Phonics lessons, dyslexia screening would be required under proposed Denver policy

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Denver school board member Amy Klein Molk said she visited two schools recently. At one, she saw students working in small groups on lessons that align with the science of reading, which calls for phonics instruction and sounding out words. At the other, she didn’t.

The difference between the two schools? The first served more affluent students.

Klein Molk told that anecdote at a board meeting Thursday night during a discussion of a new policy that would require all Denver schools to use a science of reading-backed approach.

The proposed policy would also require “early identification” of students with dyslexia and mandate that the district provide all students with “high-quality digital apps” so they can practice their literacy skills at home, among other requirements.

“We, the board, can no longer ignore the huge disparities between proficient readers and readers who struggle,” said board member Monica Hunter, a former Denver Public Schools elementary school teacher who introduced the proposed policy.

Those struggling readers are more likely to be Black and Latino, Hunter and others pointed out. State data shows 67% of white third graders in Denver met or exceeded expectations on state literacy tests last year, while only 26% of Black and 25% of Latino third graders did.

The science of reading is a large body of research about how children learn to read. It’s also the most popular method for teaching literacy, and most states — including Colorado — have laws mandating that schools use scientifically based reading programs and teachers be trained.

Denver Public Schools rolled out a science of reading curriculum called Core Knowledge Language Arts to elementary students over three years, starting in 2022-23 and ending in 2024-25. To comply with a federal court order on how DPS serves English language learners, the district also introduced a new Spanish reading curriculum, called Caminos.

Denver has also been screening students for dyslexia. A state law passed in 2025 will require all Colorado districts to do so starting this fall.

Some school board members asked why a new policy would be needed, given that state law covers some of the same topics. Community members wondered that, too.

“What new action does it require that is not already mandated by the READ Act?” Tania Hogan, the executive director of the University of Colorado’s BUENO Center for Multicultural Education, asked during public comment at Thursday’s board meeting. The READ Act is Colorado’s landmark reading law, first passed in 2012 and amended several times since.

Leah Schultz-Bartlett, the principal at Denver’s Beach Court Elementary, questioned whether the school board should be making decisions about reading curriculum.

“It is not the board of education’s role to be involved in the daily operation of a school,” she said.

But Hunter and others said the quality of reading instruction varies from school to school, sometimes because parents at more affluent schools can fundraise to hire extra reading interventionists. Several parents and teachers urged the board to support the new policy.

“If you’ve ever been around someone who can’t read, they’re angry, they’re frustrated, because they can’t understand the world around them,” said parent Kayla Greathouse.

It’s not clear when the board might vote on the proposal. Some board members seemed supportive, while others were hesitant. Board President Xóchitl Gaytán said she agreed with holding the superintendent accountable for raising reading scores, but that Hunter’s proposed policy was “way too prescriptive, way too operational.”

The proposal is called Executive Limitation 22. Executive limitations are rules for the superintendent, who answers to the school board.

Klein Molk urged her fellow board members to help Hunter make the proposal better “because the intent behind this is 100% correct.” Hunter said the board should act quickly.

“Time is a luxury that, I just want to name, that a lot of students do not have,” she said.

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.