The Alabama plan includes teacher training, demonstration sites and a determination to use early intervention with children who need extra help. This year's program involves 80 Alabama schools and the results are encouraging the board to include another 240 schools next year.
February, 2000
 

On May 9, 1997, State Senator Robin Taylor introduced SB 203, which would require that phonics be taught in kindergarten through third grade in Alaska public schools. Section 2 of the bill reads, "The legislature also finds that it is the existing practice of the public schools to teach phonics only incidentally and that phonics should be a part of the public school curriculum." Article 12 (Required Language Education), Section 14.20.800 reads, "A governing body shall include intensive systematic phonics in the curriculum for kindergarten through third grade. In this section, 'phonics' means the direct teaching of a pre-planned sequence of relationships between speech sounds and all their letter equivalents, instruction in blending or sounding out two or more letter groups, and practice with reading material that includes letters and letter groups that are explicitly taught."

Board sets rules for teaching phonics, by Kelly Pearce—The Arizona Republic, 1/25/00

The "Parental Choice for Reading Success Act" (HB 2130), passed out of the Arizona Senate Rules Committee on May 12, 1998, amidst an avalanche of protesting phone calls from Arizona teachers. In the full Senate, it was gutted, but in Conference Committee, the intent of HB 2130 was restored. The bill requires school districts that offer instruction in grades K-3 to review their curricula and adopt reading programs, one of which must be a research-based, systematic phonics program. Parents may then choose among the programs offered and place their child in the reading program they determine to be the most beneficial. It also requires applicants for teacher certification to demonstrate completion of a three-hour college-level course in research based, systematic phonics instruction; expands school report card requirements to identify the reading program used in each classroom and to include a district comparison of test scores among the different reading programs; and provides $975,000 in assistance to school districts for the initial training and continued development of teachers in these instruction methods.

Reading First Program
California will receive a $132.9 million grant award, authorized under the Reading First program, to help districts and schools improve student achievement in reading through the application of scientifically based reading research. Reading First will help States, districts and schools apply this research — and the proven instructional and assessment tools consistent with this research — to ensure that all children can read at grade level or above by the end of third grade.

California will use about $125 million of the grant to make approximately 140 subgrant awards to eligible districts. These subgrants will allow schools to implement research-based reading programs for students in kindergarten through third grade and to provide professional development to ensure that all teachers have the skills they need to teach these programs effectively. Additionally, the program will support the use of instructional assessments so that teachers can effectively screen and identify the reading barriers facing their students, as well as monitor their progress.

The California State Board of Education will integrate Reading First with its statewide infrastructure for improvement of early literacy. The Governor, in consultation with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has convened a Reading Leadership Team to ensure a seamless, complementary approach to reading achievement throughout the State.

California plans to begin making subgrant awards in fall 2002. As part of the State’s professional development plan, teachers statewide will participate in California’s Professional Development Institutes. The State will closely monitor the progress of schools and districts participating in Reading First, and will conduct a longitudinal evaluation of its program.

California’s Reading First plan has been approved for a six-year period, subject to demonstration of progress and Congressional appropriations. Over the course of the grant, the State will receive approximately $871 million to ensure that all children learn to read well and that no child is left behind. --10/02

CTA: Can the academics
by Debra J. Saunders —San Francisco Chronicle, 3/26/02

Inglewood Writes Book on Success
by Duke Helfand— Los Angeles Times, 4/30/00

New Appointee to California State Board of Education - 2/25/00

School excels after dropping bilingual education
by Jondi Gumz—Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/8/00

Kids are the victims of Whole Language failure
Letter to the Editor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/27/00
(The precipitating article dealt with a high school remediation program for non-reading victims of Whole Language.)

California Department of Education Criteria for 2002 Language Arts Adoption
(Adopted by the State Board of Education on December 8, 1999 with minor edits made as of January 13, 2000) — The California State Board of Education just passed the nation's most explicit definition of decodable text. No publisher in this country could possibly misunderstand the intent of the California State Board of Education. The textbooks which will teach California children how to read will be based on sound medical/scientific reading research. The California State Board appears to have plugged all escape routes and has left no "wiggle room" for whole-language advocates to practice their failed methods on unsuspecting little children.

WHOLE LANGUAGE DEALT A MAJOR DEFEAT!
Report by Doug Carnine on a December 8, 1999, meeting of the California State Board of Education to adopt textbook criteria.

Excerpts from an article in the Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1999:
"Zacarias Orders Overhaul of New Phonics Materials" Los Angeles Times Issues "A Call to Action"
The October 18, 1998 LA Times announces: "The Times today launches Reading by 9, a crusade to get our community's children reading in English by the end of third grade. There can be no more excuses for southern California students' widespread failure to reach this goal." Publisher Mark Willes and Editor Michael Parks sum up the problem and offer an action plan in a front page letter to the community. They state, "Tragically, almost two-thirds of young children in the Los Angeles area are not able to read adequately...Failure to teach our children to read is a catastrophe of epic proportions. But it is not inevitable. We can, in fact, teach them to read, and to read well, and shame on us if we don't!

"We must replace indifference and discouragement with leadership and action. "Indifference arises from the fact that many of us do not know how bad the situation really is. Discouragement arises from the fact that some of us do know how bad things are.

"The first thing we need is leadership. We must stop accepting failure. Ninety-five percent of all children are capable of learning to read. That must become the standard we aim for and achieve....It means that every reading teacher must be qualified to teach and must be held accountable for how well he or she teaches students to read....

"The second thing that is required is action...Schoolteachers and administrators should set out specific plans for action to ensure that every child has structured, phonics-based reading instruction. Teaching children to love reading in conjunction with a strong grounding in basic symbol-to-sound-to meaning skills is wonderful. The so-called 'whole language' approach in the absence of phonics-based training is so ineffective for most students that it borders on fraud."

They then discuss their commitment which will include regular reporting in Page 1 articles on what is working and what is not. They "will publish reading test scores for every school in the Los Angeles area each year so every parent and educator can see and be held accountable for how well children are learning to read...The Times itself, between what it will do in the paper and in community activities, is committing more than $5 million in the next five years." For more information, call toll-free (877) READBY9 or visit the Times' web site at www.latimes.com.

