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INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a reading crisis in schools, affecting some of the youngest students.
According to the Indiana Department of Education, one in five students cannot read by the end of third grade.
That’s why new changes are occurring in the way reading is taught.
The change was prompted by a 2023 state law that requires Indiana schools to implement the “Science of Reading” methodology. The law also requires teachers licensed after June 2025 to receive a literacy endorsement demonstrating mastery of the principles.
The goal is to improve the reading comprehension of Indiana’s K-12 students.
This is what Dani Reiter does in her kindergarten classroom at Hornet Park Elementary School in Beech Grove.
“We all need to think differently, right? We used to do things completely differently, and now we’re doing things in a completely new way, and it’s a better way,” says the writer. he said.
Beech Grove City Schools fully adopted the model this school year after conducting a pilot program and testing different curricula.
Leiter said “The Science of Reading” focuses on comprehension and phonics for decoding words, rather than memorization.
She said she can already see a difference with her students.
“This is a game changer,” Reiter said. “It’s amazing to see the children take the time to look at the words, pronounce them, teach them how to spell them, and then learn to write on them. It was amazing.”
To support this change, the Lilly Endowment awarded $21.5 million in grants to 28 universities to help them realign their academic programs.
The University of Indianapolis received nearly $750,000.
Tracy Johnson, assistant professor of kindergarten through sixth-grade reading and writing, said, “When children go to school, we really ask them if they are ready to be taught in the world and environment they find themselves in.” We are confirming it.”
Johnson is one of the professors at the forefront of ensuring that future elementary school teachers understand how to incorporate reading models into their lesson plans.
She said that the “science of reading” is not really new, but rather an improvement on an old idea. It focuses on how the brain learns to read.
Credit: WTHR
The change was prompted by a 2023 state law that requires Indiana schools to implement the “Science of Reading” methodology.
“Once again, we want to make sure that teachers are familiar with these basic skills and teach children how the English code works in a clear and systematic way. We need to,” Johnson said.
One of those students is Audrey Campbell, a third-grader who hopes to one day become an elementary school teacher.
She admits that the “science of reading” was also new to her and had not been taught to her.
“We did a lot of spelling tests and memorization. I remember making flashcards and going over them with my parents,” Campbell said.
Now, she hopes to use her new skills to help future students.
“Literacy is the foundation of all learning. To learn everything, you have to learn how to read,” Campbell said.
The writer is currently doing something in the Beech Grove classroom. She hopes that her students will soon read to learn rather than learn to read.
“This is just the beginning for them. They will be able to run with new knowledge and continue to build each year,” she said.
Some Indiana lawmakers believe this new approach alone won’t solve reading problems.
Currently, a bill is being introduced in the state legislature that would curb the learning of third-graders with low reading proficiency. We also plan to administer the “IREAD” test before the 2nd grader becomes her 3rd grader.
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