Legislation that would overhaul reading instruction in Oklahoma public schools is now headed to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk after receiving overwhelming bipartisan support in the Oklahoma Senate.

“I think this will be the strongest literacy bill in the country,” said state Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond. “And as long as we continue to fund it, as long as we continue to provide resources, as long as we continue to provide professional-development opportunities for the men and women who are providing that first line of instruction every day, then I think we will begin to see the results that so many of us want to see, which is a child who falls in love with learning, a child who has incredible doors and opportunities open to them because they have learned to read.”

The key provisions of the reform include 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.

Senate Bill 1778, by Pugh and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, strengthens the state’s Strong Readers Act, giving teachers additional training and support and directing more resources to help 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 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 reading 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.

State Sen. Carri Hicks, an Oklahoma City Democrat and former teacher who voted for the bill, nonetheless downplayed any expectation of notable improvement anytime soon.

“Again, we are asking our public schools to fundamentally shift the way in which they instruct around the science of reading, and that takes time,” Hicks said. “And so, as we are investing these targeted investments towards the quality of teachers and towards the quality of instruction, I just want to remind us to be patient, because I do think that this is a significant shift for all of our schools.”

She predicted third-grade retention would have negative consequences.

“I am concerned that our class sizes will increase, which we know contributes significantly to teacher burnout,” Hicks said.

However, despite Hicks’ comments, there is reason to think the reforms could produce significant improvement in outcomes in only a few years based on experience in Oklahoma and elsewhere.

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 from 2011 to 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 Senate on a 45-2 vote. The bill previously passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a bipartisan 87-5 vote. SB 1778 now goes to Stitt to either be signed or vetoed, although the governor is expected to support it.