What Illinois can learn from Florida’s emphasis on early literacy

Florida state lawmakers began mandating science-based literacy education in the early 2000s. It improved reading proficiency among early grades and cemented Florida as a leader in early literacy education. Illinois should do the same.

Only 22% of Florida fourth graders were proficient in reading on the Nation’s Report Card in 1998 – 32 states outperformed Florida.

Twenty-four years and multiple pieces of literacy legislation later, Florida’s fourth-grade reading proficiency rate increased by 17 percentage points. It claimed the second-highest proficiency rate in the nation in 2022.

What spurred these dramatic improvements in early literacy in Florida? Starting in 2001, Florida began passing legislation telling schools to use science-of-reading methods aimed at improving early literacy.

The term “science of reading” is often used when referencing evidence-based literacy policies. It denotes “the vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing,” according to The Reading League. More simply, it is research about how to most effectively teach reading and comprehension.

Florida isn’t the only state to implement science-based reading legislation in recent years. Since 2013, 40 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation concerning the use of evidence-based methods to teach students how to read, according to Education Week.

Florida’s reforms have included the following: retaining deficient readers, identifying reading deficiencies and providing intensive interventions, engaging the parents of deficient readers, supporting early literacy efforts, implementing science-based reading instruction and providing support for literacy instruction.

Florida offers an example to Illinois lawmakers and school districts on how to implement evidence-based policies to improve literacy among early learners. While Illinois lawmakers amended the school code in July 2023 directing the state board to support literacy efforts, more is needed to ensure grade-level literacy in the state’s public schools.

While Florida’s emphasis on evidence-based reading instruction has spurred significant improvements in fourth-grade reading, Illinois is one of 35 states and the District of Columbia in which just 1 in 3 (or fewer) fourth-grade students met or exceeded reading standards in 2022. Illinois could significantly improve public education by adopting Florida’s literacy tactics.

The background: Florida kicks off literacy initiative in 2001

Facing dire literacy rates among its youth, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed an executive order in 2001 to initiate “Just Read, Florida!” to improve literacy in the state. The governor’s attention to literacy followed the release of the  federally funded report by the National Reading Panel in 2000 which reviewed existing research on how children best learn to read. It outlined five essential components of effective reading instruction as the basis for the science of reading:  phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development and reading comprehension.

The “Just Read, Florida!” initiative used a multifaceted approach to help “every student become a successful, independent reader.” It directed the state board of education to study and recommend how to improve the state’s reading programs. It also emphasized early reading instruction and intervention and teacher preparation and professional development. The initiative also sought to increase family involvement by encouraging family literacy practices.

Bush’s executive order and reading initiative laid the groundwork for Florida to prioritize literacy instruction, especially in early elementary years. Since the signing of the executive order in 2001, Florida has passed five piece of legislation setting out seven solutions for improving early literacy.

The solutions: Seven policies for literacy reform

Here’s a look at the policies implemented by Florida legislators during the past two decades that have helped students make massive gains in early literacy.

1. Ending social promotion practices and retaining deficient readers

“Social promotion” is the act of promoting a student to the next grade level based on the student’s age or completion of the school year rather than academic readiness. But it means students are often pushed into grade levels they are not ready to take on.

The goal of ending “social promotion” is to ensure students are prepared to meet grade-level reading standards by the end of the third-grade school year, a critical literacy point for students. It involves implementing reading interventions for those students who have fallen behind.

A report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation warns about the harms of a student’s inability to read effectively by the end of third grade. The research shows a student’s likelihood to graduate high school can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by their reading skill at the end of that year. By the beginning of fourth grade, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

Florida lawmakers passed legislation to put an end the practice of social promotion for students in every grade in 2002. However, the bill placed special emphasis on reading proficiency and grade retention in early elementary school.

Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, Florida started requiring students who do not meet grade-level reading requirements by the end of third grade to repeat the grade. Students who score at the lowest level on the state’s reading assessment do not meet grade-level reading standards and are considered deficient in reading.

There are some “good cause exemptions” which allow a third-grade student – or any student – who does not meet the academic requirements for promotion to be promoted by the district school board. These exempt a student:

• With limited English proficiency who had less than two years of instruction in an English for speakers of other languages program.
• With disabilities whose individual education plan does not require the student to participate in the statewide accountability assessment, per the State Board of Education.
• Who meets an acceptable level of reading proficiency on an alternative standardized reading assessment approved by the State Board of Education.
• Who demonstrates grade-level reading proficiency through a student portfolio showing mastery of at least level 2, “below satisfactory,” performance out of the five state reading levels.
• With disabilities who demonstrates a reading deficiency but whose individual education plan has provided the student with intensive reading remediation for more than two years and who was previously retained in a K-2 grade.
• Who demonstrates a reading deficiency despite having received two or more years of intensive reading intervention and has been retained in a K-2 grade for a total of two years. These promoted students must receive an altered instructional day with intensive reading instruction and specific reading strategies for that student.

