Standards panel proposes single decoding–encoding foundational literacy standard for K-5

Leanne, SDC member, said the committee is proposing a change that would combine the separate decoding and encoding cornerstones into a single, side‑by‑side foundational literacy standard for kindergarten through fifth grade to make grade‑level expectations clearer for teachers.

Committee members said the change is intended to align the standards with findings from the science of reading and Scarborough’s “reading rope” model so teachers can more easily see how decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling/writing) develop together across grade bands.

Leanne said the draft replaces two separate cornerstones with one charted standard that shows decoding on one side and encoding on the other. “Instead of having them as two separate standards, we thought we’re gonna suggest that they go in as one standard, but they will still be side by side showing how they work together,” she said. The proposal would reduce the number of foundational literacy cornerstones from seven to six and would apply only to elementary standards (K–5).

Rachel, SDC member, asked how teachers would cite or reference the new combined items in curriculum documents and lesson plans. She asked whether the committee should prepend a D (decoding) or E (encoding) to item letters so a teacher specifying “FLDE‑3a” could show whether they meant the decoding or encoding side. Leanne acknowledged that labeling will need clarification and suggested adding a prefix such as “D” and “E” on the respective sides.

Committee members stressed the change is intended to clarify the instructional trajectory between grade bands — for example, to make the K→1, 1→2 and 2→3 transitions more explicit — and to make it easier for teachers to tell what students are expected to know at each grade. A committee member raised the 3rd‑grade retention law as context for why clearer decoding benchmarks in early grades matter for policy implementation, but the committee did not take formal public‑policy action in this meeting.

Next steps: members were asked to add the proposed revised foundational literacy standards and any rationales to the shared SDC edits spreadsheet so staff can convert the spreadsheet changes into the official standards documents. Committee leaders set an internal timeline for those edits to be added ahead of a public survey and the presentations the chairs will give to the State Board and the State Review Committee.

The committee did not vote on the proposal during this meeting; members focused on wording, labeling, and how the change would be presented to teachers and the public.