October 11, 2024

Reading Between the Lines: What the Read Act 2.0 Means for Your School Year

By Madie Spartz

The start of a new school year brings excitement, nerves, and a host of possibilities. It also brings questions for parents and families, especially with all the changes schools are making as required by the Read Act. Furthermore, Minnesota’s most recent MCA scores show that student achievement is essentially stagnant, with just half of Minnesota kids proficient in reading, and less than half proficient in math. 

This leaves many wondering: when we will start to see improvement? It’s a big question, and one we may not have definitive answers to for a while. However, we can look to recent action at the legislature for an indication on how changes to education might unfold, which brings us to a significant, but little-discussed bill: Read Act 2.0.

What is the Read Act 2.0?

When the legislature passed the original Read Act in 2023, it was a sweeping change to reading instruction that garnered much-deserved attention. Even so, almost immediately after it passed, lawmakers were already discussing loose ends and improvements they wanted to make. This is not uncommon for policies so large in size and scope. The original authors of the Read Act, Rep. Heather Edelson and Sen. Erin Maye-Quade, worked with stakeholders to make adjustments to the policy and secure additional funding. (You can read the full Read Act 2.0 here, starting on page 38.)

What Changed in Read Act 2.0?

The bill went through many iterations throughout the 2024 legislative session—ultimately making a handful of policy changes with $37 million in new funding, the largest share of 2024’s supplemental K-12 budget. Here are the key changes:

  • Loosening requirements for how literacy dollars can be spent: The original Read Act set aside $35 million that districts could access to be partially reimbursed for purchasing Minnesota Department of Education-approved curriculum. Read Act 2.0 instead distributed those dollars directly to districts based on student enrollment and widened the scope of how the money could be spent. Evidence-based curriculum is just one of many things districts can spend that money on. Other allowable expenditures include hiring a reading intervention specialist or purchasing approved literacy screeners. It’s important to note that no district is required by law to use evidence-based curriculum—the Read Act says that if a district uses Read Act funds to buy curriculum, it must choose from MDE’s list of “highly-aligned curricula.” More on that below.
  • Stipends for teacher training: The final version of Read Act 2.0 provides funding to pay teachers for their time spent completing the professional development required by law.  However, instead of the same amount being paid to every teacher, the law dictates that districts must bargain on a reimbursement rate with their teachers. These resources were also distributed to districts based on student enrollment, with larger districts receiving more money. This makes it possible that teachers across the state may be paid different amounts for completing the same training.
  • Developing culturally competent literacy materials: After the initial Read Act passed, a first step was for the review and approval of curriculum aligned to evidence-based practices. Unfortunately, concerns surfaced that some approved materials contained insensitive content. Read Act 2.0 addresses this by appropriating $1 million for MDE to partner with a higher education institution to do a comprehensive review of approved materials to ensure they are culturally responsive. 
What Does This Mean for Districts, Schools, and Families?

The new components in Read Act 2.0 may not be immediately apparent to families, but they will directly impact how districts and schools approach literacy instruction in the coming years. Given all the public conversation around our state’s change to reading instruction, some folks might be surprised to learn that school districts are not required to use state-approved, evidence-based curriculum. If a district uses a literacy curriculum that’s not considered “highly aligned” to the Read Act by MDE, they can’t be reimbursed by the state for purchasing it, but there are no restrictions in state law against using unaligned curriculum. 

It’s worth exploring which curriculum your district is using, which can be found in its Local Literacy Plan. Literacy plans were developed over the past year, and are required by law to be posted online to the district website. You can find a list of MDE’s curriculum ratings here, ranging from “highly aligned” to “not aligned.” Districts may only use literacy funding for “highly aligned” curriculum. 

For more details, download our Read Act 2.0 Fact Sheet.

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