Ohio Governor DeWine emphasizes phonics following state report card

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Ohio’s report card is out, and Governor DeWine isn’t happy about the literacy achievement rate among third graders.

The report finds 40 percent of Ohio’s third graders are not proficient in reading. The report assesses the 2021-2022 school year and shows that the numbers are higher than the 2020-2021 school year. However, the most recent numbers are lower than the pre-pandemic school year.

Patty Barns, a retired professor of education, agrees with DeWine. She says whether we like it or not phonics is part of learning to read. Yet, the problem is, it isn’t taught enough in schools.

“It should be something that people consistently introduce in classrooms, in each classroom, for at least five years.”

Barns equates learning phonics to learning how to drive.

“You learn the rules of the road in a classroom, and you could ace the test. You wouldn’t want to just take somebody out on the road immediately and have them learn the rules of, ‘oh a stop sign means stop, oh, you forgot that, you’re dead.”

According to the report, the state acknowledges the deficit by saying in part, “the department is using federal COVID relief funds to accelerate learning in reading by providing additional, and more effective, opportunities to learn”.

“The department is using federal COVID relief funds to accelerate learning in reading by providing additional, and more effective, opportunities to learn.”

You can read the full report here.

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