DPI releases highly anticipated list of science-based early reading curriculums
Editor's note: With low reading proficiency scores across the state, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is exploring the causes and consequences of low literacy. This article is part of the By the Book series, which examines reading curriculum, instructional methods and solutions in K-12 education to answer the questions: Why do so many Wisconsin kids struggle to read, and what can be done about it? To read other stories in the series, click here.
Wisconsin's Early Literacy Curriculum Council and the Department of Public Instruction have released their highly anticipated lists of recommended reading curriculums, as required by the state's aggressive new literacy law Act 20.
Act 20, signed into law last summer, requires curriculum to be backed by the "science of reading": a decades-old body of research that explains how the brain learns to read. It includes an emphasis on phonics, which teaches students the sounds letters make and how those sounds combine in predictable patterns to form words.
The law's changes are aimed at improving reading proficiency in the state, which has been low for years. Fewer than half of students at the state's five largest school districts are considered proficient in reading, according to state exam scores since 2018.
Wisconsin is among at least 15 other states that have passed similar legislation in recent years.
“Getting Act 20 passed and signed was a great example of how we can work together across agency and legislative divides to advance good policy to help kids," State Superintendent Jill Underly said in a Tuesday media release.
More: What is phonics? Here's a guide to reading terms parents should know
What literacy curriculum did Wisconsin DPI officials recommend?
The nine-member Early Literacy Curriculum Council reviewed and recommended four curriculums. The council includes six members chosen by the Republican majority leaders of the state legislature, and three chosen by state Superintendent Jill Underly.
In addition to the Early Literacy Council's review, the DPI conducted its own review, which diverged in part from the council. It rejected one of the council’s recommendations (Bookworms Reading & Writing for K-3), and added others that the council hadn’t rated.
DPI is recommending the following programs:
American Reading Company K-3 (ARC Core, 2017)
Being a Reader (K-2nd, 2021; 3rd, 2023) & Being a Writer (K-3rd., 2014) with Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics & Sight Words (SIPPS, 2020) (Center for the Collaborative Classroom)
Benchmark Education Advance (Benchmark Education Company, 2022)
Core Knowledge Language Arts K-3 (CKLA, Amplify Education, 2022)
EL Education K-3 Language Arts (Open up Resources, 2017)
EL Education K-3 (Imagine Learning LLC, 2019)
Into Reading, National V2 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020)
myView Literacy Elem. Reading Curriculum (Savvas Learning Company, 2025)
Open Court (McGraw Hill, 2023)
Wit and Wisdom (Great Minds, 2020) with PK-3 Reading Curriculum (Really Great Reading)
Wonders (McGraw Hill, 2023)
The Joint Committee on Finance has 14 working days to schedule a meeting to review the proposed curriculum recommendations. The committee will then make any changes and approve the list. If it does not notify the DPI that it's scheduled a meeting, the department can adopt the recommendations as is.
How did Wisconsin officials choose which literacy curriculum to recommend?
The process didn’t go exactly as planned. An Early Literacy Curriculum Council was supposed to submit recommendations by Dec. 1, and DPI was supposed to post the information by Jan. 1.
The Early Literacy Curriculum Council convened in October and moved more slowly than expected. The Council didn’t collect curricula for consideration until December and January, ultimately making its recommendations in February. It recommended four curriculum resources, noting that DPI would complete the review of some others.
Separately, DPI did its own review of all of the curriculum options and made its own recommendations this week.
Why were there delays from the Early Literacy Curriculum Council?
In a letter to lawmakers, Underly shared some concerns about the council’s process. She said the council didn’t agree on a rubric for rating curricula until mid-November. That rubric, she said, included criteria that went beyond the requirements of Act 20. Underly said council members raised questions about the definitions on the rubric, but those “substantive conversations did not take place.”
As time pressure “intensified,” Underly said the council opted to rate materials “based on date of submission and openly discussed not rating all submitted materials.” Members also decided that they only needed seven members to review each curriculum to make a decision about it.
At a January meeting, according to Underly’s letter, the council discussed recommending only two curriculum options though they had reviewed less than half of the submissions. At that point, DPI determined the council’s process exposed the state to “ an unacceptable level of risk,” and decided to do its own review of all of the options.
Ultimately, the council recommended four curriculum resources that they had rated most highly. Additional resources, which the council found did meet the Act 20 criteria but didn’t score as highly, were rejected, according to Underly’s letter, and 13 options weren’t rated.
For its own process, DPI identified staff members with experience in science-based early literacy instruction. They used a rubric that more closely matched the Act 20 criteria, Underly said. They also made notes, for districts to use in their decision-making, about other features of the curricula, including alignment with state standards and options for multilingual students
Why does the list of curriculums matter?
Part of the literacy law requires the DPI to submit a list of recommended K-3 curriculums to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance. If approved by the committee, school districts that adopt these curriculums can receive reimbursement for up to half the cost, which can be millions of dollars.
These curriculum recommendations are significant because Act 20 requires districts to adopt science-backed early literacy instruction that is systemic and explicit by next school year. This instruction must include: fluency, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, oral language development, vocabulary, writing, comprehension and building background knowledge.
While districts aren't required to adopt the curriculums recommended by the council and the DPI, those will be the only ones eligible for partial reimbursement.
Many districts will likely make the switch to new reading curriculums because at least 79% of school districts surveyed by the Department of Public Instruction in 2021 use a curriculum that doesn't meet academic standards recommended by the department. About 80% of school districts participated in the survey.
More: Wisconsin passed a landmark literacy law 3 months ago. So what happens next?
Districts have been waiting for the release of curriculums so that they adopt new practices, train their staff and be in compliance with Act 20 by the 2024-25 school year. The Green Bay School District, for example, has been waiting for the literacy council and DPI to release its curriculum list before it buys new reading curriculum. It plans to select something for grades kindergarten through eight in March.
What will change with Wisconsin reading instruction under Act 20?
Act 20 requires districts to adopt science-backed early literacy instruction by next school year. The most aggressive provision of the law bars schools from teaching a reading technique called "three-cueing" in kindergarten through third grade starting in the 2024-25 school year.
Three-cueing is also known as MSV ("meaning, sentence structure and visual cues"). The technique is considered controversial because it places an emphasis on students using the meaning of the sentence or context, sentence structure and visual cues to decipher meaning from text instead of sounding out a word.
Research shows that this technique is used by poor readers, and that strong readers opt for sounding out words first.
Public schools and private schools participating in voucher programs are also incentivized to purchase new curriculums that are preapproved by the DPI. Schools that do can have up to half of the cost reimbursed.
Wisconsin's new literacy law also:
Establishes the Wisconsin Reading Center, which will provide 64 literacy coaches to help advise reading instruction throughout schools;
Creates the Council on Early Literacy Curricula which will annually recommend evidence-based reading curriculums for kindergarten through third grade;
Requires schools adopting new reading curriculums after January 2024 to pick one recommended by the DPI, if they want reimbursement;
Bars the DPI from issuing teaching licenses to those who haven't learned how to teach reading using science-based techniques;
Requires all K-3 teachers, their principals and reading specialists to receive specific professional development training on the science of how young students learn to read by January 2025;
Requires assessments three times a year for grades kindergarten through three to measure student reading abilities with further testing for students who don't score well;
Requires schools to implement individualized reading plans to catch up students who are not at grade level and create family notification plans to inform parents.
Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
Contact Rory Linnane at rory.linnane@jrn.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @RoryLinnane.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: DPI releases highly anticipated list of science-based reading curriculums