Assembly Bill 2519
(Chapter 481, Statutes of 1998)
This statute allows the State Board of Education to add programs that are aligned with the State Board-adopted content standards to the existing lists of adopted instructional materials in reading/language arts and mathematics. The California Department of Education released a document on November 2, 1998, titled "Invitation to Submit Basic Programs and Partial Programs for Addition to the Lists of Adopted Instructional Materials in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics." This provides interested publishers and producers the information necessary to participate in the process by which programs will be added to the lists of adopted instructional materials. Hopefully this will result in more explicit, systemic phonics programs being added to the approved list for adoptions.

School Board Victory - 11/98
1995 NRRF Teacher of the Year, Sharon Kientz, was successful in her bid for a seat on the local school board in Auberry, California. Congratulations, Sharon. Keep up the good work.

L.A. schools chief mandates phonics (reported in the Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1998) - In an effort to improve dismal reading scores, the superintendent of Los Angeles schools, Ruben Zacarias, has ordered that phonics be made a mandatory part of curriculum districtwide. Results from last spring's standardized tests revealed that two-thirds of the district's third-graders could not read at grade level. Zacarias' program would put the district in sync with the state, which has embraced phonics as the foundation of reading instruction.

Zacarias' proposal requires approval by the seven-member Los Angeles Unified Board of Education and would cost $22 million over four years. It also calls for: (1) Creation of a program for early identification of struggling readers. (2) Revision of elementary school report cards to reflect phonics-based instruction. (3) Devotion of two hours each day for reading. (4) A process to identify three textbook series that all schools in the district would have to choose from, to provide consistency and continuity. (4) Developing a method to assess the needs of individual students. (5) Special training and materials for teachers.

The new policy would change the way the district implements Proposition 227, which requires that all students be taught almost entirely in English. Now, children who speak limited English don't receive formal reading instruction until they become fluent in spoken English. Zacarias' plan would ensure that formal reading instruction would not be delayed.

Teacher training bill passed - An emergency teacher training bill, AB 1086, was passed by the California legislature and signed by Governor Wilson on August 19, 1997, effective immediately. The bill: (1) Provides funds for in-service training for teachers to be spent only for programs that do not cause a reduction in pupil instructional time and that do not include teacher release time; (2) Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to develop a list of approved providers of in-service training, who would meet established criteria; and (3) Requires that funds received for in-service training be used for programs that consist of, but are not limited to, all these subjects: phoneme awareness instruction; systematic, explicit phonics instruction; decoding instruction and the diagnosis of a pupil's ability to decode; word-attack skills instruction; spelling and vocabulary instruction; explicit instruction in comprehension skills; research on how reading skills are acquired; effective integration of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

California Reading Initiative - The "Guide to the California Reading Initiative" is a valuable resource that can help other states build upon California's experience when crafting an effective procedure to bring scientifically based reading instruction into the classrooms. To order the guide, write: Comprehensive Reading Leadership Center, Sacramento County Office of Education, 9738 Lincoln Village Drive, Sacramento, CA 95827. Include a check for $6.25 with your order. California residents add 7.25% sales tax.

Colorado State Board of Education Passes Resolution
By request, Patti Johnson, Colorado State School Board Member, provided the following explanation of the background and rationale for the above resolution.
 

Bethel, Connecticut plans to introduce Saxon Phonics in all its K-2 classrooms in the fall of 1998. Congratulations to those who worked hard to bring about these changes.

National Organizations Issue Report - In June 1998, twelve national educational organizations issued a summary of a report on reading instruction titled "Every Child Reading – An Action Plan." The Learning First Alliance represents more than 10 million individuals engaged in providing, governing, and improving America’s elementary and secondary schools. This Alliance includes organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, National PTA, and the National School Boards Association. The Action Plan recommends reading instruction and policy be based on replicated research in reading instruction, phonemic awareness, formal instruction in well-sequenced systematic phonetic instruction early in first grade for all children, and reading practice using decodable text. This remarkable document is a far cry from the statement in 1981 by the National Education Association that "phonics is ready for the scrap heap." We recommend that everyone interested in improving the reading practices in their schools obtain a copy of this document and give it to their local school administrator, reading specialist, or their child’s teacher. Copies are available by calling the Learning First Alliance at (202) 822-8405 x40, or on the Internet at http://www.learningfirst.org.

Lawmakers ignore research on reading, by Lou Krane Sun—Sentinel, 11/28/99

State Reading Task Force - Florida has a state Reading Task Force which includes two NICHD (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development) researchers—Dr. Joseph Torgeson and Dr. Patricia Mathes. Torgeson and Mathes, professors at Florida State University, have been giving workshops on phonological awareness to teachers around the state.

Georgia Scores a Big Win. The school children in Georgia won a big victory on May 14, 1998 when the State Board of Education, under the leadership of Georgia State Secretary of Education, Linda Schrenko, approved an expansion of the Reading First program. In an historic vote, the Board unanimously approved the expenditure of $9 million dollars for reading instruction affecting more than one third of Georgia’s elementary schools. The most significant part of this program was that the State Board of Education approved instructional materials that correspond to the latest findings of research in reading instruction.

The Reading First program has been built through the inspiration and hard work of Dr. Cindy Cupp, Director of Reading Instruction for the state of Georgia and The National Right to Read Foundation’s 1996 Teacher of the Year. Dr. Cupp has traveled the state over the past three years, lecturing, exhorting and encouraging teachers, superintendents, principals, school board members and parents to apply reading instructional practices that work. Her efforts paid off.

From a small beginning of eight schools in the spring of 1997, Reading First will now reach 351 schools. The goal of Reading First is to have students in kindergarten through third grade reach high levels of reading achievement. Reading First schools involve students in a balanced reading program which includes explicit, direct, systematic phonics instruction and quality literature. Students in the Reading First project are tested on their reading skills tri-annually to gauge their progress and highlight areas for improvement. The results of the first two years of reading instruction in Reading First schools are just now being tabulated, and preliminary findings show marked improvement in reading ability. Here are some comments from teachers participating in the program:

• "Reading First has brought about a total teacher commitment to the improvement of reading for all students. Explicit phonics gives students the foundation to be successful in learning to read."
• "Our teachers are reporting significant improvement in their students’ phonics skills, word recognition and in understanding what they have read."
• "Children are reading, and teachers are excited. At this time of the year, the number of students recommended for ‘in danger of failing’ is approximately half when compared to last year."

