A two-year-old Georgia law requiring teachers to use the “science of reading” in their lessons has led to literacy gains in the state’s lowest-performing schools.
House Bill 538, which passed unanimously in the state House of Representatives and with just one ‘no’ vote in the Senate, called on the state agency to overhaul teacher training and develop new literacy tests.
The Georgia Department of Education responded last fall by sending literacy coaches to 60 schools that had been performing in the bottom 5%. Scores on the new reading tests improved 15%, with the strongest gains in kindergarten, according to the agency.
The law required all public schools and school systems to provide on-site teacher training, with model lessons for students and prompt instructional feedback. It also required all teachers in kindergarten through third grade to complete literacy training by the beginning of this month. The education department says coaches reached 1,000 teachers and affected 18,000 students.
