The science of reading is being taught in classrooms across Ohio, but the state’s education department stresses it will likely take time to track students’ progress.
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is particularly interested in tracking the progress of the current kindergarten students.
“This year’s kindergartners will be the first class that all four years going up to third grade, they’re going to get the science of reading,” state education department director Stephen Dackin said to the Capital Journal. “That’s a pretty good barometer of where we will be as a state in terms of our implementation and then increased outcomes in literacy.”
Ohio’s science of reading law took effect in 2023 through the state’s two-year operating budget, which gave $86 million for educator professional development, $64 million for curriculum and instructional materials, and $18 million for literacy coaches.
Ohio school districts were required to teach the science of reading curriculum starting with the 2024-25 school year. The science of reading is based on decades of research that shows how the human brain learns to read and incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
“While we are certainly making great progress, this is not easy,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said earlier this month during his state of the state speech. “Retraining seasoned teachers, who were taught the wrong way and now have to learn new methods, is certainly an exercise in perseverance. This shift takes time.”
‘Disappointing’: Ohio’s Science of Reading Switch Not Yet Bringing Results
Ohio’s literacy scores were down from last year, with 61.3% of third graders reading at or above grade level compared to 64.5% from the 2023-24 school year, according to the most recent state report cards that were released in September.
“The report card data is lagging data, so it reports on data from the previous school year, and obviously, not all districts have probably been at the point where they’ve implemented the science of reading in their districts last year,” Dackin said.
He said the education department is not surprised by a dip in performance.
“Sometimes you’re asking teachers who’ve been teaching reading for 20 years to suddenly change what they’re doing and implement something that’s new to them,” Dackin said. “We know it takes a while to do this. That doesn’t mean there’s not a sense of urgency in our state, but we also anticipate that folks are going to need some support in helping to implement.”
Forty states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based instruction since 2013, according to Education Week. Mississippi went from being ranked the second-worst state for fourth-grade reading in 2013 to being ranked 21st in 2022 after implementing science of reading policy.
College prep programs
A unique facet of Ohio’s science of reading law is the third-party audit of teacher preparation programs.
“Our law is the toughest in the country,” DeWine said during his state of the state speech.
Ohio colleges and universities teacher preparation programs were required to be fully aligned with teaching the science of reading by Jan. 1, 2025, but 10 colleges were found to be not aligned, according to an audit from the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
Bowling Green State University, Central State University, Cleveland State University, Defiance College, Ohio Christian University, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio University, Ohio State University, University of Toledo, and Wright State University were not in alignment.
Ohio State University had 17 noncompliant course sections, the most of any university, according to the audit.
“My concern is how seriously Ohio State is taking this process,” Ohio House Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Township, said during a recent Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee.
“By the way I look at it, you’re not taking it very seriously at all,” he said. “Things hang in the balance here, and I’m very serious about this, and I’m not going to play games with it.”
Erik Porfeli, professor and interim dean of Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology, said the university is taking this seriously.
“We mobilized quickly and addressed all 17 (issues),” he said.
Binaya Subedi, professor and interim chair of Ohio State’s Department of Teaching and Learning, said there has been professional development with faculty every week this semester.
“We are concerned,” he said. “After the audit report, we have systematically reorganized our curriculum.”
Any college or university that does not become fully aligned by next December will have their approval revoked by Ohio Department of Higher Education Chancellor Mike Duffey.
“We need all universities in compliance or we risk incongruity of literacy outcomes throughout the state for our kids,” Ohio House Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, said during a recent Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee.
“Ohio State, you cannot drag on this issue. We will be following up.”
Five colleges and universities were found to be partially in alignment and 33 higher education institutions were found to be in alignment, according to the audit.
“I have confidence that every college will be in full compliance by the end of this year,” DeWine said during his state of the state speech.
Having educator training programs be compliant with the science of reading means school districts won’t have to retrain teachers, Dackin said.
Parents for Reading Justice and OH-KID President Brett Tingley said holding the universities responsible is real accountability.
“Our literacy crisis does not begin in the classroom—it begins in teacher preparation programs,” she said during a recent Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education meeting.
“When a child learns to read, you change the trajectory of that child’s life, and when a state gets reading right, you change the trajectory of the state itself.”
Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.
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