Yesterday the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted (155-0) to pass Bill H.4672 entitled An Act relative to teacher preparation and student literacy.
The bill–opposed by the Mass Teachers Association–seeks to raise the state’s lagging literacy scores by requiring all public schools to use “evidence-based literacy instruction.”
This is defined as “literacy instruction that is: (i) grounded in scientific research methods; and (ii) demonstrated through well-designed and well-implemented studies to produce significant and positive effects on student learning outcomes.”
Under the proposed law, public schools would be required to use literary curriculum with “five research-based areas in reading instruction.” These include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
The full text of the bill is attached below.