Teachers must submit documentation to their school principal to show a student who meets the mandatory retention requirements ought to be permitted a “good cause exemption” and promoted to the next grade level. If the school principal determines the student should be promoted, the principal must recommend the student’s promotion to the district school superintendent who has the authority to accept or reject the recommendation.

But as seen in the following policies, school districts work with struggling students and their parents to provide interventions and support to give students the assistance they need to move onto the next grade level before deciding to retain a student.

2. Identifying reading deficiencies and providing intensive interventions

Every Florida student is required to participate in statewide assessment tests. Specific attention is given to students in kindergarten through third grade who display reading deficiencies. These students are required to receive immediate intensive reading instruction after being identified with a reading deficiency. They must continue to receive reading proficiency monitoring and intensive reading intervention until they demonstrate grade-level proficiency in reading.

A student’s reading intervention program must provide explicit and systematic direct instruction in language development, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, as well as daily, targeted small-group reading interventions. The reading intervention must take place during regular school hours.

In addition, school districts are required to have in place “comprehensive programs” to ensure students progress proficiently through each school grade in not just reading and writing, but also the core subjects of science, math and social studies. Any student who does not meet the required levels of performance on state assessments must receive remedial coursework or be retained in an “intensive program that is different from the previous year’s program and that takes into account the student’s learning style.”

School boards are then required to allocate resources for remedial or supplemental instruction to students, prioritizing resources for students who are deficient in reading by the end of third grade.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the largest school district in Florida. Per Florida statute, the school district releases a student progression plan each school year which outlines performance standards, grade-level requirements, student transfer policies, other educational opportunities in the district and other important policies and supports. It also outlines grade promotion and retention policies, how a student’s progress is monitored and what courses are offered for intervention for struggling students.

3. Notifying parents if their child is deficient in reading

Florida requires parents of students in kindergarten through third grade to be notified in writing if their child displays a reading deficiency based on any assessment or monitoring data or teacher observations, or if their child exhibits characteristics of dyslexia. This notice must do the following:

• Inform parents their child has been identified as having a “substantial deficiency in reading” and describe their child’s specific difficulty in learning to read.
• Describe the current services provided to their child.
• Describe the proposed intensive reading intervention.
• Inform parents that, barring any good-cause exemptions, their child will be required to repeat the third grade if their reading deficiency is not remediated by the end of their third-grade school year.
• Provide strategies to parents through a “read-at-home plan” to help their child succeed in reading and give access to resources for the read-at-home plan.
• Inform parents there are multiple assessments and evaluations available to determine when their child is reading at grade level and ready for grade promotion.
• Inform parents about the option for their child to utilize a portfolio to demonstrate whether the child is reading at grade level, which the school is required to have begun collecting as soon as the student was determined to be at risk of retention or upon parental request, whichever comes first.
• Inform parents of their school district’s criteria and policies for promotion to the next grade level during the middle of the student’s retention year once the student has demonstrated grade-level proficiency in reading.
• Inform parents their child is eligible for the New Worlds Reading Initiative and the resources available through the program (more on this below).

Schools must continue to update parents in writing at least monthly on their child’s progress and explain any additional interventions or supports which the school plans to implement to help further the student’s progress.

4. Providing parents with a “read-at-home” plan

Parents with students who are deficient in reading and at risk of grade retention are provided with a “read-at-home” plan and access to evidence-based resources to help their child master grade-level reading requirements.

Lawmakers amended literacy legislation in 2021 to add a requirement that Florida’s department of education compile electronically-available and evidence-based reading resources which school districts must then use to create a “read-at-home” plan. The plan must be provided to the parents of any kindergarten through third-grade student with a reading deficiency.

The resources include:

• Evidence-based strategies and programs which parents can use to help improve their child’s literacy skills.
• An overview of the types of assessments Florida uses to identify reading deficiencies, what is measured by the assessments, the frequency of the assessments and the intervention requirements for students who aren’t adequately progressing.
• Information about the characteristics associated with learning disorders.
• A list of resources to help parents be involved in decision-making processes for their child with a learning difficulty.

The 2023-2024 school year is the first year of implementation for the “read-at-home” plan.

