Michigan lawmakers have proposed dyslexia screening bills for 3 years

For more than two years, state lawmakers have called to strengthen dyslexia screening in Michigan public schools and strengthen reading instruction across the state.

Yet, in that time, bills requiring strengthened screening have never made it to the governor's desk.

And while the state's leaders have also called for more research-backed reading instruction across the state, Michigan's budget director critiqued Schools Superintendent Michael Rice in a letter dated Jan. 17 for failing to expediently give out $140 million in grant funding for professional development around literacy for educators, money approved last summer.

The stalling is frustrating for state Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, who supported a package of bills in 2022 that would have mandated dyslexia screening in schools.

"Don't tell me you care with words," he said. "I don't give a rat's patootie about someone's words. I hear words blowing all over Lansing. It's what do you do."

Since then, debates across the country over reading instruction have intensified. Parents and advocates are calling for school districts to adopt more research-backed curricula, using the science of reading as a rallying cry. The definition of the science of reading encompasses scientific research showing how children learn to read, though the definition sometimes varies depending on the person or organization defining it. Advocates for the approach often emphasize phonics and phonemic awareness as instructional tools to teach children how to read.

Dyslexia and science of reading concerns

Susan Schmidt, a board member for the Michigan chapter of the International Dyslexia Association, said while screening laws haven't been passed, more budget money has been directed to training educators, including $10 million in this fiscal year's budget for LETRS training. LETRS emphasizes skills in phonics and how students process and identify sounds in words.

"You can already start to see the curriculum shifting. ... Good stuff is happening even though the bills haven't passed," she said. "You can't flip the switch, right? Because you have to get people on board and have the knowledge so that they can understand why we need to shift."

But a larger chunk of money, $140 million passed in fiscal year's 2024 budget, for strengthened literacy instruction in schools hasn't been spent, according to Flood's January letter to Rice. Flood wrote that the Michigan Department of Education has had at least six months to plan administering the grant.

"Those very dollars that were signed into law are sitting idly in the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) instead of in the hands of those who can use them impactfully," Flood wrote. "That is unacceptable. ... Now is the time to act."

On Jan. 25, MDE announced the grant money's availability in a public memo. Schools that apply for the money must provide training to staff members around literacy instruction, and must publicly share the literacy curriculum used for pre-K to grade 5 students.

Michigan's reading scores have raised alarm bells in recent years. On the 2022 NAEP test, which is an assessment comparing reading and math achievement among the states, Michigan's average fourth-grade reading scores slid six points between 2022 and 2019, the last time students took the test. Some of the slide may have to do with the pandemic's impact on schools. Just nine states and the District of Columbia lost more points than Michigan. Score drops on the reading NAEP were higher among Black Michigan fourth graders.

On the state's M-STEP test in reading, nearly 35% of third-grade students scored not proficient in reading and 25% scored partially proficient, an increase from pre-pandemic levels. Third grade is often thought of as a crucial juncture for learners, when students should transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, sponsor of the bill requiring schools to screen children for signs of dyslexia or signs that students are struggling to decode words or recognize words in print, said he has been studying reading instruction since 2016. The state isn't tackling literacy aggressively enough, he said.

"We're seeing so many kids fall through the cracks," he said. "And we're seeing that Michigan's reading scores are not improving."

Lawmakers look to pass this year

State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, said she supports the screening bill — she is a co-sponsor — but wanted to first make sure requirements don't impose more testing in schools, which can become onerous for both students and staff.

"It was important to me that we don't do more redundant testing," she said.

Both Irwin and Runestad said they have become steeped in research around reading instruction in recent years, and explained in interviews with the Free Press what they've learned from their research. Those insights include: the advantages of sounding words out through phonics and the importance of measuring foundational reading skills in students.

Without skills to sound words out, Runestad said, he worries older students have long fallen behind.

"The young people I've talked to said the words they're not familiar with are meaningless," he said. "They don't know how to pronounce them and they don't know what they mean."

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan lawmakers propose dyslexia screening bills, reform for years