Learning to read is foundational to success in school and life. But too many Maryland students still cannot read well by the end of third grade — an important indicator of future academic success — and struggle to catch up. That’s why the Maryland State Board of Education recently adopted a new pre-kindergarten through third grade literacy policy that sets standards for comprehensive instruction across the state with the goal of all students learning to read by the end of third grade.

Third grade is an important milestone in a child’s educational journey, marking their transition from learning to read to reading to learn. If they have fallen behind by then, it is much harder to catch up.

The State Board has set an aspirational target for Maryland to rank among the top 10 states in reading on the fourth- and eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams by 2027.

Research shows the development and mastery of early literacy skills are a strong predictor of later school achievement, and students who have not achieved grade-level literacy proficiency are at higher risk of not finishing high school.

Over the past decade, not only has Maryland’s literacy achievement declined, but achievement gaps by race and family income have persisted. Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright notably led systemic literacy reforms in Mississippi: During her nine-year term as Mississippi state superintendent of education, student achievement on NAEP improved at a faster rate than nearly all other states. NAEP fourth grade reading rose from 50th to 21st in the nation, and economically disadvantaged fourth graders achieved higher NAEP reading and math scores than their peers, across racial and ethnic lines, both regionally and nationally. She is the right person to implement similar initiatives here.

Paired with investments through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation, the new literacy policy speaks to the needs of students, families and educators.

A cornerstone is family partnership at every step of the process. Families will be involved in reviewing progress, developing support plans as needed and any consideration of retention in third grade. We adopted a phased-in approach, first ensuring all teachers are trained and then that assessments and supports are put in place for students.

Our first priority is that districts train all teachers in the science of reading, an evidence-based instructional philosophy that emphasizes skills development in phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension to build strong literacy skills. The Maryland State Department of Education is offering high-quality professional learning on the science of reading at no cost to teachers.

In addition, we are committed to early interventions: Students will be screened to identify or predict their risk for poor reading outcomes. If additional resources are needed, families will help to develop a reading improvement plan that may include such proven strategies as tutoring and small-group supports.

Finally, starting at the end of the 2027-2028 school year, the policy calls for recommended retention, with parent consent, of third graders who are still struggling to read so that they can receive additional support prior to advancing to fourth grade. However, there are good-cause exemptions in place to the recommendation for retention, such as students receiving special education services or multilingual learners who are demonstrating progress on the state language assessment.

Overall, this reinforces our message that being able to read by third grade is an essential gateway for future success in school and in life.

We began considering the literacy policy in June and engaged in extensive public engagement and deliberation, resulting in feedback from more than 2,000 stakeholders. Our board understands the importance of this policy for the success of our children and went through several rounds of revisions to make the policy work best for Maryland. We believe this process made the policy even stronger and will serve us well as we make any changes over time.

This policy intends to ensure and reflect best practices nationally for improving literacy achievement. Policy adoption is just the beginning of the process. We will revisit and review implementation data each year and look forward to public input as we phase in each new component. The State Board will undergo a similar review of mathematics in the coming months and review the state’s accountability system for schools and districts.

Working with the state superintendent, our focus is on improving outcomes for all Maryland students — and it starts with learning to read.

Joshua L. Michael and Monica Goldson are the president and vice president, respectively, of the Maryland State Board of Education.