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Legislation authored by Rep. Ann Coody and co-authored by state Sen. Clark Jolley that would require all Oklahoma institutions offering elementary, early childhood or special education programs to ensure their prospective teachers are qualified to teach the five elements of reading has been signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry.

House Bill 1581 requires that prospective teachers undergo a comprehensive assessment in the area of reading instruction and that they have been instructed in the teaching of the five essential elements of reading - phoneme understanding, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. Institutions offering elementary, early childhood or special education programs would have until July 2010 to implement the assessments.

"Education begins early and making sure that Oklahoma children are being taught to read competently is a priority," Coody, R-Lawton, said. "I am so pleased to see this important legislation become law and believe it will help Oklahoma continue to improve in education."

Coody said that Oklahoma educators can take pride in having recently improved their rankings but that there is still much work to be done. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council's 15th edition of its Report Card on American Education, Oklahoma now ranks 35th overall in education.

"Oklahoma educators are doing an excellent job and I think this legislation will help them by making sure the children they are working with are highly competent in their reading ability at an early age," Coody said. "Early education has been proven to be so important to the overall development of our children."