The list of instructional materials approved by the Georgia State Board of Education includes: (1) Sing, Spell, Read and Write from International Learning Systems; (2) Saxon Phonics from Saxon Publishers; (3) Collections for Young Scholars from Open Court; (4) Reading Mastery from SRA/McGraw Hill; (5) Corrective Reading from SRA/McGraw Hill. For more information about Reading First, call the Georgia Department of Education at: 404-657-2526 or reach them on the Internet at http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.

We are delighted to announce that Anita Holten has been appointed to the position of NRRF Indiana State Director. Her background makes her eminently qualified.

She is an experienced first grade teacher of many years, having taught and seen first hand the essential components of an effective reading program. Her love and concern for the children motivate her in her efforts on behalf of explicit, systematic phonics instruction, which date back to 1994.

She writes to legislators, newspapers, and parent groups on reading reform and has communicated with and testified before state legislative education committees and members in Wisconsin (her previous home state) and Indiana, promoting the importance of reading teachers being trained in how to teach reading according to the findings of scientific research. An experienced public speaker and programs presenter, she networks with key reform groups' publications on the reading issue.

Paige Announces More Than $14 Million in Reading First Grants for Indiana, American Samoa Children --U.S. Department of Education, 1/17/03

A promising road map for better reading
by Anita J. Holten, Indianapolis Star -- 2/10/02

Revolution is under way in IPS schools by Andrea Neal, Indianapolis Star -- 8/23/01

Praise for reading curriculum -- by Anita J. Holten, Indianapolis Star -- 3/15/01

Measuring Elementary Teachers' Reading Instruction Skills

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Members of the Senate and House Education Committees, 2000 and 2001 Members of the 1999 Interim Study Committee on Education Issues

FROM: Thomas D. Hansen, Director of Legal and External Affairs

DATE: February 28, 2001

SUBJECT: Reading instruction skills: Progress on examination of elementary teachers

In the 2000 session of the Indiana General Assembly, P.L. 135 required the Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) to determine what written examination or other procedure will best assess the comprehensive reading instruction skills of elementary teachers seeking their first license.

I am pleased to provide this update on progress by the IPSB and volunteers working on the issue so that the requirement is met as of July 1, 2001. Dr. Judy Miller, Education Consultant in the IPSB's Division of Preservice Education, is supervising this important work.

Last fall, a panel of experts in the teaching of reading convened to review written examinations offered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) that will be available as of the effective date of P.L. 135. These experts included four teachers familiar with and experienced in reading instruction methods, including phonics and phonemic awareness; two higher education faculty who prepare elementary teachers, and Dr. Bet Kotowski, Director of Preservice Education, who is licensed as a reading specialist and has extensive experience teaching children to read.

Their unanimous recommendation was that the Reading Specialist test, to be offered by ETS beginning spring 2001, best measures the skills defined in P.L. 135.

We have worked with ETS to put Indiana's score-setting project on a fast track. A group of 13 Indiana teachers, experienced in various methods of reading instruction, met earlier this month with ETS specialists. After training, each reviewed the examination questions and identified those that should be answered correctly by a beginning elementary teacher who has graduated from an IPSB-accredited college or university. Statistical analysis of their responses has now validated their work and will generate a range of scores with at least a 95 percent probability of accurately reflecting the skill of the examinee.

A recommendation regarding passing scores should reach the IPSB's Executive Committee by mid-March, and action by the Board is now scheduled for April. Notice of intent to adopt a rule reflecting the outcome of this process was published January 1 to begin the rule-making procedures so that the final rule will be effective by July 1.

I will keep you advised of further progress. If you have any questions, please give me a call at (317) 232-9018.

Support for phonics, by Andrea Neal —Indianapolis Star, 3/3/00

ISTEP success story, Editorial, The Indianapolis Star, 1/25/00

Reading Revolution, by Anita Holten —Indianapolis Star, 1/9/00

Debating Standards, by Andrea Neal —Indianapolis Star, 11/22/99

GOP candidate calls for mandated shift to phonics, by John Kelly—
Indianapolis Star, 11/19/99

Parents Push for Better Reading To get their kids help, they organize, advocate, by Bonnie Miller Rubin, The Chicago Sun Tribune, 11/8/99

"Reading Wars," a series by chief Indianapolis Star editorial writer, Andrea Neal, March 1998 - May 1999.

Newspaper Joins Crusade - In a November 19, 1998 editorial, the Indianapolis Star joins the crusade for scientific research-based reading instruction: "At a news conference today, School Superintendent Suellen Reed will ask the legislature for $8 million over the next biennium to expand early elementary literacy programs, with a focus on Reading Recovery. Though the goal is admirable, lawmakers should look at the data, which suggests a systematic program of phonics instruction would reap better results.

"According to dozens of studies conducted over the past 20 years, children who have the hardest time learning to read are those least able to connect letters with sounds. That means they need direct instruction in sound-symbol relationships, or phonemes. But that's not what Reading Recovery provides...The program, based on whole language principles, encourages children to predict words they don't know by looking at pictures and considering context, causing the child mentioned above to say 'face' instead of 'head'...If you were sick with pneumonia, you wouldn't want a medicine that made you feel better but didn't cure you. So why are we wedded to a reading program that creates only temporary benefits for at-risk students and deprives them of the tools to ensure a life of literacy?"

We are pleased to report that NRRF Nebraska State Director, Linda Weinmaster, has moved to Lawrence, Kansas. She has agreed to assume responsibilities as NRRF Director for Kansas, as well as continuing her efforts in Nebraska.

Linda became involved with the National Right to Read Foundation in January 1994 when her first grade son, Philip, could not read. Philip was recommended for testing to receive special education services. She said no thanks to the school's testing and Special Ed program. She placed Philip in the Phoenix Academy in Omaha where he was taught to read using Spalding. In sixty-one days he was reading at the third grade level. She took her story to the school board, and they laughed her out of the board room. She went on to make presentations on the radio and TV, in newspapers, and to the State Board of Education, State Legislature, U.S. Congressmen and Senators. The school board began to listen.

In the fall of 1995, the Millard Core Academy was opened with 73 children in kindergarten, first and second grade, including Philip. The curriculum included Spalding Phonics, Open Court Readers, Saxon Math, and E. D. Hirsch Core Scope and Sequence. The original kindergarten students are now fourth graders. They just scored the top reading score in the district, an average 96%.

In January 1999, her husband received a promotion to Kansas City, and they settled in Lawrence, Kansas, in July. The school district there is entrenched with whole language using Animated Literacy, Rebecca Sitton, and Read Naturally.

