Third-Grade Reading Reform Clears both Chambers of OK Legislature
Ray Carter | OCPAThink.org | March 25, 2026
Legislation designed to dramatically improve Oklahoma’s public-school literacy outcomes, including a mandate that students repeat the third grade if they read far below grade level, has advanced from both chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature with strong support.
“This is legislation that I’ve been talking about, relentlessly, for many months now,” said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow. “For us in Oklahoma, we’re in a situation where 73 percent of our third-graders cannot read at grade level, and it’s unacceptable. If you ask anyone where Oklahoma ranks nationally in education rankings, we’re lucky if they rank us as high as 48. And it is high time that we as Oklahomans stop accepting failure in outcomes. We need to have better outcomes. Our educators want better outcomes. Our students deserve better outcomes. And this legislation, I believe, gives us the strongest literacy laws in the entire country.”
“Reading is the foundation for all learning, and if we don’t get literacy right in the early years, we are setting students up to struggle for the rest of their time in school and the workforce,” said state Sen. Adam Pugh, an Edmond Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee. “This legislation takes a comprehensive, data-driven approach to make sure every child has the support they need to succeed. This bill ensures we are identifying reading challenges early and intervening aggressively, while still giving students multiple opportunities to demonstrate progress. We are focused on helping students succeed, not simply holding them back.”
House Bill 4420, by Hilbert, requires third-grade students to score above the “below basic” level on the statewide reading test before they can be promoted to the fourth grade. In effect, the bill would require that students read at a second-grade level before starting fourth grade.
HB 4420 also requires early identification of reading deficiencies in lower grades, followed by intensive interventions for struggling readers, and increases the number of required regional literacy leads. It also requires that there be one reading specialist, or a contracted reading specialist, for each elementary school.
“In Oklahoma, we’re in a situation where 73 percent of our third-graders cannot read at grade level, and it’s unacceptable.” —House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow)
Under the bill, schools performing the worst on the end-of-year reading assessment will be given priority access to the reading coaches employed by the State Department of Education.
The legislation was amended on the House floor to adjust the funding formula for the distribution of reading funds. Hilbert said current law effectively punishes schools that do a good job.
“Current law is actually a disincentive for students to improve,” Hilbert said. “Because right now, school districts receive funds for however many students are on tier 2 or tier 3 supports. So, if a student improves, schools receive less money. That’s a problem.”
Senate Bill 1778, by Pugh, similarly amends the Strong Readers Act to require intensive reading interventions for first- through third-grade students with significant reading deficiencies.
Under the bill, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, third-grade students who do not score above the “below basic” level on the third-grade statewide English test will have to repeat the third grade.
Pugh said the goal of the legislation is not for kids to repeat third grade, but to instead provide the help they need to become good readers long before then.
“What I hope the effect will be is that every single kid in the state of Oklahoma can read,” Pugh said.