A proposal to redefine literacy standards for South Dakota educators has advanced from the House Education committee.
Proponents say it’s a return to traditional phonic education with proven outcomes.
House Bill 1022 was introduced at the request of the state Department of Education to reassess the reading and writing education offered to public school students.
This would require a $6 million investment to retrain the state’s educators.
State Education Secretary Joe Graves described the proposal as returning to phonics-based education based on the Science of Reading’s five components.
“First, phonetic awareness, which is to help students understand that symbols on a page can translate into specific sounds," Graves said. "Phonics, teaching the students the sounds letter combinations make. Vocabulary, teaching children the meaning of words. Fluency, helping children make decoding words through phonics increasingly automatic, and finally comprehension, helping children reach understanding of the meaning of words, sentences, paragraphs, etcetera.”
The "whole language" approach in contrast argues teaching complete words, rather than the phonetic pieces of words, is a more effective pathway to literacy. Graves argued that system failed.
“Proficiency rates among children in literacy fell," Graves said. "As whole language instruction dominated American schools, it quickly became clear that elementary schools filled with whole language teaching resulted in Johnny being unable to read.”
It’s a proposal supported by multiple education lobbies in the state, including the state Large School Group. Lobbyist and former teacher Diana Miller said phonic education serves as a student’s baseline.
"The fact of the matter is, without that basis you really harm students when they start out in their educational process," Miller said. "That is the basis for everything, reading, understanding, and being able to interpret. I think this bill going through to appropriations and getting through the process is very, very necessary.”
The bill was advanced to the joint committee on appropriations on a unanimous vote.