She is continuing to tutor children in reading in Kansas, as she had done in Nebraska, and she is also working to bring scientifically based reading instruction into her new home state.

1/24/01
NRRF's Kansas State Director, Linda Weinmaster's two excellent letters to the editor have been published in the Lawrence Journal-World. The first, on December 14, 2000, very succinctly addresses the causes and cure for illiteracy in "straight talk." The second on January 24, 2001, is a clear and concise explanation of the wasted lives and tax dollars which result from the use of scientifically invalid methods to try to teach students to read.

Letters to The Editor
Lawrence Journal-World
Reading equality
Wednesday, January 24, 2001

To the editor:

I have a simple solution to the current out-of-control special education spending and low reading scores. Teach all children to read using empirical research-based methods. To meet ALL children's learning styles, we must use a multi-sensory approach that includes intensive, systematic, explicit phonics.

The current eclectic approach used in the Lawrence school district is a direct correlation to the poor test scores and number of students labeled as learning disabled. The district program does not follow the principles of a comprehensive reading program recommended by The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, renowned, national reading experts. School officials insist that their reading program includes phonics. If a restaurant owner blended a teaspoon of hamburger into a gallon of chili soup, his customer would ask "Where's the beef?"

According to Dr. G. Reid Lyon, chief of the Child Health and Human Development branch of the National Institutes of Health, "The increases in special education can be attributed to poor teaching in the general education classroom. We are talking about special education without talking about the deficiencies in the regular education that give rise to those conditions in the first place." He also contends that the learning disabilities (LD) classification is invalid because a vast majority of the children so designated have conditions that can be prevented with effective teaching strategies.

If we use intensive, systematic, explicit phonics first to teach ALL children to read, the dollars intended for those with physical, mental and emotional disabilities would be plentiful. Special education is filled with curriculum-disabled children labeled learning-disabled. This is costly to the taxpayers as well as the children's self esteem. We can solve illiteracy by following the endless scientific research on the best practices, including intensive, systematic phonics in every classroom.

The choice of inadequate curriculum has helped create inequality in our schools. Those who have the resources can hire tutors to teach their children what they have failed to learn in school. Those who do not have the economic resources continue to fall further behind. Equality among our schools must begin with teaching methods that work for ALL.

Linda Weinmaster
Lawrence, Kansas

Phonics is key
Thursday, December 14, 2000

To the editor:

I'm also frightened about the increasing number of illiterates. This disease affects all citizens and can be cured by intensive, systematic, explicit phonics instruction. What is more frightening to me is the way teachers colleges ignore the scientific research! According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, only about 10 percent of the nation's elementary teachers have been taught the skills required to teach phonics effectively. We must train our dedicated teachers and staff with research based methods of reading.

The latest empirical research confirms the importance of teaching all children with explicit phonics. Many educators say whole languages is out. Visit any first- or second-grade classroom and you will see whole language is alive and well entrenched into our schools as a balanced program. For example, drop everything and read, look at the pictures, skip a word and go back, silent reading, chunk it, get mouth ready, slide, point at the word, think about the story, and inventive spelling can be observed in most classrooms as decoding and reading strategies.

These are in fact core instructional activities of a whole language curriculum and do not follow the essential components of effective, comprehensive reading programs. The epidemic is illiteracy, the diagnoses is reading failure, the cure is intensive, systematic, explicit phonics instruction to afford equal reading opportunity for all children.

Linda Weinmaster, Lawrence, Kansas

Reports from Linda Weinmaster, NRRF Kansas State Director

11/1/2000
Conferences were held last week, I wonder how many children have been sentenced to Special Education because they can't read. I have already received 4 calls from 1st grade parents for tutoring. Looks like I will continue tutoring until the schools get it right. I have a speaking engagement at a parent meeting later this month on my favorite topic.
Thanks for keeping me updated.

7/21/2000
Things are starting to happen in Lawrence. We have lost our top 2 administrators ( the anti phonics group). The interim replacements are interested in improving reading scores. When the interim assistant superintendent went to visit the Core Academy in Omaha, he said he has never seen better in his entire career. He was so impressed that ALL kindergartners were reading at Thanksgiving.
I just finished my summer school (tutoring), and the parents are shocked at the gains their children made in 30 hours with Spalding. I hope to train several teachers before the school year starts.

Schools give phonics plan cold shoulder, by Tim Carpenter
—Lawrence Journal-World, 12/21/99

Kentucky Receives 13.7 Million Reading First Grant
--U.S. Department of Education, 4/28/03

Baltimore Sun Articles
An August 22 article in the Baltimore Sun reports on Baltimore County's progress. "Baltimore County first- and second-graders posted sharp improvements during the 1997-1998 school year--gains that county educators attribute to the district's phonics-intensive reading program. Eighty-five percent of first- and second-graders were reading at or above grade level by spring--an increase of more than 20 percentage points from the start of the school year. The improvements occurred at every one of the county's 100 elementary schools... County educators say the increases during the school year provide evidence that solid reading instruction can overcome even poverty. More than 26 percent of Baltimore County school children come from families considered to be low-income." According to an August 25 Baltimore Sun article, state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick "expects Baltimore County's gains to be duplicated in school districts across Maryland as the state's effort to add more phonics to early reading instruction takes hold and teachers receive more and better training."

The Reading Institute The Reading Institute is a new reading partnership between the Maryland State Education Department, Johns Hopkins University, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Designed to apply the latest brain research to teaching and learning, the partnership very likely will apply for a grant through the newly passed federal Reading Excellence Act. The focus of the newly formed partnership is to make reading research "teacher friendly", thus helping to assure that the application of scientific research findings makes its way into the classroom.

Open Court approved - On May 12, 1998, the Baltimore School Board voted to implement an explicit, systematic phonics reading program (Open Court) for grades K-2, following weeks of debate.

Baltimore Sun series - The Baltimore Sun newspaper published a four-part series titled Reading by 9 on November 2 - 5, 1997. This comprehensive coverage of reading education today dealt with a different aspect in each part as follows: "Part One—Many children aren’t learning to read properly, and it doesn’t have to be that way." "Part Two—Research backs reading instruction that begins with teaching the sounds that make up words." "Part Three—Among school districts, schools and even classrooms within the same school, methods of reading instruction often vary widely." "Part Four—Most teacher-training colleges don’t prepare their graduates to teach beginning reading." For a reprint of this series for $7.95 plus tax, call (410) 332-6800.

