I am proud of the House members who supported this important legislation today and I believe we will look back to this moment years from now and know this is when we made the decision to do better for all Oklahoma students.”
A literacy overhaul has been on lawmakers’ agenda this session, with several bills filed to achieve that goal. Other states, notably Mississippi, have implemented similar policies. That state’s literacy turnaround has been dubbed the “Mississippi Miracle,” though those involved call it more of a marathon.
The 59-page Senate Bill 1778 incorporates pieces of Hilbert’s House Bill 4420, such as exemptions for retention and a multi-tiered system of supports. It also combines Pugh’s Senate Bill 1338, which would have made permanent a state pilot program that deployed literacy coaches to schools.
The measure advanced on a bipartisan vote of 87 to 5. The five nay votes were Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City; Rep. Tom Gann R-Inola; and former educators Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa; Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater; and Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa.
Third grade retention and retention prevention
Beginning in the 2027-28 school year, if third grade students score at the below basic achievement level on statewide English Language Arts standardized tests, or below an “acceptable score” on an alternative test to be approved by the State Board of Education, they would be retained in third grade — unless they meet a good cause exemption. No student would be retained twice in third grade.
The three good cause exemptions are:
- Students who are identified as English Language Learners who have had less than two consecutive years of English learner instruction.
- Students with disabilities who participate in statewide testing and who have an individualized education program (IEP) that shows the student has received intensive literacy intervention for more than two years but still has a reading deficiency, or who were previously retained for one year in kindergarten through third grade.
- Students who have received services for more than two years but still demonstrate a reading deficiency and have been retained in kindergarten through third grade for two years.
To exempt a student, documentation would need to be submitted from the student’s teacher to the principal, who determines whether promotion is appropriate. The principal makes a recommendation to the superintendent, who ultimately determines whether to accept or reject the recommendation.
Parents of exempt students may still choose for the student to be retained. Retained students who transfer to another school would still have to be retained. Retained students who are withdrawn from public schools to bypass retention would be subject to screening upon return to public school to determine the appropriate grade level for re-entry.
However, students would receive support before the third grade threshold.
First grade and second grade students not meeting grade level targets by the end of the grade would be placed in a stand-alone transitional grade classroom or promoted to the next grade with targeted instructional pull-outs.
Those students would be provided with the option to attend a summer reading academy offered by the district. If the districts do not provide an academy, they would have to provide parents with a list of summer literacy programs.
“Before third grade, students learn to read. After third grade, they read to learn,” Hilbert said. “When that transition does not happen, the consequences compound quickly and follow students for life.”
Multi-tiered system of supports
Students in kindergarten through third grade would experience a multi-tiered system of supports to target literacy gaps.
Tier One, or “Core Instruction,” is the reading instruction provided to all students in a general education classroom, aligned with the science of reading. It would include universal screening tests in kindergarten through third grade and ongoing assessments to identify students in need of additional support.
The screening test would assess skills like phonological awareness, rapid naming skills, vocabulary and comprehension. It would also identify students at risk for math deficiencies and would be able to predict performance on state standardized tests.
Tier Two, or “Supplemental Intervention,” is targeted intervention in addition to Tier One for students identified as requiring additional support. Examples of those interventions include small group instruction, regular progress monitoring and targeted instruction for specific skill deficits.
Tier Three, or “Intensive Intervention,” is highly targeted intervention in addition to Tiers One and Two for students with significant reading deficiencies. Examples include smaller group instruction, such as one to three students, and “substantially increased instructional intensity and frequency.”
The tiers of support are tied to state funding. Each district would receive a per-student base allocation to support Tier One services, such delivering the screening tests and professional development for teachers. Districts would receive supplemental weighted funding for students on Tiers Two and Three.
A portion of appropriated funds would also provide incentives to districts whose students progress out of Tiers Two or Three.
Training for teachers
The bill also includes stipulations for continuing an existing statewide literacy coach program. Literacy coaches provide assistance to teachers, administrators and reading specialists to implement best practices, design and conduct professional development, and give feedback based on observations and data.
Instead of literacy coaches “placed regionally,” the coaches would now be placed specifically in six major geographic areas. The program would employ at least 20 coaches — up from five — that must have either a masters education degree with three years of documented successful teaching experience or a bachelor's degree with five years of successful teaching experience and at least three years of literacy experience.
Priority for literacy coach assignments would be given to the lowest performing schools. If districts already have their own coaches, they would not be required to use the state department’s coaches, as long as local coaches participate in department-led coaching.
To ensure the program doesn’t “poach” reading teachers from schools — a concern Pugh has repeatedly expressed — OSDE is instructed to give preference to retired educators.
Districts that decline literacy coaches would forfeit their Strong Readers Act funding.
Districts are also required to employ at least one reading specialist, interventionist or staff member with an early literacy micro-credential at each elementary school. For districts that do not have one, the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability and the state department would develop a higher education training academy for teachers to obtain micro-credentials.
The state department would provide a $3,000 stipend for one staff member per district and $1,500 to a higher education institution for each staff member that receives a micro-credential.
Higher education reform is also stipulated in the bill. Teacher candidates at Oklahoma universities would be required to study the negative impacts of less effective literacy methods, such as balanced literacy and whole-language.
Each teacher education program approved by the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability would be audited to ensure proper training in the science of reading. Noncompliant programs would receive probationary accreditation statuses.
Parent and guardian involvement
The measure also includes parent and guardian notification and involvement.
If students are identified as having a reading deficiency, parents and guardians must be notified within 30 days, and the notification must include an individual reading plan. Parents would be informed on their student’s progress at least every 30 days and provided with strategies to help their child at home.
OEQA is also tasked with creating a “Read at Home” plan, which includes parent training workshops or parent-guided home reading activities.
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