MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- South Carolina state senators are hashing out their version of education reform.
Part of that bill includes strengthening the state’s “Read to Succeed” program.
In both the Senate and House versions of the education bill, lawmakers are focusing on literacy as statewide reading scores are some of the lowest in the country.
The Read to Succeed law was passed in 2014, and aims to retain third graders who are not reading on grade level.
“Research tells us this that if a child can’t read on grade level by the third grade, they’re going to struggle the rest of their life and probably the rest of their academic career,” said Sen. Greg Hembree.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2017, South Carolina 4th graders were 47th in the nation when it came to reading scores.
Horry County third graders out performed the state, with nearly 84 percent meeting or exceeding expectations.
Proposed legislation allows students who could be held back to take a summer reading course, and gives the superintendent the ability to move them forward.
“It did not have the results that we had hoped. It has not been implemented in the way that was envisioned at the state level,” said Sen. Hembree.
A core component of the program is reading coaches in schools.
There are currently 614 reading coaches in the state. The house bill wants one in every elementary school.
The Senate struck that part from its bill and gives the Department of Education the ability to approve hiring reading coaches in a district if more than one third of its third grade students score at the lowest level.
The bill also requires the coaches to further their training.
“It’s just kind of tweaking and adjusting and making sure the spirit of the effort is carried out in the field,” said Sen. Hembree.
Senator Hembree said they will discuss this aspect of the bill on Wednesday, and he expects it to pass.