Paige Announces $15.3 Million in Reading First Grants for Massachusetts Children --U.S. Department of Education, 10/2/02

In February 1997, the Massachusetts Board of Education adopted a Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts called "Early Literacy: Success in Reading by Grade Three." The lead paragraph states, "The Massachusetts Board of Education is committed to ensuring that all students become effective readers by the end of third grade. Children's success at reading becomes the measure that schools, families, and children themselves use in determining whether or not they are adjusting to school and learning how to learn. The goal of well-conceived beginning reading programs is to have students reading beginning materials by the middle of first grade, reading at grade level by the end of third grade, and making continual grade-level progress thereafter."

Leslie, Michigan Update - April 21, 2000
More good news. Last Monday, April 10th, I was informed at our monthly teacher/parent meeting that all of the kindergartners are now reading at a first grade level or better! This is wonderful news. As you already know, White Pine Academy is using Reading Mastery. The school still does not use or plan to use any pull out programs such as Reading Recovery or HOSTS, which are commonly used in the state. Both teachers and children are beaming with pride at their accomplishments. The school's successes are being noticed also, as our enrollment for next year is increasing. Thank you once again for all the research information that has helped us to choose DI (direct instruction). It has made a positive impact in our community.
Jerry Miller
NRRF Leslie , MI Chapter

Phonics finds favor in Michigan schools --Booth Newspapers, 8/19/02

Leslie, Michigan Parents' Solution Works! - December 12, 1999
NRRF Note: The following report from the newly founded Charter School is producing exactly the results we expected when "those poor children whose parents don't read to them", who supposedly wouldn't be able to learn to read, finally were given reading instruction based on scientific research!

"As for our Charter School everything is coming along great. All 24 of our first graders are at or above 1st grade reading level! The rest of the grades are showing like results. The older students (WL impaired) are even making big gains. And this is being accomplished without any pull-out programs. The kids love the DI (Direct Instruction), and the teachers really support it now that they are seeing results."
Jerry Miller
NRRF Leslie, MI Chapter

Leslie, Michigan Parents Find a Way

Bill Introduced in House - State Representative Charlie Smith introduced HB 1663 in the House on January 19, 1998. The bill would mandate that any curriculum in the Mississippi public schools for Grades K-3 shall include but not be limited to the following research-based reading instruction: (1) Direct instruction in phonemic awareness; (2) Direct, systematic, explicit instruction in sound-symbol relationships (phonics); (3) Direct instruction and practice in blending the sound-symbols into words; (4) Ample practice in reading decodable text (text in which at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the words use only previously taught sound-symbol relationships); and (5) Instruction in reading comprehension, first using interesting teacher-read stories and then applying acquired comprehension skills to decodable text.

Linda became involved with the National Right to Read Foundation in January 1994 when her first grade son, Philip, could not read. Philip was recommended for testing to receive special education services. She said no thanks to the school's testing and Special Ed program. She placed Philip in the Phoenix Academy in Omaha where he was taught to read using Spalding. In sixty-one days he was reading at the third grade level. She took her story to the school board, and they laughed her out of the board room. She went on to make presentations on the radio and TV, in newspapers, and to the State Board of Education, State Legislature, U.S. Congressmen and Senators. The school board began to listen.

In the fall of 1995, the Millard Core Academy was opened with 73 children in kindergarten, first and second grade, including Philip. The curriculum included Spalding Phonics, Open Court Readers, Saxon Math, and E. D. Hirsch Core Scope and Sequence. The original kindergarten students are now fourth graders. They just scored the top reading score in the district, an average 96%.

In January 1999, her husband received a promotion to Kansas City, and they settled in Lawrence, Kansas, in July. However, she has agreed to continue helping in Nebraska, until someone else is able to assume the responsibility. The following letter to the editor gives an idea of what she has accomplished in Nebraska:

"Watch Dog Leaving", a letter to the editor of the Omaha World Herald by Lisa Murphy of Omaha on June 17, 1999.
This month a local hero will depart our city, but not without leaving a legacy. Linda Weinmaster who is moving, has been a tireless watchdog in the local and state school systems. Her research and advocacy in the area of phonics education laid the groundwork for the Millard Core program as well as the state board recommendation that children be taught to read phonetically.

Every parent in this town, and especially those involved in the Core program in Millard, owes Linda a thank-you note for doing the dirty work on behalf of our children. She was willing to state her case in any venue, regardless of the cost to herself. Would that we all had her courage and conviction. Linda, we thank you and we will miss you. Farewell.

Midlands Voices: Phonics often cures the 'learning disabled', 9/5/01

Board Adopts New Policy - The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a new policy for reading and writing on October 10, 1997. It states in part, "Establishing a foundation for effective reading is one of the most important functions of schools. Schools will teach systematic phonics in grades K-3. In addition to systematic phonics, students will read and write extensively to apply and develop the reading skills they have learned, including spelling, grammar, and penmanship. The board supports teacher training in systematic phonics and in the use of a variety of skills and techniques for teaching children to read." The State Board approved a set of voluntary standards for K-1 which include having students learn the 70 most common phonograms, but rejected the opportunity to adopt a strong set of K-12 language arts standards based upon the Texas Alternative Document (TAD). On January 20, 1998, State Senator Kate Witek of Omaha submitted LB 977 to mandate systematic phonics in grades K-2. The bill has been referred to the Education Committee for its first hearing.

FROM CARSON CITY, NEVADA:
Action on The Nevada Reading Excellence Act, AB 294

—First week of April 1999, the Nevada Assembly Education Committee voted not to approve the Nevada Reading Excellence Act,  so the bill is dead for this session.  However the issue isn't dead for Nevada.

—March 29, 1999, a full day of hearings were held on AB 294, a phonics bill introduced February 22, 1999, in the Nevada Assembly by Assemblywoman, Sharron Angle.  The day began with an hour long meeting with newly elected Governor Kenneth Guinn.  Robert Sweet, Jr., professional staff member on the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee, joined Sharron Angle along with Penny Brock,  Legislative Consultant to Angle,  in briefing Governor Guinn on AB 294.  Following that briefing there was an opportunity for them to testify on the same bill before the Nevada Senate Labor Committee.

