Lawmakers pass bill banning controversial teaching method
‘Three cueing’ has been used by Georgia school districts for decades to help struggling first graders.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia lawmakers have approved a bill that would ban a controversial method used to teach children to read in Georgia for decades.
On Monday, the House of Representative gave final approval to House Bill 307, which would prohibit schools from using “three cueing,” a theory where kids are often encouraged to sample the letters and the words in the text, relying mostly on prediction and context for comprehension.
The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins). The bill is now headed to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk as the state legislative session enters its final week.
Ballard’s bill would also remove Reading Recovery as a state-approved intervention program used for decades to help struggling readers in first grade. While many schools stopped using it over recent years, it’s codified in Georgia law.
Some experts believe cueing doesn’t put enough emphasis on phonetics, or sounding out words. It’s currently banned in at least 19 states.
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Reading Recovery’s teaching methods are often associated with using three-cueing strategies. Two years ago, a University of Delaware study found its teaching methods harm children’s ability to read. Reading Recovery requested the study, which tracked thousands of students over 13 years.
“Reading Recovery is not in line with the science of reading,” Ballard, a former high school English teacher, said. “We [want to] make sure our schools and our teacher preparation schools will be teaching the right thing and making sure everybody’s aligned with the science of reading.”
The Reading Recovery of North America opposed Ballard’s bill and criticized the idea of banning three cueing. “Reading Recovery is the most studied, most successful short-term reading intervention in the world,” said Billy Molasso, executive director of Reading Recovery Community. “While Reading Recovery certainly does not claim to ‘cure’ all reading problems for every child, there are 40 years of documented success.
“It is of critical importance to note that laws that ban three-cueing inadvertently ban teachers from teaching phonics, grammar, comprehension, and any number of other ways children approach text,” Molasso said.
The Georgia School Superintendents Association criticized the bill. It worries that banning any kind of reading strategy could make teachers anxious about getting in trouble if they used unapproved methods.
“To use the word ‘ban’ from the classroom instills a sense of fear in teachers,” said Dr. Bubba Longgrear, superintendent of the Candler County School District.
Ballard said the ban on three cueing would not ban teachers from using picture books. “All of this can be used as supplemental material in the classroom, but they may not be used as the primary means of instruction,” Ballard said during a February state House Education Committee meeting.
Ballard has championed similar legislation in the past. In 2023, she helped pass The Georgia Early Literacy Act, which now mandates kindergarten through third-grade teachers be trained in the science of reading. According to the National Center on Improving Literacy, the science of reading is an approach to teaching reading that is based on decades of research and evidence. It’s not a specific program.
State Sen. Rashawn Kemp (D-Atlanta) filed a companion bill about the same time. “At the end of the day, three cuing is not aligned to the science of reading, and it is failed too many students,” Kemp said.
The bills were applauded by parents and literacy organizations, including Decoding Dyslexia, an organization that describes itself as a network of parent-led movements across the country concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia within the public education system.
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) published a report last year after researching ways future teachers were trained in reading instruction at colleges and universities. It gave eight college programs in Georgia a failing grade.
The council’s study largely relied on reviewing course syllabi, which found evidence of three cueing and other methods it identified as debunked teaching strategies.
Every university contacted by Atlanta News First Investigates dismissed NTCQ’s report. The University System of Georgia (USG) expressed concerns with NCTQ’s findings. It called the organization’s research methodology flawed and that it wrongly classified state university programs.
Kareem Weaver, executive director at Fulcrum, a nonprofit literacy organization, said ignoring NTCQ is the wrong approach. “If you say, ‘We don’t think we’re an ‘F’ score,’ do you think you’re an ‘A’ score? Are your teachers prepared to teach children how to read?” he asked. “If you’re getting a ‘F’ on that rating score, and they’re listing all the reasons why after examining your syllabus or your syllabi, something is going on.”
Georgia State University also received a failing grade by NTCQ. It has run a Reading Recovery training center for teachers since the 1990s.
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