INDIANAPOLIS — An education bill aimed at improving the reading skills of children throughout the Hoosier state will now head to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for final consideration.
Senate Bill 1, also known as ‘Every Child Learns to Read’, was passed by Senators Thursday and sent to the governor’s desk where it will await his final decision. The legislation was written to help young students become more proficient readers by providing a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s academic efforts in the areas of curriculum, assessment, remediation and retention. The legislation was authored by State Sen. Linda Rogers (R-Granger).
“Indiana’s IREAD assessment found about 1 in 5 students end third grade without basic reading skills each year,” Rogers said. “Reading is one of the most important skills for children to learn. The ‘Every Child Learns to Read’ bill would ensure all students are prepared for a successful future by identifying those students who need additional help, and, as a last resort, retaining those who still need more preparation. This will give our young Hoosiers the best chance at tackling more challenging lessons.”
The bill has received criticism from some lawmakers who expressed their concern with its harsher retention policy that would involve holding back more third graders who were deemed to not possess sufficient reading skills before they start fourth grade.
Some critics have claimed that the retention would disproportionately affect Black and Latino students while others said the harsher retention could harm the confidence of young students and stand in the way of motivation.
Indiana’s Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner has previously said that nearly one in every five third graders is not reading at their grade level. Dr. Jenner has also confirmed that of the nearly 15,000 students who couldn’t read at grade level in 2023, only around 400 of them were held back.
Schools would be required to offer reading instructions that closely align with the Science of Reading curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade, according to the latest version of the bill.
Schools would also need to facilitate the IREAD standardized test to students while they are in the second grade, with passing students being exempted from having to take the test again. The students who do not pass the test would receive specialized support in third grade to help improve their reading capabilities.
If students do not pass the IREAD test by the end of their time in the third grade, the bill would require students to be held back from proceeding to the next grade. Exceptions include students who were already retained while in the third grade, students with special needs or language barriers, and some students who passed the portion of the test focused on math while they continued receiving reading assistance.
In December, the Indiana Department of Education announced that the state’s literacy rates had been in decline for a decade. Nearly one in five students struggle to read, according to the most recent IREAD-3 assessment results.
The Indiana State Board of Education has also rolled out a visualization tool intended to streamline its efforts to track which specific school districts are in the most need of intervention.