In the afternoon, joining Angle, Sweet, and Brock testifying in favor of AB 294 before the Nevada Assembly Education Committee, were  two members of the Nevada State Board of Education, the Nevada State Superintendent of Instruction, Spokesman for the Clark County School District, a Washoe County Trustee, a Professor of Education from a local university, and several parents.  In all hearings the testimony was very favorably received. Even the NEA representative didn't come out in opposition but offered qualifying suggestions.

The bill was introduced as an amendment to current legislation and "revises provisions regarding literacy in public schools."   It reads in part, "AN ACT relating to education; prohibiting the state board of education and the boards of trustees of school districts from adopting courses of study in reading that are not based upon scientific research and that do not include explicit systematic phonics instruction; revising provisions governing the approval of certain courses of study and training for teachers; requiring the governor and the department of education to comply with the Federal Act that provides grants of money for literacy programs;..."  The bill adopts the definitions of "reading" and "scientifically-based reading research" that were hammered out in the negotiations on the federal Reading Excellence Act.

The current legislative session ends April 20 so the decision will be made soon whether to report the bill out of the  Education Committee for a vote by the full House and then by the Senate.  Prospects for its passage look very promising.

—State Director Penny Brock reports that phonics supporter Sharron Angle was elected to the Nevada Assembly from District 29. Penny is cooperating with Sharron in developing literacy legislation for Nevada. A teacher for 25 years, Angle is uniquely qualified to help make an impact in this important area.

She heard about NRRF, became educated about what her son needed, hired a tutor to teach him systematic phonics, and then became a tutor herself. Her son is excelling now and wants to be a paleontologist! Taking a kindergarten teacher position, she began to incorporate what she had learned about phonics instruction into teaching reading. Every child in Cathy's class of 20, by the end of April of that year, was able to independently read any long/short vowel book with words that included triple consonant blends, digraphs, diphthongs, double consonant blends, and more.

News of Cathy's success as well as her perspective on teaching reading has brought her invitations to speak to groups around the state and newspaper interviews. The parents of the students in her classes and of the nine additional children she tutors after school, are among her most ardent supporters. Cathy represents the thousands of dedicated teachers who are providing students with the fundamental building blocks of literacy. Because she cares so deeply for the students who, like her son, have been abandoned by the school system, she has joined the efforts of NRRF to bring research-validated reading instruction back to New Jersey's schools by becoming the volunteer NRRF state director of New Jersey.

Special note of interest: Cathy has developed a fun learning tool to help kindergartners learn their short vowels—a cuddly teddy bear called Vowel Bear. For more information visit her Web site at www.holly-kinsbears.com.

West Milford New Jersey Parent Demands Scientifically Based Reading Instruction -- West Milford, 11/5/03

Phonics Legislation Introduced in the General Assembly, 6/22/00

In Sparta, New Jersey, Ron Bassani won the 1998 race for a seat on the school board. He and other newly elected school board members are swelling the ranks of those already laboring around the country to provide research validated reading instruction for the students in their care.

FROM SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO:
PASSAGE OF PRO-PHONICS BILL HB 864

  —On March 19, House Bill 864 passed the New Mexico Legislature with bi-partisan support.  It was introduced by Representative Manuel Herrara and twelve other representatives and now waits the expected signature of the Governor.  NRRF New Mexico State Director, Macario Chavez worked tirelessly to gain support for and passage of the bill, repeatedly traveling back and forth 330 miles one way from his home in southern New Mexico to the state capital at Santa Fe.

It is described as "An act relating to education; requiring teaching of basic literacy skills in grades one through three; requiring certain teacher certification requirements."  The significant portion reads:  "All first, second and third grade classes shall provide daily instruction in direct, systematic and intensive phonics instruction, including:  (1) the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, their forty-four sounds and seventy or more blends of letters in a systematic manner from part to whole to a point of complete familiarity; and (2) by third grade level, a reading fluency sufficient to allow reading an unfamiliar selection at their grade level with better than ninety-five percent accuracy."  It also has a teacher certification requirement of six hours in direct, systematic and intensive phonics.

Macario reports that when things were tough and others were not willing to stand with him, he remembered that it was "for the children".  He himself was not taught to read as a child and was determined that should not be the fate of the children of today.

—Robert W. Sweet, Jr., former president of NRRF, was the guest speaker at a Right to Read Conference on November 15, 1997 at Western New Mexico University. The conference was sponsored by Macario Chavez, NRRF State Director, and by Cobre Schools. Bob encouraged educators and parents to measure their schools’ reading instruction by whether it can be supported by valid, replicable research. Macario is valiantly working along with others in New Mexico to secure for the students of his state the opportunity to achieve that most basic skill—the ability to read. He knows from past personal experience the devastating reality of trying to succeed without it.

The Education-School Alchemists -- The New York Sun, 2/6/04
   Also see response: Future at Stake -- The New York Sun, 2/12/04

New York's Continuing Phonics Saga -- New York Post Online, 1/12/04

Tragedy Looms for Gotham’s School Reform -- City Journal, Autumn 2003

New York's New Approach -- New York Times, 8/3/03

Selection of a Systematic Phonics Program for NYC Students, 2/4/03

Mayor Bloomberg's Test: Teaching the Teachers How to Teach Reading -- New York Times, 8/23/02

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), meeting in their 1998 Representative Assembly, called upon the state, its leaders, schools, and citizens — and its own members — to undertake a comprehensive New York State Reading Initiative including the goal of every healthy child born in 1998 reading at or above the basic level on NAEP by age nine and every child now in elementary school graduating from high school a reader. To accomplish these goals they urge New York State to use reading practices grounded in research, and provide staff development and high quality materials. They call upon the Board of Regents and Commissioner of Education to follow California's example and that of other states by developing and adopting grade-by-grade content standards and curricula regarding the teaching of reading, beginning with preschool and kindergarten; this includes "providing guidance for teachers by clearly defining what is to be taught and when, and by establishing benchmarks for schools to use in evaluating each child's progress and needs for extra help". There are many more recommendations which, if followed, will go a long way toward providing effective reading instruction for New York's children.

The Dunkirk School System of Chautauqua County, New York adopted in 1998 the phonics-based Action Reading program, after conducting a pilot program in 1997.

