This is a post originally published in 2023. Since then, new literacy legislation has been passed in 2026 to update and consolidate earlier literacy and dyslexia bills in Georgia, including SB48 (dyslexia screening bill which passed in 2018) and HB538 (2023). The Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026 (House Bill 1193) was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp on May 5, 2026, to overhaul early reading instruction and address statewide learning gap. One key provision of the new bill included $70 million in increased funding to develop a new literacy coaching program, training and positions.

The Georgia Early Literacy Act (House Bill 538), sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins, a former teacher, aims to improve the quality of early reading instruction.   

The legislation would require schools to screen students from kindergarten to third grade on their reading proficiency three times a year. Students who are identified as falling behind in reading would receive an individual reading improvement plan within 30 days of being identified followed by intensive reading intervention until they catch up.

School systems would also be required to amp up training of teachers in “the science of reading” – a method of teaching reading that draws on evidence from psychology and neuroscience and includes phonics instruction.   

“The Georgia Early Literacy Act is a giant step forward in literacy education and will be life changing for our state’s children,” Ballard said. “Today is the day we will make sure all Georgia’s children learn to read.”

The bill would also require the state Board of Education to develop a list of high-quality, evidence-backed reading instructional and screening tools for school districts and boost literacy training for future teachers.

This is a post from 2025 and since it was originally published, Georgia and many other states have joined the list of states banning 3-cueing practices. Unfortunately, loopholes in Georgia’s law means that many school districts in our state are still using 3-cueing materials and programs like Fountas and Pinnell, although, as grassroots advocates, we are working hard to change that!

From Excel In Education: The Three-Cueing Systems Model is a flawed literacy instructional practice that teaches students to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues—collectively known as “MSV.” While this sounds wonky, it can be boiled down to this: Teachers using this method instruct students to guess. This approach is soundly criticized by many reading experts, because it encourages students to guess, not sound out, words they do not know by using pictures or what they think might make sense given the context of the sentence.

Extensive research has revealed that the practice of three-cueing does more harm than good, yet it persists in many states. It’s found in elementary school classrooms as well as in curriculum used to train up-and-coming teachers.

An EdWeek Research Center survey a few years ago found that 75% of K-2 and elementary special education teachers use the three-cueing method to teach students how to read. The survey also found that 65% of college of education professors were still teaching it.

The science of reading (SoR), on the other hand, is a body of evidence from multiple disciplines that includes strategies for instruction that are tried, scientifically tested and proven to work, as the name suggests. According to reading experts who have successfully improved students’ reading proficiency, the foundational skills taught using SoR are essential for students to become skilled readers and lifelong learners.

The Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) is a statewide K-12 initiative committed to supporting the development of high-quality instruction that will prepare all students wi​th the literacy skills needed to meet or exceed grad​e-level standards. The goal of the ARI is to significantly improve reading instruction and ultimately achieve 100% literacy among public school students.​

Decoding Dyslexia

A major milestone was reached in ensuring California students have access to teachers with the knowledge and skills to put all students on the path to literacy, including students with or at risk for dyslexia.

Education Week - Sarah Schwartz

More than half the states—29 of them—have passed laws or implemented policies over the past decade to bring teacher training, materials, interventions, or teacher preparation in line with evidence-based approaches to reading instruction. New data helps to illuminate where progress has been made—and how far states have to go.

Education Week - Sarah Schwartz

The “science of reading” movement is sweeping through state legislatures.

Over the past several years, more states have passed laws or implemented other policies requiring schools to use evidence-based methods for teaching young students how to read. These mandates touch on many different components of instruction, including teacher training, curriculum, and how students are identified for extra support.

Fordham Institute - Robert Pondiscio

If there’s one lesson education policymakers might have learned in the last twenty-five years, it’s that it’s not hard to make schools and districts do something, but it’s extremely hard to make them do it well. There has always been at least a tacit assumption among policy wonks that schools and teachers are sitting on vast reserves of untapped potential that must either to be set free from bureaucratic constraints or shaken out of its complacency. Those of us who have spent lots of time in classrooms watching teachers trying their best and failing (or trying hard and failing ourselves) often find those assumptions curious. Compliance is easy. It’s competence that’s the rub.

EdNC - Rupen Fofaria

At times, it’s a helpless feeling. That’s how Samantha Osteen, a third-grade teacher at Brevard Elementary, describes it.

She’s looking at state reading standards and knows that a large part of her job is to help students build fluency and comprehension skills. It’s to help them glean meaning from the words they read.

Each year, though, she realizes that far too many can’t even read words.