Autism Alliance and MiPAAC celebrate 'Literacy 4 ALL' legislation - Michigan Parent, Advocate and Attorney Coalition

Bi-partisan legislation focused on improving early screening and teacher training a move in the right direction for Michigan students and educators

Publication date: October 11, 2024

Autism Alliance and MiPAAC celebrate ‘Literacy 4 ALL’ legislation – press release

The Michigan Parent, Advocate & Attorney Coalition (MiPAAC) powered by the Autism Alliance of Michigan celebrates the bi-partisan support of the Michigan legislature for passing the ‘Literacy 4 ALL’ package of bills (SB 567 – SB 568).

“The collective voices of lived experience made sure this legislation got passed. This has been a policy effort across a number of student-centered groups – including MiPAAC – for several years,” said AAoM Director of Statewide Education, Heather Eckner. “This bill package provides the call to action for our education system to ensure we’re using screening tools and instructional practices grounded in the science of reading principles, which benefits ALL students, especially those with learning disabilities. We’d like to thank all those who have been strong supporters of this movement including the Governor, Michigan Department of Education, along with Michigan lawmakers from both chambers and across the aisle.”

“We want to thank our coalition members and partner organizations for taking collective action in signing on to our MiPAAC letter of support, submitting cards to committees, providing legislative hearing testimony, and calling Michigan legislators offices. This is your policy win!”

The legislation will go into effect in the 2027-28 school year and is an important step toward transforming learning environments, a key focus area for AAoM’s Education pillar.

Thanks to all who have joined together in this effort! #LiteracyForAll

Read on for more specific information and background.

‘Literacy 4 ALL’ legislation

After several years of advocacy attempts and a strong coordinated push of grassroots (MIPAAC) collective impact efforts, the Michigan legislature passed SB 567–SB 568 in late September.

Senate Bill 567 was sponsored by Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor)
Senate Bill 568 was sponsored by Senator Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia)

These bills (to be implemented in the 2027-28 school year) will ensure:

valid and reliable screening based on the science of reading that should help strengthen earlier identification for students with reading challenges and the characteristics of dyslexia;
training on the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework to help educator understand how to improve general education instruction and how to intervene when more intensive support is needed;
evidence-based preservice and current educator training about dyslexia and the science of reading, including structured literacy fundamentals
expert recommendations supported by the Michigan Department of Education via the Michigan Dyslexia Handbook

Media coverage and comments from bill sponsors

Chalkbeat-Detroit (Sept 25.2024) Science of reading bills set to become law in Michigan after long struggle

“These bills will improve our response for kids who are struggling with characteristics of dyslexia and will help all kids master decoding skills,” said state Senator Jeff Irwin. “I’m incredibly excited to see these changes integrated into our schools and I thank my colleagues and all of the advocates who have pushed this legislation forward for years.

“Far too many Michigan students struggling with dyslexia have gone under the radar for far too long — and these students deserve so much better,” said state Senator Dayna Polehanki. “I’m thrilled that our bipartisan legislation to implement dyslexia screening and intervention in our schools has finally been signed into law. As a former educator, I know that this is a commonsense solution that will eliminate barriers to literacy and position our youth for successful futures.”

September 26.2024 Governor Whitmer press release

September 26.2024 Michigan Department of Education press release

Michigan’s Literacy Crisis: a known problem with known solutions for decades

We’ve known what the research on fundamental literacy acquisition and intervention has shown for decades:

90% of children with reading difficulties will achieve grade level in reading if they receive help in the 1st grade; 75% of children whose help is delayed to age 9 or later continue to struggle throughout their school career (Vellutino, Scanton, Sipay, Small, Pratt, Chen & Denckla, 1996).
Reading improvement typically occurs twice as fast in first grade as it does in third grade (Alexander, Entwisle, and Olsen, 1997).
A National Institute of Child Health and Human Development report included the finding that it takes four times as much assistance to improve a child’s reading skills if help is delayed until Year 4 than if it is begun in the kindergarten year (Hall and Moats, 1999).
Apart from the efficiency gains for a system enabled by early identification and intervention, there are also pressing issues of social justice to be considered. Nevertheless, progress is achievable for older students when systematic research-validated approaches are well implemented (Wheldall & Beaman, 2000).
When we consider the extraordinary amount of time it takes to improve reading performance in the later grades, estimates suggest that if intervention is not initiated until fourth grade, it takes four times as much instruction as it would have in first grade to see similar rates of improvement; early intervention in both word level reading and listening comprehension is essential (Lyon & Fletcher, 2001).
With respect to reading fluency specifically, researchers have suggested that reading fluency instruction is often neglected in classroom settings (Allington, 1983; Chard et al., 2002; Kameenui & Simmons, 2001).

Literacy proficiency is a significant issue for Michigan students. These bills are part of a larger effort to improve reading outcomes in our state. During the 2023-2024 school year, just 39.6% of Michigan third graders were proficient in English language arts. That percentage dropped from 40.9% the year before and 45.1% in the last school year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chalkbeat-Detroit (August 29.2024) See how your Michigan school fared in the 2024 M-STEP, SAT/PSAT tests

APM Report: What the Words Say | Many kids struggle with reading – and children of color are far less likely to get the help they need