Welcome to our new North Carolina State Director, Fern Shubert. Fern is a CPA who recently served four years in the North Carolina General Assembly. As a representative, she co-sponsored the Excellent Schools Act, co-chaired the House Education Committee, was responsible for stopping the state from collecting sales tax from public schools, and co-chaired the Education Issues Study Committee. Her work on the Study Committee led to her involvement with NRRF, because one of the studies was a comparison of phonics versus whole language. The evidence compiled in that study led to legislation ending the Department of Public Instruction's mandate for the exclusive use of whole language in teaching reading in NC. The ABC's bill Fern helped pass required the development of a new plan "based on reading instructional practices for which there is strong evidence of effectiveness in existing empirical scientific research studies on reading development" and required "early and systematic phonics instruction" since that is what research shows is most effective. Since the passage of the bill, Fern has worked to encourage its implementation, and that is why she was happy to join NRRF as NC Division director.

The North Carolina 2001 legislative budget bill, S1005, was amended with the following language focusing on improving reading achievement for beginning readers:
SECTION 28.30.(b) The State Board of Education shall report its plan to include measurement of "closing the achievement gap" in educational growth in student performance for each school to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by January 15, 2002.

SECTION 28.30.(c) G.S. 115C-105.27 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

Teach Reading by the End of First Grade, Press release and bill, 4/5/01

OhioReads test scores have fallen after 2 years;
But a number of educators see benefits to Taft's pet program, The Plain Dealer 10/06/02

Reading Recovery Bites the Dust in Columbus, Ohio —Investors Business Daily Editorial, 4/1/99

Funding Maintained - Jim Charles, NRRF Ohio State Director, reports that the Ohio Senate is maintaining funding for the Phonics Grant in the 1998 Ohio budget (Substitute House Bill 215). Twenty percent of a $1,666,1333 teacher training budget allocated to the Department of Education is designated for continuing a phonics demonstration project created via Substitute House Bill 81.

The Reading Sufficiency Act - This act is intended to ensure that all children master necessary reading skills by the end of the third grade. Beginning in the 1998-99 school year, the reading skills of all first- and second-grade public school students must be assessed on an on-going basis using multiple assessments. Students not reading at grade level must be provided with a program of intensive instruction designed to remedy reading deficiencies.

Reading task force - In 1997, State Representative Carolyn Coleman began work on a resolution to create a Task Force to: (1) Assess childrens' reading levels; (2) Assess reading programs used in Oklahoma schools; (3) Identify effective programs for teaching elementary students to read; and (4) Make recommendations for legislative or other action needed to assure effective reading programs are implemented.

Oklahoma City approves phonics - As reported on May 9, 1997 in the Oklahoma City newspaper: "The Oklahoma City School Board has followed up on its new policy declaring reading as the district's No. 1 teaching priority by approving (7-0), a no-nonsense action plan mandating a switch to phonics. All elementary teachers from kindergarten through the third grade will be required to take 45 hours of training in the phonics system of teaching reading, to go into effect next school year...Students failing to learn to read at grade level will be given additional, intensified reading instruction above other curricula until they have reached their appropriate level reading skills. School Superindentent Marvin Crawford said of the school district's recent curriculum audit, 'We determined that the predominant approach to reading instruction in our schools was whole language. We further determined that this was unacceptable.'" Oklahoma City's children will be the beneficiaries of this bold action!

The 70th Oregon Legislative Assembly — 1999 Regular Session, on April 15 passed House Bill 3305, sponsored by Representative Sunseri and 14 other Representatives and three Senators.
Sunseri was the sponsor of the 1997 phonics bill which was vetoed by the Governor.  The vote for HB3305 was 40 - 18 on April 15, 1999. It has yet to pass the Senate and be signed by the Governor.  It states:
A Bill for an Act Relating to Phonics.
Be It Enacted by the people of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. (1) The State Board of Education shall include instructional materials on explicit phonics with decodable text on the statewide list of instructional materials adopted for inclusion in the reading instruction programs for kindergarten through grade two.
(2) Each school district shall provide instructional materials on explicit phonics with decodable text from which classroom teachers may select for use as part of the reading instruction program in kindergarten through grade two.

HB 2701 Passes - State Representatives Ron Sunseri and Starr introduced a phonics bill, HB 2701, which passed on June 12, 1997. The bill states, "...School districts shall include the use of explicit systematic phonics instruction with decodable text as part of the Oregon districts' reading education program in kindergarten through grade two."

Pennsylvania will receive a $28.1 million grant award, authorized under the Reading First program, to help districts and schools improve student achievement in reading through the application of scientifically based reading research. Reading First will help States, districts and schools apply this research -- and the proven instructional and assessment tools consistent with this research -- to ensure that all children can read at grade level or above by the end of third grade.

Pennsylvania will use about $22.4 million of the grant to make subgrant awards to approximately 156 schools in eligible districts. These subgrants will allow schools to implement research-based reading programs for students in kindergarten through third grade and to provide professional development to ensure that all teachers have the skills they need to teach these programs effectively. Additionally, the program will support the use of instructional assessments so that teachers can effectively screen and identify the reading barriers facing their students, as well as monitor their progress.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will integrate Reading First with its statewide infrastructure for improvement of early literacy. The Governor, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, has convened a Reading Leadership Team to ensure a seamless, complementary approach to reading achievement throughout the State.

Pennsylvania plans to begin making subgrant awards in fall 2002. As part of the State’s professional development plan, the State will utilize a tiered system to build capacity within its regional structures and schools implementing Reading First programs. To ensure that all educators have the skills needed to implement scientifically based reading instruction, the State has drafted a set of competencies for targeted groups based on their roles in the implementation process. The State will closely monitor the progress of schools and districts participating in Reading First, and will conduct a longitudinal evaluation of its program.

Pennsylvania’s Reading First plan has been approved for a six-year period, subject to demonstration of progress and Congressional appropriations. Over the course of the grant, the State will receive approximately $184 million to ensure that all children learn to read well and that no child is left behind.
 

Southern Regional Education Board - In November 1997, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), representing fifteen southern states, issued a report describing a flurry of new reading legislation in the SREB region during 1997. The report states: "This is a reflection of a growing sense of urgency about helping children who are having problems with reading. In several states, the legislation includes the need to provide direct instruction in phonics. It is also a response to the large and growing body of research showing that many children who fail to learn to read do so because they fail to master the building blocks of written language, specifically awareness of the alphabet and of the 44 phonemes—sounds formed by letters and combinations of letters—that make up the English language." The SREB report includes information from Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.

