Pa. will select ‘evidence-based’ reading curricula under a new law. Here’s what it means for schools.

As parents, advocates, and school officials continue to clash over how reading is taught, Pennsylvania may soon have a list of reading curricula designated by the state as “evidence-based,” under a bill that unanimously passed the House and Senate.

But unlike an earlier version of the legislation, the bill expected to be signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro won’t force any school districts to use the curricula or change how they teach reading — a topic that has been the subject of national debate amid a rising “science-of-reading” movement calling for more phonics and explicit skills instruction.

Advocates in that movement say they’re still pushing to require schools to use the approved curricula and screen all young students for reading difficulties, but called the bill an important first step.

Here’s what to know about the issue, and what it means for schools:

There have long been debates over the best way to teach children to read. For decades, the predominant approach has been known as balanced literacy — with a focus on immersing kids in stories, rather than the mechanics of decoding words. Teachers have prompted students to guess words they don’t know based on accompanying context and pictures.

But research has favored more explicit instruction, referred to as structured literacy. That approach places more emphasis on phonics — sounding out words — with lessons taught in a sequential manner. Students are given books to read that feature the same patterns as those lessons. Proponents say schools should also simultaneously be building students’ background knowledge, reading aloud to them from books at higher levels.

Advocates for that structured approach often say they’re for “the science of reading” — which encompasses not only curriculum, but how schools assess and respond to students’ reading challenges. The movement has been gaining traction, though it has met with resistance from some school systems and teacher-preparation programs. States have increasingly been passing laws to align reading instruction with evidence-based practices, a nod to the science-of-reading strategies.

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The bill directs the state Department of Education to select a council of 20 members with expertise in structured literacy to produce a list of approved evidence-based reading curricula, “aligned with the Commonwealth’s academic standards and the science of reading.”

It will also produce a list of approved structured literacy trainings for teachers, screening tests to assess children’s reading needs, and intervention approaches for children deemed in need of additional reading support.

The council must include public school elementary teachers — including reading specialists, literacy coaches, and special education teachers — and represent urban, rural, and suburban school districts.

Vendors will be able to submit curricula to the council for review. “It’ll be an open, transparent process,” said Rep. Jason Ortitay, a Republican proponent of the legislation who represents parts of Allegheny and Washington Counties. “We don’t want this to be a closed-door, backroom” process, favoring certain vendors and curricula, he said.

One big reason: money. It could cost school districts millions of dollars to adopt new curricula and train teachers. Lawmakers say they don’t want an unfunded mandate.

Any mandate will likely also be controversial. School districts traditionally make their own decisions about what curricula to use; the earlier version of the science-of-reading bill, which failed to pass as part of the state budget this summer, was already softened to allow districts to submit their own curricula to the state for consideration rather than choosing from the designated list.

Chris Lilienthal, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said that while the state’s largest teachers union is “pleased the legislation will empower educators to play a role in vetting and selecting the evidence-based reading curricula and programs that schools can choose from,” it “would oppose requiring public school entities to adopt literacy curriculum from a list” provided by the Department of Education.

Even advocates for the science of reading acknowledge that mandates aren’t perfect — criticizing some other states that have produced required curriculum lists for including programs they don’t think are of sufficient quality.

Still, proponents say requiring schools to use evidence-based curricula is critical. “We don’t believe an opt-in system is strong enough,” said Laura Boyce, Pennsylvania executive director of Teach Plus, an advocacy group that has been pushing the legislation. Without a mandate, “there is nothing to ensure that districts using a balanced literacy approach, or non-evidence-based materials, won’t continue to do that.”

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Given its unanimous support in the legislature, advocates expect that Shapiro will sign the bill. A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment last week.

The bill sets a deadline of June 1, 2025, for the education department to develop the list of approved reading curricula and other materials.

Lawmakers and advocates, meanwhile, say they will continue to press for requirements that schools make changes. Teach Plus plans to launch a statewide early literacy coalition in early 2025 and call for $100 million in the next state budget to help districts buy new curricula and train teachers, Boyce said.

Ortitay says lawmakers plan to reintroduce the broader science-of-reading bill in the next session and are talking to Shapiro, “trying to make sure it’s in his budget proposal.”