Bipartisan Bill Would Change Way Most Public Schools In Wisconsin Teach Reading

Sunday, May 14th, 2023 -- 9:38 AM

A bipartisan bill is expected to be released this month that would change the way most public schools in Wisconsin teach reading. 

According to Wisconsin Public Radio, State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Education, has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on the plan that would move more schools away from teaching what is known as "balanced literacy," to a "science of reading" approach. Instead of being taught reading through pictures, word cues and memorization, children would be taught using a phonics-based method that focuses on learning to sound out letters and phrases. According to DPI, only about 20 percent of school districts are using a phonics-based approach to literacy education. Other reading curriculums that don't include phonics have been shown to be less effective for students. The bill will be introduced separately from the 2023-25 biennial budget that is currently being crafted but $15 million to support the plan would be included in the budget, Kitchens said during an April 24 interview on Wisconsin Eye. "Education is the one chance we have to break the cycle of generational poverty that we see in Wisconsin and reading is by far the most important skill to allow children to be successful in school," Kitchens said.

Kitchens told Wisconsin Public Radio on Thursday he is updating the current draft of the bill and will share it with DPI "in coming days." "Hopefully it will be out within the next two weeks," Kitchens said. The $15 million would purchase new reading curriculum and would hire 52 teaching coaches. The coaches would be divided between low-performing urban schools, Wisconsin's Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) and school districts that want to apply for help, Kitchens said. While drafting the bill, Kitchens has looked to Mississippi, which is often cited as a model by advocates of the science of reading curriculum. From 2013 to 2019, Mississippi fourth graders increased their reading scores on a national exam by 10 points after the state transformed its approach to reading instruction.  

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