Lansing, Michigan, October 10, 2024—Teach Plus Michigan issued the following statement after Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bills 567 and 568 into law:
Teach Plus and Teach Plus Michigan teacher leaders applaud the signing of Senate Bills 567 and 568 into law. With her signature, Governor Whitmer has taken the final step to ensure every child in Michigan, particularly those with characteristics of dyslexia, have the literacy support they need.
“The need for this legislation is clear,” said Teach Plus Michigan Executive Director Ben Locke. “In 2022, Michigan 4th grade students received the lowest reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 30 years. The most recent M-STEP scores showed little progress. Through this bill package, students and teachers will have the support they need for screening, evidence-based interventions, and teacher training, all grounded in the science of reading. I applaud the efforts of the Michigan Legislature and Governor Whitmer in shepherding these bills into law.”
“Jon, one of my third grade students, is unable to read simple, two-three letter words,” wrote Alyssa Henneman, Teach Plus Michigan Policy Fellow and K-3 special education teacher at Centreville Elementary School in Centreville, Michigan, in an op-ed. “When he sees the word ‘bat,’ he sounds out ‘/b/ /a/ /t/’ and says ‘dig.’ Jon’s experience is not unique here in Michigan. By instituting screeners and requiring teachers to have training in interventions for dyslexia, students like Jon will receive the support they deserve.”
Senate bill 567 builds on the literacy support offered to students through Michigan’s “3rd grade reading law” by requiring all students in kindergarten through 3rd grade to be screened for characteristics of dyslexia three times per year. Students in grades 4 through 12 would also be screened for dyslexia if they have difficulty learning to decode. Schools then provide any identified students with systems of support grounded in the science of reading. Senate bill 568 requires teacher preparation programs and alternative certification pathways to teach prospective teachers about proper instructional methods and accommodations for students struggling with reading, including those with dyslexia. The bill also requires current literacy coaches and educators who teach reading to receive professional development aligned with the science of reading.
Teach Plus teacher leaders kept a steady drumbeat of advocacy to help advance the legislation out of the Senate Education Committee with a favorable and bipartisan vote, and continued those efforts as the bills moved through the Michigan House. Specifically, they pushed to align the timeline for the dyslexia screener’s implementation with that of teachers’ training, advocated for more literacy coaches per school district to adequately support teachers, and called for pre-service teachers to teach reading to ensure their effectiveness. Senator Dayna Polehanki, the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 568, personally called several Teach Plus Michigan teacher leaders to ask for their help in moving the bills through the legislative process.
Explained Carrie Miculka, Teach Plus teacher leader and 4th grade reading teacher at Central Elementary in Owosso, Michigan, “If a student is unable to read and understand their homework and tests, their ability to work independently is greatly diminished, as are their social emotional skills because they lack the confidence to work at the same level as their peers.”
About Teach Plus
Teach Plus is dedicated to the mission of empowering excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success. In pursuing our mission, Teach Plus is guided by our Student Opportunity Mandate: All students should have the opportunity to achieve their potential in an education system defined by its commitment to equity, its responsiveness to individual needs, and its ability to prepare students for postsecondary success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has developed thousands of teacher leaders across the country to exercise their leadership in shaping education policy and improving teaching and learning for students. teachplus.org/mi
