‘We know that the state of Wisconsin has lost ground in terms of our reading outcomes,’ Whitewater superintendent said
Rob Ferrett: What does Act 20 say?
Caroline Pate-Hefty: Wisconsin Act 20 has changed the landscape of what’s going to be required in literacy. Act 20 is a really exciting thing for educators, but it has some really intense deadlines and mandatory requirements around literacy. The intention of this state law is to bring us up because our reading levels are unacceptable.
Act 20 affects kindergarten through third grade. Last year, we focused on kindergarten through fifth grade at Whitewater. All of our teachers were trained in the science of reading and its implementation. Our principals were trained on coaching on the implementation.
We started with 26 percent of our students being on target in the Forward Examassessment. We closed the first year of intense implementation with 55 percent of our students being on target for utilizing the science of reading. That’s really what Act 20 is going to require.
RF: What is the science of reading approach?
CPH: I always say the science of reading isn’t an ideology. It’s not a philosophy. It’s certainly not a political agenda. It’s really a consensus among educators. In education, we based the science of reading on thousands of meta analyses on how kids read.
