State board hears progress and growing pains on Move On Reading K–3 rollout; curriculum vetting and support grants highlighted

Department of Education officials gave an extended briefing on the Move On Reading K–3 literacy law, the department’s portal for literacy plans, and supports for districts and teachers including literacy coaching grants and K–5 literacy endorsement training.

Deputy Associate Superintendent Linda Burroughs outlined statutory requirements: schools must screen K–3 students three times a year, use AD‑vetted (MAU) curricula for core instruction or face a notice of non‑compliance and have at least one dyslexia‑trained staff member on campus; literacy plans must cover eight required elements (core curricula, interventions for tiers 2/3, assessment plans, professional development plans, dyslexia supports, schedules, parent notifications and budgets). "The portal opens in August; plans are evaluated by a designated AD reviewer and resubmitted if incomplete," Burroughs said.

Burroughs and ELA staff described current implementation: a literacy coaching grant that prioritized one coach per school produced larger effects where coaches were assigned one‑to‑one; AD is expanding K–5 literacy endorsement coursework and subsidizing costs with federal preschool development funding and other state resources. AD reported more than 3,000 educators have completed AD‑provided trainings and roughly 2,400 educators have completed the endorsement exam to date; the department is funding test and course access to raise uptake before August 2028 deadlines.

Board members and public commenters raised several concerns: many districts still use non‑vetted curricula and AD is giving them a multi‑year compliance runway (schools that remain non‑compliant after the allowed window risk loss of MAU funding); the transcript shows continuing vendor resubmissions and that some widely used materials (the transcript references a longstanding vendor) were removed from the vetted list after detailed technical review. Members asked AD to: publish clearer communications for families and local boards (including a more visible red/yellow/green curriculum list), add portal fields to show how many teachers per campus have completed science‑of‑reading training and endorsement, and to accelerate vetting of screeners for accessibility to English learners and students with disabilities.

Burroughs said AD will add the teacher‑training tracking fields to the literacy portal and plans to complete a re‑vetting of screeners for subgroup accessibility by spring 2027. The department also described a preschool development systems grant that will fund regional family engagement hubs, apprenticeship pathways, and an API connection to the workforce registry so employer and educator credentials can be matched.

What this means: districts must make curricular choices consistent with statute or document plans to move to vetted materials during the department’s multi‑year compliance timeline. The board asked AD to improve parent‑facing communications (school report cards and MAU lists) so families can see which curricula and local training investments are in place.