Iowa senators propose guidelines on how to teach reading as Kim Reynolds hones in on literacy

A proposal in the Iowa Senate would limit how language and reading can be taught to early elementary schoolers, laying out specific learning methods such as phonics while Gov. Kim Reynolds seeks to address literacy and reading instruction through her own bill.

Senate Study Bill 3069 would bar schools from reading instruction that teaches students "based on meaning drawn from context, structure and syntax, visual cues and pictures, or memory" — a method referred to as the "three-cueing system."

Instead, teaching methods should incorporate phonics, "fluency" in speaking, vocabulary and comprehension; those concepts are part of what has been termed "the science of reading."

Subcommittee chair Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, advanced the bill Tuesday, saying the "goal is, as always, the improvement of our children's education experience."

Lobbyists from several educational organizations and associations said they supported the bill's goal but were concerned that as written it would lock teachers and districts into a one-size-fits-all approach.

"We would want to make sure there was flexibility with what works on a case-by-case basis," said Nathan Arnold of Professional Educators of Iowa. "Every student is a little bit different."

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Jillian Carlson, representing the Iowa Board of Regents, said the proposed approach to instruction could limit graduates who choose to leave the state and teach elsewhere.

Several parents and advocates for children with dyslexia expressed strong support for the "science of reading" approach, arguing that it provided a more stable and comfortable environment for students who may struggle to learn.

And one advocate pushed back on the idea that focusing curriculum on the "science of reading" approach was limiting in any way.

"Science of reading is not a curriculum, it's not a program," said Katie Greving, executive director of Decoding Dyslexia Iowa. "It's a body of research that points to how reading should be taught."

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Reynolds' bill, which has yet to be released in full, will require teachers to be trained in "evidence-based" instruction, she said in her annual Condition of the State speech.

Third- through sixth-graders who are not proficient in reading would receive a personalized learning plan under Reynolds' proposal, and teachers would be required to talk with parents or guardians at the end of third grade about whether their student should repeat a grade or advance.

Phonics, or sounding out letters as a way to teach reading, has "increasingly fallen out of fashion," Reynolds said in her speech, as she praised educators who "aren't letting phonics become a thing of the past."

Lexia Learning, a reading curriculum company that Reynolds has touted as a state partner to train teachers, wrote in a November memo that they believed the "three-cueing system" was fading from relevancy in favor of their favored "science of reading" approach. Over a dozen states have banned or considered banning use of the "three-cueing system" in reading instruction.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature: Proposal would change how reading is taught