Oklahoma lawmakers want to improve reading scores. A bipartisan group hopes to keep them on track.

Oklahoma lawmakers have spent years debating how to improve the state’s struggling reading scores. Now, a bipartisan group of legislators wants to make sure the latest effort doesn’t become another abandoned education reform.

The newly formed Oklahoma Reading Caucus brings together Republicans and Democrats who helped advance the Strong Readers Act, a sweeping overhaul of how Oklahoma schools teach reading, identify struggling students and provide additional support before children fall too far behind. The bill was signed into law in April and requires students to read at or above the basic level by the end of third grade. 

The caucus is co-chaired by Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa; Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore; Rep. Mike Lay, R-Jenks; and Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City.

 The group isn’t focused on just passing another piece of legislation. Its members want to monitor how the new law works in classrooms, study student performance data, listen to educators and parents and recommend changes when necessary.

Its leaders hope to show that improving public education can be a shared responsibility rather than another source of political conflict.

“I think by showing that we’re focused on the core elements of public education, that is the most powerful statement of it all,” said Schreiber.

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.Both Seifried and Schreiber pointed to a recurring problem in education policy: Legislators pass reforms, political leadership changes, and the state moves in another direction before schools have enough time to implement the original plan.

“Not just what words we put on the piece of paper that ultimately becomes law, but how the state Department of Education implements it, how the districts take hold of it, and how it’s applied in the classroom,” Seifried said.

Watching the numbers, and knowing when to change course

A central responsibility of the caucus will be examining student performance data to determine whether the Strong Readers Act is delivering the improvements lawmakers promised and proposing adjustments to the law if needed.

Schreiber said new data-sharing arrangements between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and school districts should allow lawmakers to monitor student progress more closely and avoid relying on outdated information. And she pointed to recent school accreditation downgrades, some of which she said relied on older data that failed to reflect improvements districts had already made.

“Working with real-time data, I think, is going to be really, really important,” Schreiber said.

That information could help lawmakers identify which districts are succeeding, which students need additional support and which provisions of the law might be creating unintended problems. The caucus also intends to gather feedback directly from teachers, administrators, parents and education experts.

The stakes are high. Oklahoma ranked 47th nationally in fourth-grade reading and 48th in eighth-grade reading on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, administered in 2024. Just 23% of Oklahoma fourth graders scored proficient or better in reading, compared with 30% nationally. The state’s fourth-grade reading scores showed no statistically significant improvement from 2022.

Only 27% of Oklahoma third graders scored proficient or advanced in reading on state tests administered in spring 2025, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Schreiber said lawmakers should be willing to make adjustments when evidence shows a policy isn’t working. But she cautioned against responding to every concern with immediate legislative changes before schools have had a reasonable opportunity to implement the reforms.

“We want to try to have a place where we can have a common conversation,” Schreiber said. “We’re all getting educated about, yes, this is something that we actually do need to change, or give this a chance to work. Let’s hold off.”

Seifried agreed that the state must balance flexibility with consistency.

She said Oklahoma previously adopted some of the same reading strategies now included in the Strong Readers Act, only to retreat from them before they could produce lasting results.

“A big part of this caucus as well is there will be bills filed to tweak things, and we recognize that we probably didn’t get it 100% right the first time,” Seifried said.

But constantly changing requirements, she said, can undermine the very improvements lawmakers are trying to achieve.

Seifried expects measurable statewide improvements could begin appearing within two to three years. She also wants the caucus to study states that are further along in similar reforms, including Mississippi, which has recorded substantial improvements in elementary reading performance.

Preventing problems before third grade

Both Seifried and Schreiber acknowledged concerns about holding children back who don’t meet reading benchmarks by the third grade, but emphasized that retention is intended to be a last resort.

Oklahoma previously adopted a similar approach before lawmakers weakened its retention requirements.

The Strong Readers Act includes earlier assessments, additional tutoring and instructional support, and regular communication with parents beginning well before third grade.

Seifried said monthly updates should help parents understand when their children are struggling, rather than discovering the problem only when retention becomes a possibility.

Schreiber said the law also includes exceptions for certain students, including those with qualifying disabilities. But she warned that the first years of implementation could be difficult, particularly for students who haven’t benefited from the new instruction and interventions throughout their early elementary education.

“We may have one or two years where we have a larger body of students that are affected by this negatively than positively, and we need to make sure that we know how to support that specific cohort,” Schreiber said.

Funding could present another challenge.

Seifried said the Strong Readers Act includes a funding formula that provides districts with base allocations, additional support tied to struggling readers and incentives for schools demonstrating success.

She said lawmakers must also continue investing in reading coaches and other resources necessary to help teachers implement the reforms.

Finding common ground beyond political divisions

The reading caucus arrives after years of bitter political disputes over Oklahoma public education, including disagreements over curriculum, classroom instruction and the direction of the state Education Department.

Its leaders say the group’s bipartisan structure is intentional, even if it doesn’t mean Republicans and Democrats will agree on every decision.

Schreiber said those disagreements should be expected.

“Working through disagreements and finding where we can agree, and probably making some compromises, is a reality of being a good legislator and being a good legislative body,” she said.

What matters, she said, is whether lawmakers approach those disagreements with the shared objective of improving student outcomes.

For Schreiber, the Strong Readers Act offered a glimpse of what that kind of cooperation could accomplish. The legislation drew support from educators, business leaders and members of both political parties. She said watching those groups come together made her feel better about her work at the Capitol than almost anything else during her legislative tenure.

“I came here to do problem solving, and I think that is what we were trying to do with the Strong Readers Act,” she said.

Seifried said the bipartisan commitment is also intended to help the reforms survive changes in legislative leadership and election cycles. Other states, she said, have demonstrated that improving literacy can require five, 10 or even 15 years of sustained effort.

By then, some of the lawmakers who created Oklahoma’s reforms will no longer be in office.

Schreiber acknowledged that the current caucus leadership may face more criticism than praise as the state works through implementation problems, while future legislators could receive credit for improvements years down the road.

That’s a trade-off she’s willing to make. And she hopes the effort can help shift Oklahoma’s education conversations away from political battles and toward the fundamental responsibility of preparing children for their futures.

“It’s also an opportunity for us to get back to the basics and focus on what really matters in people’s lives, get out of the culture wars, get back to our core responsibility as legislators,” Schreiber said.

She said the strongest message lawmakers can send is that Republicans and Democrats are willing to work together, confront difficult evidence and stay focused on results.

“I’m so proud of the fact that we have this bipartisan caucus,” Schreiber said, “but I’m more proud of the fact that the entire legislature is identifying this as our job, our duty, and is willing to problem-solve together.”