Science of reading is a structured literacy approach gaining traction nationwide — including in neighboring Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has proposed spending $162 million to require science of reading to be adopted in every school district. Photo by Getty Images.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Determined to enact legislation that helps improve students’ lagging reading skills, Indiana lawmakers are throwing support behind a bill to require “science of reading” curricula in Hoosier schools.

The reading method incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Education experts say it gives students the skills to “decode” any word they don’t recognize.

The structured literacy approach is gaining traction nationwide — including in neighboring Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has proposed spending $162 million to require science of reading to be adopted in every school district.

In Indiana, the push is largely a response to the state’s dismal literacy rates, which last spring showed one in five Hoosier third graders can’t read proficiently.

Newly proposed literacy efforts have culminated in House Bill 1558, authored by Rep. Jake Teshka, R-South Bend. The bill codifies the definition of the science of reading in state law and requires schools to adopt such curriculum.

It additionally creates a science of reading grant fund and includes teacher preparation and licensing requirements for the approach.

“The future is bleak for kids who can’t read,” Teshka said last month in the Senate education committee. The bill previously passed the House 91-0.

“When you look at the long-term outcomes of underperforming, as it comes to reading, you look at things like the average enrollee in the Indiana Department of Corrections only reading at a sixth grade level,” he continued. “You look at the fact that students who struggle with literacy drop out of school at exponentially higher rates, which leads to worse public health outcomes, with more strain on our economy.”

The bill combines elements from Senate Bill 402 and House Bill 1590, which also deal with the science of reading.

If Teshka’s legislation — which is now under consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee — becomes law, it would go into effect for the 2024-25 school year.

Getting On Board With ‘Science Of Reading’

The “science of reading” is defined in the bill as the successful integration of concepts such as phonics, vocabulary and comprehension in reading.

Rep. Jake Teshka, R-South Bend. Photo from Indiana House Republicans.

The measure requires that starting in the 2024-2025 school year, the State Board of Education and Indiana Department of Education would be required to adopt academic standards for reading that are based on the science of reading.

The bill also requires teachers to show proficiency in science of reading instruction and to obtain a science of reading certification in order to be licensed to teach in an elementary school.

Trained literacy coaches would specifically be tasked with helping teachers at schools to get kids up to par for the IREAD exam.

Currently, school districts across the state can decide which core reading program to use.

Teshka said he’s eager to get all Indiana schools on board with the science of reading, however.

“I think (the bill) is purposely aggressive because we’re in the middle of a crisis and we don’t have time to wait,” he said.

Many states that have already implemented the curriculum have shown significant improvements in reading rates.

For example, fourth graders in Mississippi ranked 49th in the nation for reading proficiency in 2013. But by 2019 — after the state hired literacy coaches and focused instruction around the science of reading — it ranked first in the nation for reading gains.

Last August, Indiana announced a $111 million investment in literacy through a partnership with the Lilly Endowment — the state’s largest-ever financial investment in literacy.

The funding is intended to support science of reading training for teachers, as well as incorporating science of reading methods into undergraduate teacher preparation programs.

IDOE also launched a partnership to place reading coaches in schools across the state to support K-2 teachers as they put science of reading instruction to use.

Already, more than four dozen schools across the state have piloted Science of Reading instructional coaching, according to the education department. IDOE expects to expand the optional trainings to 60% of Indiana elementary schools by the end of the 2025-2026 school year.

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