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Pennsylvania lawmakers outline plan to expand "structured literacy," screenings and training
Summary
Representatives Justin Fleming and Jason Orteite told the Keystone Education Report that legislation and budget steps will expand phonics-based "structured literacy" across Pennsylvania, including early screenings (K—2), an initial $10 million appropriation, vetted vendor lists, and a 10-year goal to raise third-grade reading to about 75%.
Representatives Justin Fleming (105th District) and Jason Orteite (46th District) laid out efforts to expand "structured literacy" across Pennsylvania schools, saying the approach emphasizes phonics and phonemic awareness over picture- and context-driven "balanced literacy." They described a mix of early screening, teacher training and phased funding to support districts in implementation.
Orteite defined structured literacy as instruction that "sounds words out, looking at them phonetically, phonemic awareness," and contrasted it with balanced-literacy approaches that he said let children "guess the word" from pictures. He said state reading proficiency has been stuck for a decade and cited a roughly "32 to 34%" third-grade proficiency rate in recent years as a warning sign that prompted lawmakers to act.
The legislators said the state's strategy combines three core elements: earlier and more frequent screening, stronger teacher-preparation requirements,…
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