At least 29 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation over the past decade aimed at improving early reading instruction and student outcomes. But have these laws actually moved the needle on kids’ achievement?
A new study from researchers at Michigan State University examines the question—and finds that the outcomes are mixed.
In general, these policies are linked to improvements on states’ year-end standardized tests. But only states with comprehensive policies—legislation that provided support, training, and funding for instructional change, and implemented 3rd grade retention policies—also saw gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the test known as the “Nation’s Report Card.”
Those states also made bigger jumps on standardized tests scores than their counterparts with less comprehensive policies.
The findings are especially relevant now, as the “science of reading” movement has gained steam in state legislatures. In the past two years alone, 18 states passed new laws requiring schools to use evidence-based instructional approaches and materials, provide new training for teachers, or offer interventions for struggling students.
In a science of reading framework, teachers start by teaching beginning readers the foundations of language in a structured progression—like how individual letters represent sounds and how those sounds combine to make words. ...
This research has implications for states that...
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