California Bill Would Require Phonics-Based Reading Instruction

The method teaches children to sound out letters, unlike the ‘sight recognition’ approach.

Tests show that only 43 percent of Calilfornia’s third-graders read at grade level. Ariel Skelley/Getty Images

A California legislator and former educator introduced a bill that would require the state’s public schools to use a “science of reading” approach to teaching young children to read.

Assembly Bill 2222, introduced Feb. 7 by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, would mandate all schools use the approach focused on phonics—that is, teaching students to “sound out” letters, groups of letters, and syllables to form words.