Education
Early Literacy
THE PROBLEM
Too many Missouri students are struggling to read at all grade levels.
THE SOLUTION
Adopt evidence-backed early literacy policies with a proven track record in other states to help more Missouri students learn to read effectively.
Mandatory Third-Grade Retention
John Westall and Amy Cummings at Michigan State University released a comprehensive national analysis of state early literacy policies in 2023.
They found no evidence that reading scores significantly increase without a mandatory retention policy to hold back struggling readers.
Missouri already has a form of third-grade retention, but it is based on discretionary decisions, not objective academic benchmarks, and is rarely used.
Students who do not learn to read effectively struggle to keep up. When students can’t read fluently, they devote more cognitive function to deciphering words and less to comprehending passages.
While retention can be a difficult experience, it is easier for students when it occurs early.
The tangible threat of retention motivates adults, and research has shown outcomes are also improved for students who are never retained due to the threat of retention.
In practice, here is how it would work: All students would take a state literacy assessment for reading. Those who do not meet the established benchmark score would receive summer remediation and an extra chance to pass the test.
If a student fails the retake opportunity, he or she would be retained.
Good-cause exceptions would be made for students with disabilities, English language learners, and previously retained students.
Use the Science of Reading, Not Three-Cueing
Three-cueing is an approach to teaching reading that does not rely on decoding text and instead teaches students to use language and other “cues” to guess at words.
Research shows that skilled readers learn to read each letter rapidly and fluently as they connect the letters’ sounds with their oral vocabulary.
Three-cueing relies more on how the “whole word” looks and other context like pictures. Fluency and decoding with phonics, rather than guessing and memorization, should define reading instruction.
Align Teacher Preparation Programs
The National Council on Teacher Quality released a 2026 report on how teacher preparation programs (TPPs) align with the science of reading. Nearly half of Missouri’s participating programs received an F.
More alarmingly, Missouri ranked second in the nation in teaching practices contrary to the science of reading. Missouri’s TPPs taught four times more contrary practices, on average, than the national average.
This is a solvable problem. In 2023, just 33% of Indiana’s TPPs received an A or A+. Soon after, Indiana required TPPs to align their curricula with the science of reading and to stop teaching the three-cueing method, or else lose their accreditation status. In 2026, 96% of Indiana TPPs received an A or A+. Holding TPPs accountable worked in Indiana, and it can work in Missouri.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Establish a mandatory third-grade retention program based on objective academic benchmarks with a retest opportunity and good-cause exceptions.
- Ensure that Missouri’s teacher preparation programs train prospective teachers in the science of reading.
