Parents don’t want ‘to just sit and read through state statutes’
A three-year-old Wisconsin law requiring schools to inform parents when their students are struggling with reading is going unenforced in far too many districts, leading many learners to fall behind state-mandated reading benchmarks, according to literacy advocates.
In some places parents are not being properly notified of either their children’s struggles or remediation plans or both. In other places, remediation appears to not be meeting the standards specified in the law. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, meanwhile, is not providing clear guidance, let alone oversight.
“I think that no one is really checking up on (the schools), no one is really monitoring the implementation (of the law),” said the head of Forward Literacy, Katie Kasubaski.
One mother of children with special needs described guidance materials from the DPI as being “clear as mud.”
The Legislature in 2023 passed Act 20, a reading reform law that requires districts to adopt “science of reading” methods — essentially, teaching children to sound out words in preference to the discredited “three-cuing”method that included guessing at words by looking at nearby pictures and using context clues.
Under the law, students undergo screening tests three times per year. Students who fall into the lowest-scoring quarter are supposed to receive a personalized reading plan and their parents are supposed to be notified.
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Early Literacy Screener Map.
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
A.B.T.: “Ain’t been taught.”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?