Oklahoma state lawmakers have voted in overwhelming numbers to require focused intervention for grade-school students who are struggling in reading, with third-grade retention mandated as a last resort.

The legislation largely duplicates a highly successful program used in Mississippi that has achieved national acclaim, and it also reinstates many provisions used successfully in Oklahoma prior to 2015.

“This, I believe, is going to be a bill and legislation that we will be able to look back on—if we stick with it—five and 10 years from now and remember when we planted a flag in the ground to have better outcomes for our kids,” said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow. “And we know, based on science, based on data, based on what other states have done, if we do this and if we stick with it, accompanied with the other reforms that we’ve made in education, that our outcomes will improve for the kids in Oklahoma.”

Senate Bill 1778, by state Sen. Adam Pugh and Hilbert, strengthens the state’s Strong Readers Act, giving teachers additional training and support and directing more resources to helping students learn to read.

The legislation states, “It is the intent of the Legislature that every student reads at or above grade level by the end of third grade.”

The measure requires third-grade students to score above the “below basic” level on the statewide reading test, earn an acceptable score on an alternative assessment, or qualify for one of a limited number of good-cause exemptions in order to be promoted to the fourth grade.

In effect, the bill requires that students read at least at a second-grade level before beginning the fourth grade.

If a student is below that level, the legislation states that “the student shall be retained in the third grade for the next school year.”

SB 1778 mandates a multi-tiered system of support for reading instruction for students in elementary school, with extra resources directed to struggling readers in the first and second grades. Parental notification is required when a student is falling behind.

The bill also increases the number of regional literacy coaches employed by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Those coaches will assist districts with the greatest challenges.

Under the legislation, every school district is required to employ a reading specialist or a staff member with an early literacy micro-credential. The Office of Educational Quality and Accountability will develop academies where teachers can obtain early literacy micro-credentials, and the bill provides a stipend of up to $3,000 for those attending an academy.  

This year’s state budget agreement includes millions in new funding for reading reforms and modifies the formula that distributes those funds to schools to ensure schools that improve student performance are rewarded.

Under the bill, 40 percent of associated funding will be distributed among all schools based on student enrollment, while 30 percent will be set aside for interventions for struggling readers. Another 30 percent will be set aside to reward districts that show measurable improvement in student reading outcomes.

This year’s state budget agreement includes more than $43 million for reading instruction and interventions in schools, $5 million in supplemental investment for teacher training academies this summer, and $5 million in ongoing annual funding for teacher training programs. In addition, the state will invest more than $5 million in reading-at-home initiatives and provide dedicated funding for math and reading screeners to help educators identify and address student learning needs earlier.

The reading reform is modeled, in part, after Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act (LBPA), which was first approved in 2013. Since the implementation of the LBPA, Mississippi has climbed from 49th to ninth for fourth-grade reading, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Mississippi is the only state in the nation where the bottom 10 percent of students scored higher in 2024 than their 2013-2014 school-year counterparts.

Oklahoma previously had a law similar to Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act that produced dramatic improvement through 2015, but the Oklahoma law was substantially watered down and largely repealed through the years.

In 2015, Oklahoma students performed near the national average in reading, but today, Oklahoma trails peer states by more than a full grade level. Based on Spring 2025 state testing, just 27 percent of Oklahoma third graders are reading at or above grade level, and NAEP tests show that only 23 percent of Oklahoma fourth-grade students scored at or above proficient in 2024, meaning students were meeting grade-level expectations. Only two states did worse on NAEP’s fourth-grade reading test.

Oklahoma’s reading outcomes declined even as school revenue surged by more than 50 percent on a per-pupil basis in recent years.

SB 1778 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a bipartisan 87-5 vote. The bill now returns to the Senate for consideration of House amendments.