Gov. Reynolds Signs Legislation to Improve Childhood Literacy

On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds issued a new law that was intended to increase the percentage of youngsters in Iowa who are literate. The Science of Reading is a specific reading approach that schools are required to teach, and it also compels schools to construct personalized reading programs for pupils who are not performing at grade level.

The previous school year, more than thirty percent of Iowa’s third and eleventh graders were not reading at the level expected of them. According to Travis Wilkins, who works for the Adel DeSoto Minburn Community School District, “As an educator and in this profession, I believe it is important that we recognize and name the fact that we are not meeting our mission.”

Nevertheless, ADM Schools was successful. In the previous three years, one in every four kids did not fulfill the required reading standards. Following that, it put into action a literacy technique that was known as the science of reading. It has been determined by Wilkins that ninety percent of our kids are proficient in reading and writing, as indicated by their scores from third grade through eleventh grade.

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In Iowa, the Science of Reading is now considered to be the law. A bill that requires schools to apply the method and provide tailored education for pupils who fall behind was signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on Tuesday. The law also assures that parents are notified of their right to request that their child be detained to repeat a grade level if it is necessary, according to Reynolds. “And for those who continue to struggle, the bill also ensures that parents are informed of their right to do so.”

According to Reynolds, the stakes of literacy are quite high. A child’s future may be jeopardized if they are unable to achieve reading competency by the third grade. This is a crucial benchmark that must be accomplished. Students who have difficulty reading have a fourfold increased likelihood of dropping out of high school, which in turn significantly raises their likelihood of being arrested, engaging in the use of illegal drugs, and having a truly poor state of health, according to Reynolds.

Reynolds made a visit to a first-grade classroom after he had signed the law in order to observe the application of reading comprehension science. Reynolds stated, “I am really pumped up and excited about the potential that this is going to have on our young people so what a great model for us to scale.” There is a lot of potential for this to have on our young people.