By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY – Leaders of Oklahoma’s business community say the state must improve its poor literacy outcomes with major reforms, including holding back students who fall behind in reading.
State Chamber officials on Monday unveiled their latest education-focused campaign, called “Oklahoma Competes,” during a State of Business Forum. Along with supporting retention of struggling students, chamber leaders said they will urge Oklahoma lawmakers to dedicate more funding to reading coaches and other literacy initiatives.
“We’ve got to resource it right,” Rick Nagel, who leads the chamber’s executive committee, told news reporters Monday. “We’re going to have to invest some money. We can’t save our way out of this one.”
The chamber, a major voice in the state’s public policy pursuits, joins a growing chorus calling for improvements to early literacy in Oklahoma, where only 27 percent of third graders scored proficient or advanced on the state reading test last school year.
Better reading outcomes are foundational for Oklahoma’s future workforce and the state’s ability to compete for business investment, chamber leaders said.
Third grade is widely considered a milestone year in literacy education because from fourth grade onward, a child must have mastery of basic reading skills to succeed in other school subjects, a concept known as “reading to learn.”
Oklahoma law previously required children to repeat third grade if they scored poorly on the state reading test starting in the 2013-14 school year. The state Legislature, though, added exemptions to the rule in subsequent years and ultimately did away with the requirement altogether with the Strong Readers Act in 2024.
