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March 04, 2025
State Superintendent Reads to Students in Kalamazoo County
State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice reads to Mrs. Kelly Carbary's second grade class at Parchment Central Elementary School in Kalamazoo County.
LANSING – As educators across Michigan work to improve children’s early literacy skills, local schools and the Michigan Department of Education are celebrating March is Reading Month.
Today State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice visited a second-grade classroom at Parchment School District’s Central Elementary School in Kalamazoo County. He read “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout” by Shel Silverstein and “The Star-Bellied Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss.
“Throughout the year and particularly during March is Reading Month, we need to encourage children to read,” Dr. Rice said. “Early literacy is the foundation for learning. We need to improve our instruction in the science of reading, the how of literacy, but we also need to increase student interest in and engagement with literacy, the why of literacy. Across the country, children are reading less than in previous decades. We need to reverse this trend in Michigan.”
Michigan’s long-awaited new literacy/dyslexia laws for which MDE and other activist organizations fought will strengthen the effectiveness of literacy instruction and intervention for Michigan students. They will also improve pre-service and in-service training to educators to learn or strengthen skills needed to identify Michigan students with characteristics of dyslexia.
In addition to the lobbying for and implementation of the new literacy/dyslexia laws, MDE is calling on the legislature to make Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training mandatory for K-5 teachers. More than 10,000 educators have either finished or are participating in LETRS training statewide.
Gov. Whitmer has proclaimed March is Reading Month in Michigan. The governor recently encouraged the state legislature to help address cell phone use in schools. Dr. Rice is supportive of this effort as a means of focusing students more on their schoolwork and reading.
In support of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Plan’s Goal 2 to improve early literacy achievement, MDE is sharing the following resources to celebrate March is Reading Month.
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