Bill to help struggling young readers and their teachers approved by Iowa lawmakers

DES MOINES — Young Iowa students learning to read and the college students training to teach them would be affected by legislation that was designed to improve early reading proficiency and was given final approval by state lawmakers Wednesday.

Iowa college students learning to become elementary school teachers would be assessed on their ability to teach young students how to read, and young students falling behind on their reading skills would receive extra attention and have the option of repeating a grade under the proposal.

The bill needs only Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature to become law; it is a streamlined version of a measure Reynolds proposed earlier this year.

“By investing in literacy (Wednesday), we are opening opportunities for our kids in the future,” Reynolds said in a statement issued after the proposal was approved by lawmakers in the Iowa Senate. “This bill implements evidence-based reading instruction to help students move from the critical phase of ‘learning to read’ into a lifelong practice of ‘reading to learn.’

“It gives parents more control over their child’s success by providing transparency of reading proficiency and personalized plans if students fall behind.”

Reynolds introduced the proposal as part of her push to improve literacy and reading instruction. The governor said during her Condition of the State address in January that although Iowa students’ reading scores largely have held steady since the pandemic, the state should do more to improve those outcomes.

Roughly 34 percent of Iowa’s third-graders were not reading proficiently in 2023, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Under the bill, Iowa college students learning to become elementary teachers would be required to take the nationally recognized Foundations of Reading assessment, an exam used to determine whether an individual is equipped to teach young students how to read.

The Iowa Department of Education would collect and publish the aggregate results of those assessments, showing how many students passed the test and how many did not.

Reynolds’ original proposal would have required all Iowa teachers to pass the test; that requirement was removed from the bill that is en route to her desk.

Also under the bill, kindergarten through sixth-grade students who are struggling to read would be provided with a personalized reading plan, and their parents would be notified and given the option to have their student repeat the grade. If a parent requests their student be retained, the school would be required to honor that request.

“(The Iowa Association of School Boards) is pleased to see more emphasis on early literacy and looks forward to making more progress on literacy next year by expanding access to preschool for low-income students,” Emily Piper, a lobbyist for the group that represents Iowa’s school boards, said in a statement to The Gazette.

The bill, House File 2618, unanimously passed the Senate on Wednesday. It previously passed the House on a 92-3 vote.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau Chief Caleb McCullough contributed to this report.

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