State gets grant to improve literacy

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas has made a strong commitment to making sure that children learn to read at an early age, and the federal government has recognized our efforts with a grant of $38 million to improve literacy.

The money will be sent to Arkansas over the next five years. It is the highest amount possible in the category of literacy grants distributed by the U.S. Education Department.

The state began its statewide reading initiative in 2017, when the legislature approved Act 1063. Also known as the “Right to Read Act,” it requires more rigorous teacher training in the science of literacy, especially for elementary school teachers.

Legislators followed up with passage of Act 83 of 2019. It requires school districts to follow a specific plan for training teachers in the science of literacy, and the plan must be tailored to the district’s literacy needs.

The state will use the grant to strengthen its overall literacy instruction and build a culture of reading, with an emphasis on helping children who are disadvantaged. They may be living in poverty or they may have a disability or they may need extra help learning English.

The state Education Department has labeled its literacy program R.I.S.E. That stands for Reading Initiative for Student Excellence.

Since it began in 2017, more than 6,000 Arkansas teachers in K-6 have received training in literacy instruction, and more than 3,000 teachers in K-12 have gone through intensive training in the science of reading.

Phonics is a main component of the science of reading. The focus of R.I.S.E is to provide more explicit phonics instruction. One goal is to get away from predictable texts that have lots of pictures.

Instead, instruction will focus on decoding new words, teaching students to look at words and sound them out before relying on pictures for visual clues.

The amount that each school receives will depend on its enrollment. This year, a smaller school got $6,000 and a larger one received $90,000.

••• Editor’s note: Arkansas Sen. Cecile Bledsoe represents the third district. From Rogers, Sen. Bledsoe is chair of the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.