State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced a bold vision for ensuring that every California student will learn to read by third grade by the year 2026 during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. The effort will also include a biliteracy milestone for dual-language learners.

In order to advance this goal, Superintendent Thurmond said a task force will be created to bring together practitioners, advocates, researchers, foundation partners, thought leaders, students, parents, and other experts to identify key strategies for advancing this goal. Efforts are underway in the California Department of Education (CDE) to build out a task force structure and membership, as well as establish when the task force will meet and details on the types of questions they will be tackling. In addition to announcing the task force formation, Superintendent Thurmond affirmed that Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) has agreed to sponsor legislation to help advance this goal.

Source: SPI to Ensure CA Students to Read by Third Grade – Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)