Half of Minnesota students can't read at grade level

Half of Minnesota’s students can’t read at grade level.

At a recent press conference, legislative Republicans said this is because the education establishment bought into the “whole language” and “balanced literacy” approaches to reading.

They want to see increased funding for schools, teacher training programs, and tutors to invest in the science of reading, which is “explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction” based on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension, said Rep. Patricia Mueller, R-Austin.

“This means there is a letter by letter processing of a word rather than ‘whole language.’ Students do not learn to read innately. We do not learn simply by being surrounded by literature,” said Mueller, who has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in literacy and recently completed a doctorate in education.