Requiring students to read at an eighth-grade reading level before getting their permit and driver’s license is the focus of one bill at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
This is something that was required under state law previously and could possibly be revived under HB4153.
“If you don’t pass your eighth-grade reading test you have to wait till you’re 18 to take your driver’s test,” State Rep. Toni Hasenbeck (R-Elgin) said. “So, it really builds an incentive that teachers can use to motivate kids to be better readers so that if you pass your eighth-grade reading test when you’re 15 and a half you can go get your learner’s permit and then get your license as soon as you turn 16.”
The bill states, “any student not successfully completing the reading portion shall be assigned a plan of remedial reading.”
There is a component in the bill for students on an IEP to prove they can read in a different way from other students.
“I don’t know the original rationale for doing this in the past. I just, I watched it work, I watched eighth grade teachers making eighth grade students excited about reading, so I think that’s enough benefit, but I don’t know for sure what the original rationale was,” Hasenbeck told FOX 25. “I do think reading road signs is pretty important when you’re behind the wheel of a 6,000-pound vehicle.”
Literacy is a big topic at the Oklahoma State Capitol this session.
“It’s going to give teachers some leverage to grab more buy-in from students, and if parents need their student to drive so they can help drive the family around, or just be the kid in the house that needs to get somewhere so mom can take the other kids to other places, having a driver in the home is a big asset,” Hasenbeck said.
Hasenbeck told FOX 25 one in four eighth-grade students are not reading on grade level.
“The increased vision on this is that we’re going to have one more grade that’s motivated to read, and our state will be a better place the more kids we have that are reading at grade level and beyond,” she said.
The bill is being heard in the House Public Safety Committee on Wednesday morning.
