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March 10, 2026
State Board of Education Gets Update on Ongoing Efforts to
Help Children Become Skilled Readers
LANSING – As Michigan works to improve reading outcomes for all children and celebrates March is Reading Month, State Board of Education members learned more today about how implementing the state’s 2024 literacy and dyslexia laws is putting Students First.
Michigan Department of Education (MDE) staff during the board meeting shared progress on approval of a list of assessments to screen and monitor the progress of children who need extra support in learning to read. MDE staff also provided updates on approval of a list of evidence-based literacy curricula for Michigan schools to use and spotlighted collaborative efforts to support improved teacher preparation in literacy instruction.
“We put Students First when we use proven methods to identify children who need extra help learning to read and ensure that schools are using evidence-based curricula to teach young Michiganders literacy skills,” said State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko. “Improving literacy is our top priority. That’s why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Every Child Reads investments in her proposed budget are so important. I will continue to collaborate with her and legislators to improve student literacy, just as the department worked to gain approval of the 2024 laws that are making a difference.”
Improving early literacy achievement is Goal 2 in Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan.
Screening Student Literacy and Approving Reading Curricula List
Presenters at the meeting shared the timeline for a continued request for submission process, until September 2026, with periodic reviews and updates to the current initial list of approved valid and reliable screening and progress monitoring reading assessments and elementary reading curricula list.
“We want to provide additional opportunities for our partners to meet the criteria of Michigan’s K-12 Literacy and Dyslexia laws so that we can maximize valid and reliable literacy assessment options for Michigan’s educators to meet the needs of their students,” said DeNesha Rawls-Smith, education consultant manager for the Literacy Unit within the MDE Office of Curriculum and Instruction.
In December MDE posted the initial list of approved valid and reliable screening and progress monitoring reading assessments and an elementary reading curricula list.
National Recognition of Literacy Efforts
“Michigan has been nationally recognized for our efforts to improve student literacy,” said one of the presenters, Dr. Delsa Chapman, deputy superintendent of the MDE Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Supports. “We’re proud of the accomplishments of educators and students in local districts and the support provided by our MDE team.”
Edweek Market Brief, a K-12 education industry publication, recently published an article called “How Michigan’s Process for Building Approved Literacy Materials Lists is Raising the Bar for Companies: Behind the Scenes of the State’s Process for Evaluating ‘Science of Reading’ Materials.” The Reading League—a nonprofit with the mission of advancing reading instruction aligned with evidence—included a “Spotlight on Michigan” in its 2025 “State-Level Guidance for its Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines and Curriculum Navigation Reports.”
March is Reading Month
Today’s discussion occurred in the midst of March is Reading Month. Nearly 100 MDE employees are visiting K-12 classrooms in more than 60 school districts across the state to read to students during the month, which honors the birthday of author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
“We want Michigan students to get excited about books and reading,” said Dr. Jennifer Saylor, interim director of the MDE Office of Curriculum and Instruction. “Reading is a foundational skill that sets students up for success in the classroom and beyond.”
Improving Teacher Preparation for Teaching Literacy Skills
Another way Michigan is addressing student literacy is by improving teacher preparation programs so teachers are better prepared to teach their students literacy skills.
Under one of the 2024 literacy and dyslexia laws, all teacher preparation program providers and alternative route teaching programs by September 2027 must provide all teacher candidates instruction in the characteristics of dyslexia, difficulties in learning to decode accurately and efficiently, and instructional adjustments for students with reading challenges. They must also instruct teacher candidates about methods for developing a classroom/schoolwide framework for a multi-tiered system of support, which is a comprehensive framework comprised of a collection of research-based strategies designed to meet the individual needs and assets of the whole child.
In addition, teachers of reading instruction must be further prepared in structured literacy, evidence-based instruction and interventions grounded in the science of reading, using strategies such as phonics.
“MDE is collaborating with our partners from teacher preparation programs in Michigan to make sure that our educators have the knowledge they need about the science of reading,” said Dr. Rané Garcia, interim deputy superintendent of the MDE Division of Educator Excellence, Career Technical Education, Special Education, and Administrative Law. “Prospective teachers must be prepared to use the latest research-based methods for teaching reading and assisting children who have characteristics of dyslexia.”
At the State Board of Education meeting, officials from two Michigan universities shared how they are implementing the new law and preparing teachers. The two officials, Dr. Danielle DeFauw, department chair of education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Dr. Adrea Truckenmiller, associate professor in the College of Education at Michigan State University, are members of MDE’s Institution of Higher Education Literacy Collaborative. The collaborative holds a monthly convening of teacher preparation faculty and leaders with expertise in effective literacy teacher preparation.
New teacher preparation standards underlying the revised certificate structure emphasize research-based instructional practices in the teaching of reading, grounded in reading science. Strengthened clinical experience requirements provide hands-on opportunities for teacher candidates to practice what they learn across the full span of their teacher preparation curriculum prior to student teaching.
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