Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed education budget for the upcoming fiscal year prioritizes student literacy and boosting reading scores.
Many state leaders say Michigan students face a literacy crisis. Reading scores on the statewide M-STEP test have remained low since the pandemic, and Michigan fourth graders’ scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have declined relative to other states.
“Literacy is the No. 1 priority of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and State Board of Education,” Michigan’s new Superintendent of Instruction, Glenn Maleyko, said in a statement when the proposed budget was announced. “I’m thrilled that the governor is not only bringing needed attention to the need to improve reading and writing achievement but walking the talk by proposing a significant investment in literacy.”
Whitmer’s budget would provide money for teacher training, including $50 million for every reading teacher to complete Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading & Spelling (LETRS) training. It would also provide money to put more literacy coaches in classrooms, and dedicate $100 million “for incentives to districts to adopt science of reading-aligned curriculum and ensure teachers have tools to implement proven practices in their classrooms.”
The “science of reading” can be a nebulous term, but it’s generally understood to be an approach that emphasizes phonics instruction and decoding skills for the youngest students. Elizabeth Moje, a professor and dean at the University of Michigan’s School of Education, said phonics-related skills are indeed critical—but are far from the only skills required to master true literacy.
“There is so much more to reading and learning to read than just decoding,” Moje said. “You must be able to decode, [but] then you have to make sense. And you can't do that without a lot of other kinds of knowledge and skills.
“If all I'm doing is reading stories that are meant to just help me decode, and I'm never asked, ‘What do you think about that? Why do you think that happened?’ I'm not developing the skills I need.”
A large chunk of Whitmer’s proposed budget is “investing early”—including more than $180 million for the state’s PreK For All program. It also proposes investing $235 million in tutoring services, as well as before school, and after school, and summer educational programs.
Moje said “the thing I’m most concerned about” with the budget proposal is its almost exclusive focus on K-5 learners. “We cannot stop at grade five. We absolutely can't,” she said. “It is a fallacy to say that if kids learn to read by third grade, they are set. They're golden. It's just not going to happen.”
Overall though, Moje applauded the governor’s focus on literacy. “It's exactly the right thing for the governor to do. It's where we need to go,” she said. But, “I want us to really use all of the research that we've done over many, many years” to aid that effort,” she said.
“I think it is critically important, but for different reasons from those you might hear,” Moje added. “Especially when we talk about test scores. I'm not as interested in literacy to produce better test scores. I'm interested in developing literate humans who can be the leaders of the next generation, who can handle all of the challenges that are coming at them.”
