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July 22, 2025
LANSING–Michigan Department of Education (MDE) officials announced that 5,000 educators have completed Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, also known as LETRS training, and at the same time called once again for the science of reading training to be mandatory for all Michigan elementary classroom teachers.
LETRS is comprehensive professional learning designed to provide early childhood and elementary educators and administrators with deep knowledge to be literacy and language experts in the science of reading. LETRS teaches the skills needed to master the fundamentals of reading and writing instruction—phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
“This is an important milestone, a moment to acknowledge those teachers and administrators who have been a part of the first waves of LETRS training in Michigan,” State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice said. “It’s also a moment to reiterate that states serious about literacy have made deep professional development like LETRS mandatory. We call on the state legislature—once again—to make LETRS training mandatory in the state for K-5 elementary classroom teachers.”
In Michigan, LETRS training has been funded through Section 35a (10) of the State School Aid Act for the last four fiscal years, a total of $34 million. All pre-K-6 grade educators and pre-K-12 grade special education-endorsed educators employed by a public school district in Michigan are eligible to participate in the training under the grant.
In its 2025 Legislative Priorities Letter, MDE urged the legislature to mandate LETRS training for K-5 elementary classroom teachers.
“LETRS training equips teachers with integral knowledge to help children learn to read and positions them for improved student achievement as they read to learn in later years of their education,” said Dr. Delsa Chapman, deputy superintendent of the MDE Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Support.
More information about the Michigan Department of Education’s LETRS efforts can be found on the Michigan LETRS website.
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