Report provided by Marilyn Prokup of Texas
Master Reading Teacher Program. 3/3/00

Fort Worth school official has confidence in teaching method, by Michelle Melendez—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2/5/00

New reading program improves test scores in Fort Worth, by Michelle Melendez—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2/5/00

Phonics: It is a legitimate teaching method, not a right-wing conspiracy,
by Lynne Cheney—Dallas Morning News, 11/14/99

State revises 1st grade books, by R. A. Dyer—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11/5/99

State education board orders more phonics in textbooks
Publishers protest last-minute change, by Terrence Stutz—The Dallas Morning News, 11/5/99

S.O.S.—TEXAS' CHILDREN'S FUTURE HANGS IN THE BALANCE
"Texas' Next Generation" by Donna Garner

Reading programs funded - As part of his statewide reading initiative, Governor Bush asked the legislature to provide new funds for intensive reading programs. The legislature responded by appropriating $32 million for that purpose over the current biennium. The funds may be used in part to implement research-based reading programs. In separate legislation, the Commissioner of Education was directed to adopt a list of instruments for diagnosing problems in reading development and comprehension by August 1, 1998. Any instrument must be based on scientific research about reading skills development and comprehension. Other states reporting similar activities include Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia.

Texas Alternative Document (TAD) - In 1997, a number of leading researchers and Texas classroom teachers under the leadership of Donna Garner, a classroom teacher for over 26 years, developed a sensible alternative to the "mushy wording" of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) supported by the Texas Education Association. A Harvard professor who helped write the Massachusetts standards, described the Texas Alternative Document (TAD) as "the finest standards document in the country." The TAD, which provides curriculum requirements, is knowledge-based, which means that its skills are measurable and could be graded objectively. Local school districts can then choose curriculums that meet the requirements. In contrast, the TEKS are so broadly worded that school districts would be forced into subjectively graded assessments. Sadly, in a July 1997 vote, the Texas State School Board rejected the TAD in favor of the TEKS by a vote of nine to six. However the TAD is still a model worthy of duplication in other states and school districts; you can find it on the Internet at http://www.educationnews.org/texas_alternative_document.htm.

Fort Worth teacher training - "In no-nonsense terms, trustees and the school superintendent told teachers last night (November 12, 1997) that if they don’t get with the phonics-based reading program mandated last year, they should start looking for other jobs. Superintendent Thomas Tocco won board approval to spend about $200,000 to retrain about 200 elementary school teachers who are not using the district’s 18-month-old ‘reading initiative’, which aims to teach students to read fluently by the end of second grade." This quote is from the Star Telegram newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fairfax, Virginia Phonics vs Whole Language Cease-fire Ends

Textbook adoption - In Fairfax County, four reading series are under review to be adopted as reading textbooks: "Signatures" by Harcourt Brace, "Literacy Tree" by Rigby, "Book Shop" by Mondo, and "Collections for Young Scholars" by Open Court/SRA/McGraw-Hill. Only "Collections for Young Scholars" teaches systematic, explicit phonics. At the invitation of four pro-phonics school board members, reading researcher Dr. Louisa Moats spoke on November 4th, 1998, telling board members that the research shows that an explicit phonics-based reading approach works. The Fairfax County School Board will vote to approve new reading textbooks on December 3, 1998.

Reading Competency Test - In the fall of 1997, second graders at a Loudoun County private school, who had been instructed with a well-known whole language program during first grade, were tested with the NRRF's Reading Competency Test. Results showed only three students in the entire class had mastered the basic letter/sound relationships. And those three students had received extensive phonics instruction from their parents! As a result of this startling finding, the principal took immediate action and switched to an explicit, systematic phonics program. After just two weeks of this research-based instruction, the teacher said, "They’re finally getting it!"

Why don't you print our Reading Competency Test and find out how the students at your school are reading?

Paige Announces $13.1 Million in Reading First Grants for Washington Children --U.S. Department of Education, 10/2/02

Reading bill passed - E2SSB 6509, which originated in the Washington State House of Representatives as HB2419, was passed by the State Senate in Spring 1998 and became law. The bill provides $9 million for training of teachers in the lowest performing schools with "primary emphasis on specified beginning reading instructional strategies" that follow the findings of scientific research. Schools that have the greatest number of students scoring lowest on the reading component of the statewide standardized test, receive priority for funding until June 1, 1998. After that, funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Testing bill passes - A bill that provides for testing of second graders' reading accuracy and fluency skills passed the legislature in May 1997. The bill, Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2042, was sponsored by State Representatives Peggy Johnson, Talcott, and Hickel. The Superintendent of Public Instruction must create a pilot project to identify which tests will be included in the testing program. Starting in the 1998-1999 school year, school districts must select a test to be given throughout the entire school district for at least three years. Students who fall substantially below grade level must be re-tested at least once. Schools must notify parents about the results, notify parents what actions the school will take to improve the child's reading, and provide parents with strategies to help the parents improve their child's score. In addition, the Superintendent of Public Instruction must establish a primary-grade reading grant program. This program will train teachers in teaching methods based on quantitative research and assist all students in beginning reading.

Literacy Bill Introduced - On February 4, 1998, bipartisan legislation titled the "Literacy Restoration Act" (SB 394) was introduced in the Senate and will soon be introduced in the House of Delegates. This bill requires that systematic phonics be taught in grades K-3 in public schools and that prospective reading teachers complete a one-year course in systematic phonics. The bill requires in-service training in intensive systematic phonics for reading teachers and appropriates funds for that training. The Charleston Gazette, distributed statewide, published an editorial in support of phonics as a way to foster literacy. "In West Virginia, the state Department of Education urges the 55 county systems to apply ‘sound it out’ in kindergarten and early grades, when rudimentary skills are being acquired—then apply ‘read to learn’ in higher grades after basics are mastered."

Wisconsin Grassroots Parents Organization—offers help and direction for those in Wisconsin who wish to facilitate change in their communities.

Phonemic Awareness Bill Introduced - State Representative Mark Duff introduced Assembly Bill 413 on June 10, 1997, co-sponsored by thirteen other Representatives and three State Senators. The bill is "an Act to amend 115.80 (3)(b) of the statues; relating to evaluating children with learning disabilities for phonemic awareness." An analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau explains that "current law requires a multi-disciplinary team appointed by the school board of the district in which a child resides, to evaluate the child if there is reasonable cause to believe that the child has exceptional needs. This (new) bill provides that if the multi-disciplinary team determines that a child has a learning disability, it must also evaluate the child's phonemic awareness and whether the child's lack of phonemic awareness has contributed to the child's learning disability."