Kenosha Unified details first-year rollout of Act 20 reading law, cites progress and strains

Kenosha Unified School District staff on Tuesday reported early progress implementing Wisconsin’s Act 20 — the Science of Reading law — while flagging significant time, staffing and funding challenges.

Mary Hoover, ELA and social studies coordinator for elementary, told the school board the district has changed classroom practice and materials to align with the law and has begun issuing personal reading plans for students who screen at risk. “The purpose of Act 20 was really to take a look at strategies for improving literacy skills across the state,” Hoover said.

The nut of the presentation was procedural and operational: the district removed a previously used three‑cue prompting method, increased primary‑level phonics time from 30 to 50 minutes, added decodable readers and sound walls to classrooms, and began a schedule of structured professional development and coaching tied to new instructional “practice shifts.” Principal Teresa Curley said teachers are applying new training immediately: “The teachers go to the in services, come back, and start implementing the things that they are learning right away.”

District staff described four main implementation areas: curriculum alignment, professional development, screening/diagnostic assessments, and individualized reading plans. The state‑selected universal screener AIMSwebPlus was extended through third grade; any child at or below the 25th percentile on the screener must receive additional diagnostic testing and becomes eligible for a…