Sitting before a class of students at John Rex Charter School in Oklahoma City, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill to dramatically strengthen reading instruction in Oklahoma’s public schools.

“We all know that reading paves the way for bright futures, and if a child can read, they can learn,” Stitt said. “And if they can learn, they can dream. And if they can dream, they can chase opportunity and they can achieve. But we also know the reality: That too many of our students are falling behind too early, and when that happens, it’s very, very hard to catch back up. And that’s simply not acceptable for Oklahoma families, for our state, and it’s not acceptable for the future of these young people behind me. That’s why I’m proud to sign Senate Bill 1778. With this bill signing, we are providing our commitment to our young people and their ability to succeed, and that starts with reading by the end of the third grade.”

Based on Spring 2025 state testing, just 27 percent of Oklahoma third graders are reading at or above grade level, and National Assessment of Educational Progress (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.

Senate Bill 1778, by state Sen. Adam Pugh and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, seeks to reverse those negative trends and dramatically boost reading outcomes in Oklahoma.

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,” and the new law requires third-grade students to score above the “below basic” level on the statewide reading test 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.

SB 1778 also mandates increased focus on struggling readers in the first and second grades.

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.

Hilbert said the legislation creates “the strongest literacy law in the entire country,” saying it is based on strategies that have worked in other states.

The legislation substantially 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 that boosted state reading outcomes above the national average before the prior Oklahoma law was watered down and largely repealed.

Hilbert noted that per-pupil spending in Mississippi is comparable to Oklahoma, and that the child poverty rate in Mississippi is actually higher than in Oklahoma.

“Spending the same amount of money with worse poverty, the state of Mississippi, last year, their fourth-grade NAEP scores were ninth in the country,” Hilbert said. “Why? Because they put a focus on early, elementary education.”

Pugh said the standard in Oklahoma must be for 100 percent of third-grade students to read at grade level.

“We should not accept anything less than every kid who walks through the doors of any school in the state of Oklahoma being able to be all that God’s called them to be,” Pugh said. “And it starts with very foundational skill sets like reading and math.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said the reality of Oklahoma’s poor literacy outcomes weighed on policymakers and fueled their drive to enact one of the nation’s strongest reading laws.

“Everybody involved was like, ‘We have to do better for our kids,’” Paxton said.