5. Creating initiatives to support student literacy and science-of-reading instruction

Florida lawmakers created the “New Worlds Reading Initiative” to encourage a love of reading among students and improve students’ literacy skills. The initiative includes a program which provides free books to students who are reading below grade level in prekindergarten through fifth grade.

Students who are eligible for the program receive a free book each month of the school year. Additionally, parents are given resources and activities to encourage their student’s literacy skills.

The most recent report on the reading initiative shows there were nearly 200,000 students served through the program in the 2022-2023 school year. Program students made gains of up to 55% growth in reading achievement during the school year.

In addition to encouraging early literacy through a love of reading, the program also prompts teachers and parents to enhance their knowledge of science-of-reading instruction. The New Worlds Reading Initiative administrators are required to develop “an online repository of digital science of reading materials and science of reading instructional resources that is accessible to public school teachers, school leaders, parents, and educator preparation programs and associated faculty.”

6. Establishing science-of-reading instruction for teachers and eliminating “three-cueing” system

Florida recently passed legislation to ensure teachers use evidence-based instructional strategies grounded in the science of reading. The statute mandates phonics instruction as the primary strategy to teach word reading.

Additionally, the statute eliminates the use of “three-cueing,” or “visual memory,” to teach foundational reading skills.

The three-cueing systems model teaches students to read based on word meaning, sentence structure and arrangement and visual cues – or, to use pictures and context to identify unfamiliar words rather than using phonics to sound out new words. According to ExcelinEd, three-cueing can be boiled down to teachers instructing students to guess.

While research has shown this system does more harm than good, an EdWeek Research Center survey showed 75% of kindergarten through 2nd grade teachers and elementary special education teachers used three-cueing for reading instruction. Many states, including Illinois, have not passed legislation to eliminate three-cueing from reading instruction.

Florida not only asks teachers to employ evidence-based reading instruction strategies and eliminate three-cueing in the classroom, but also requires teacher preparation college courses to promote evidence-based reading instruction strategies grounded in the science of reading. It also requires school districts to review instructional materials used for foundational reading skills to ensure they align with the science of reading and do not support three-cueing.

7. Providing evidence-based instructional support and establishing literacy support regions

Florida established the Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic Excellence program to provide instructional support in evidence-based reading instruction to elementary students.

The program provides instructional support to school districts, school administrators and teachers on evidence-based reading instruction and how to tailor instruction to a student’s specific reading needs. It provides strategies on how to develop the five basic principles of reading instruction outlined in the 2000 National Reading Panel Report: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

It requires the Florida Department of Education to establish at least 20 literacy support regions and regional support teams to specifically help schools with low reading scores. Schools with students in kindergarten through fifth grade must receive literacy support from the program if 50% of their students score below the “satisfactory” level in any grade level on the statewide English language arts assessment or if 50% of students in third grade are not on track to pass the statewide English language arts assessment for third grade.

The takeaway: Illinois can learn from Florida’s early literacy policies

Illinois took a step to follow Florida’s emphasis on science-based literacy policy by amending the school code in July 2023 to include a section on literacy. It created a comprehensive literacy plan for Illinois which would explore evidence-based literacy research. It provided a rubric to evaluate curricula and implement evidence-based reading instruction. It required the state to develop and make available training opportunities for reading teachers that are aligned with the state’s comprehensive literacy plan by 2025.

While it is a positive move, more is needed. Much like then-Gov. Jeb Bush’s executive order initiating “Just Read, Florida!” helped spur the state to focus on early literacy efforts through legislation, Illinois’ comprehensive literacy plan ought not to be lawmakers’ final action in supporting the literacy of the state’s students.

Illinois lawmakers could follow the lead of their peers in Florida and implement third-grade retention policies, early identification of reading deficiencies, early intervention for struggling readers, parent involvement in struggling readers’ learning plans, science-based reading instruction, support for student reading and teacher training and support in science-based reading instruction.

Just 33% of Illinois fourth graders met proficiency on the Nation’s Report Card in 2022. With focused efforts on evidence-based literacy instruction, Illinois can join Florida in the top ranks for reading proficiency: Florida’s literacy efforts have helped secure its 2nd place rank for fourth grade reading with 39% of students meeting proficiency standards.

While these programs may sound costly, it’s important to note Florida spent under $12,000 per student in 2023, while Illinois spent more than $19,500, according to the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of School System Finances. Greater efficiency within Illinois’ K-12 education spending could allow Illinois to get its early learners back on track to achieve academic success through graduation and beyond.

With Illinois students falling behind, this should receive immediate attention from state lawmakers.