Giving Compass' Take:

• Koby Levin, writing for Chalkbeat, discusses Michigan's new third-grade reading law to improve literacy rates and how lawmakers think it could improve. 

• How can donors help invest in early childhood education initiatives?

• Here are ways that adults can support child literacy. 

Michigan is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve literacy as part of its tough new third-grade reading law.

But the architects of the law now say that’s not nearly enough money.

“I’ve come to that realization,” said Amanda Price, a former Republican state representative who was instrumental in passing the controversial law and remains one of its most prominent defenders.

Price’s concerns add to a longstanding criticism of the law: that the state isn’t investing enough money to actually improve student literacy.

Researchers agree that students who still struggle to decipher text in the third grade tend to continue to struggle through the rest of their K-12 careers and are less likely to graduate.

Michigan’s new law, called “read by grade three” by officials and “read or flunk” by others, was passed in 2016 in response to stagnant third-grade reading scores.

The “flunk” part of the law — a requirement that schools hold back third-graders who fall too far behind in reading — has gotten the lion’s share of public attention. Critics say retention is emotionally damaging and that students from low-income families will be disproportionately affected. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, just announced that her administration will partner with philanthropies to help families apply for exemptions to the law.

Florida and New York City invested heavily in strengthening instruction for struggling readers when they passed their own third-grade reading policies. Both saw their scores improve. New York City used the money to put struggling readers in smaller classes and give them access to methods of instruction tailored to their needs.

Read the full article about Michigan's literacy law by Koby Levin at Chalkbeat.