Missouri’s Literacy Bill Gets It Half Right — Here’s What’s Missing

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By Jill Miesen, Literacy Specialist

Missouri just passed House Bill 2872 with a 131–10 vote. Bipartisan. Sweeping. And for anyone who works with struggling readers, there’s a lot to celebrate — and one thing that should give us serious pause.

I work with two populations that rarely get mentioned in the same breath: dyslexic students and gifted students. Often, I work with both at once — the twice-exceptional learner who is intellectually advanced but can’t decode a second-grade word. HB 2872 gets the diagnosis right. But the prescription has a blind spot.

What the Bill Does Right

Missouri has officially banned three-cueing as a primary reading instruction method. For those unfamiliar, three-cueing teaches children to guess at words using context clues, pictures, and sentence structure rather than sounding them out. It’s been widely used for decades. It’s also been widely debunked.

The science of reading is clear: phonics-based, structured literacy instruction is how the brain learns to read. Not guessing. Not memorizing. Decoding.

HB 2872 also creates the Missouri Reading Screener (grades 1–3, three times per year starting 2027–28), strengthens dyslexia intervention requirements, requires educator prep programs to use evidence-based instruction, and mandates intervention plans for at-risk second graders.

This is meaningful progress. Missouri dropped from 14th to 38th in national reading rankings between 2003 and 2024. In 2024, 42% of Missouri fourth graders scored below basic on the NAEP. Something had to change.

Where It Falls Short

Here’s my concern: the bill’s primary enforcement mechanism is automatic retention. Third graders identified as “at-risk” can be held back.

I understand the instinct. Social promotion has failed generations of kids. But retention without the right intervention isn’t a solution. It’s a delay.

For a dyslexic student who is bright and capable but decoding slowly, repeating third grade in the same classroom with the same methods is not going to close the gap. What closes the gap is structured, systematic, multisensory literacy instruction — the kind that Orton-Gillingham approaches and programs like Barton Reading and Spelling are built on.

The bill also doesn’t distinguish between general phonics training and the specialized intervention dyslexic students actually need. LETRS training is excellent professional development — but it is not the same as dyslexia-specific certification. Conflating them leaves the most vulnerable readers underserved.

The Twice-Exceptional Student Is Invisible

There’s another population this bill doesn’t see: twice-exceptional (2e) learners — students who are gifted and have a learning difference, often dyslexia. Their giftedness can mask their reading struggles. Their reading struggles can mask their giftedness. They fall through the cracks of both the gifted program and the intervention program.

HB 2872 doesn’t mention them. The screener will catch some — but without guidance on interpreting results for students who are simultaneously advanced and struggling, schools may not know what to do with what they find.

What I’d Like to See

Missouri got the diagnosis right. But the prescription needs refinement:

1. Retention should be a last resort, not a default. Intervention intensity and quality should be the primary lever.

2. Dyslexia-specific training should be distinguished from general literacy PD. Schools need educators trained to deliver structured literacy at the level dyslexic students require.

3. Twice-exceptional learners need explicit recognition in implementation guidance. A gifted student who struggles to decode is not the same as a student who is simply behind.

Missouri is moving in the right direction. Let’s make sure we bring all of our students with us — including the ones who don’t fit the standard profile of “struggling reader.”

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Jill Miesen is an educational consultant who delivers high-yield dyslexia therapy and teaches upper-level English students. She works with both gifted and dyslexic learners and is currently completing her Barton Reading and Spelling certification. Learn more at jillmiesen.com