In the last budget, the governor asked the General Assembly to mandate Ohio schools start using the “Science of Reading” approach.
The approach teaches reading based on decades of research and evidence instead of one specific program, according to the National Center on Improving Literacy.
Lawmakers invested more than $100 million to help teachers implement the “Science of Reading” program in their classrooms.
Mount Healthy was among the first, and the governor says he was pleased with what he saw.
“Very dynamic teachers, dynamic classroom,” Gov. DeWine said of his observations. “I think when we talk about phonics when we talk about sounding words out, many people think back to their own education. If they came in here, I think they would be surprised because it is so lively. It involves all the senses.”
Still, Gov. DeWine says there is work to be done as schools across the state need to make the transition.
One of the biggest roadblocks lies in another kind of classroom.
“One of the challenges, candidly, has been that our colleges, many of our colleges, have not been teaching future teachers how to teach in regard to reading and how to follow the Science of Reading,” the governor explained. “So, our colleges in Ohio have to make that change.”
Gov. DeWine says that change needs to happen quickly so no more Ohio students slip past.
“Our future in this state depends on how our kids do,” Gov. DeWine stated. “We’re creating more jobs in Ohio every single day than we have people to fill them. And if we’re going to have people to fill them, people need to be able to live up to their full potential, and to do that people have to be able to read.”
