A bill to tackle Indiana’s literacy crisis is headed to the governor's desk. The measure passed by the House Tuesday works to identify students in fourth through eighth grade who aren’t reading at their level.
Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) said the legislation is a companion to other reading bills being considered by the General Assembly.
“ Senate Bill 6 actually takes that step into looking at what we can do for kids who have been left behind, so to speak,” Behning said.
The bill mandates the Indiana Department of Education identify these students and develop guidance for schools to help them.
During committee testimony, Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said the bill helps the state leverage data from standardized testing like ILEARN assessments.
Jenner also said the department is working on a plan with philanthropic funding to provide wraparound services to help students.
"So, our middle school and high school teachers are–are certainly, as they should be, echoing that statement of, 'we have students not reading in our classrooms and yet we’re not sure exactly what to do,'" Jenner said.
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Jenner said she sees that problem as a high school teacher.
"I've shared this very honestly – I was never taught how to teach kids how to read as a high school teacher. And yet, I had kids in my class who couldn’t read," she said.
If signed by the governor, the Department of Education would begin that work in the 2024-2025 school year.
Lauren is our digital editor. Contact her at lchapman@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @laurenechapman_ .
