This August will usher in the first school year in which Ohio’s 600-plus school districts are required to use instructional materials that align with the science of reading, a body of research into the most effective methods of teaching kids to read.
Last March, Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order that mandated Ohio’s literary curricula be built around this evidence-based and phonics-focused approach. That means other literacy methods like three-cueing, which encourages students to guess words using context clues, has to be taken out of schools’ curriculum.
That will be a major change for nearly two-thirds of Ohio’s districts, according to Aaron Churchill, director of Ohio research at the Fordham Institute, an education think tank that supports the science of reading. He said while 42% of urban districts already used this approach, the majority of suburban districts and charter schools will need to alter, or even overhaul, their curriculum.
“We're going to be seeing a lot of changes in the schools. And there is going to be a need for patience, need for commitment and sort of stick-to-it-iveness around the science of reading,” Churchill said.
The rise of the ‘science of reading’
Ohio has joined 38 other states and the District of Columbia in passing laws that require evidence-based reading practices. In a press conference last year, DeWine said his mandate was a response to Ohio’s poor literacy rates: 40% of the state’s third graders are not reading at a proficient level.
“We need to seriously look at how we are teaching reading in the state because reading is fundamental to future success,” Dewine said.
The mandate has been met with some backlash. A popular reading program sued the state for banning other literacy methods. And some teachers groups, like the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers, have argued that educators' tools shouldn't be limited by the state.
Churchill said Ohio isn’t insisting that teachers only follow a single lesson plan to teach students how to read, but that they pick from a number of evidence-based strategies.
“This isn't sort of a new sort of approach that came out of nowhere,” Churchill said. “There's been a significant amount of research done on how students learn how to read best. And the method grounded in phonics, giving students great vocabulary and rich background knowledge … that is the best way to help students read.”
Ohio’s transition
Ohio has invested more than $169 million to ensure science of reading curriculum is integrated into the classroom. Schools who will have to make the most changes to their curriculum got the largest pots of money, according to Churchill’s report.
Kay Wait, an educator at Toledo Public schools, said her district feels ready for the upcoming school year’s changed requirements. Mostly because the districts’ curriculum already aligned with the science of reading.
“We didn't have to hurry up and change things. So we were actually ahead of the game that way,” Wait said.
But the northwest Ohio school district has still been preparing. Every educator in Ohio is being paid a small stipend to take professional development courses to better understand the science of reading before next fall. Wait said she believes it’s a worthwhile investment, but it will take time for these courses, and curriculum changes, to pay off.
“Teaching kids to read is just as hard as kids learning to read. It takes a lot of skill. It takes a lot of background knowledge. It takes a lot of understanding of just how the brain works in general,” Wait said.
Going forward
Churchill agrees that the change won’t happen overnight. And he believes that parents should get engaged with their children’s literacy efforts and be vigilant about what kinds of reading instruction are taking place in their district.
“Local communities are in the best position to hold schools accountable for effective reading instruction for students,” Churchill said. “And they can do that by asking great questions of their principals and teachers in how they're implementing these new provisions.”
But, Churchill also wants the state to work toward being more transparent as well. In his report, he recommends Ohio create a dashboard that displays each district and school’s ELA curriculum. He also wants to see the legislature commission more studies to gauge the efficacy of reading instructional materials.
