POLICY

HOW WE’RE DRIVING POSITIVE CHANGE WITH CURRENT LEGISLATION

What Educators Need to Know About Georgia House Bill 1193

Woman speaking at a podium during a conference.

HB 1193, the Georgia Early Literacy Act of 2026, has passed the Georgia General Assembly and now awaits the Governor’s signature. HB 1193 brings changes that will impact classrooms, coaching, and professional learning across the state.

Overall, this bill is about scaling the statewide literacy infrastructure by providing a more collaborative, aligned approach between state agencies and initiatives than in the past. It also provides a stronger focus on evidence-based literacy by aligning instruction with research-based practices in reading, including explicit, systematic instruction in foundational skills.

Key takeaways:

  1. Impact on literacy coaching:

    1. $70 million in funding for school-based literacy coaches for all K-3 schools

    2. Establishment of a more coordinated, statewide approach to literacy coaching, ensuring consistency in how educators are supported across districts

    3. Establishment of a Literacy Coaching Endorsement, creating a pathway to ensure coaches are well-prepared to support teachers and improve student outcomes

  2. Requires school systems to have unified literacy plans

  3. Adopts the International Dyslexia Association definition of dyslexia

  4. Creates the Georgia Literacy Coordinating Committee, which will maintain and amend the Georgia Literacy Plan and support coordination of efforts of all state-wide literacy and reading education programs

  5. Creates the Georgia Literacy Task Force to be convened by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and will be responsible for providing recommendations on universal reading screeners and programs of high-quality instructional materials.

Georgia Early Literacy & Dyslexia Act | HB 307

This legislation merges HB 538 and SB 48 that were passed in 2023 and 2019, respectively. HB 307 updates a number of requirements for students with characteristics of dyslexia including providing a pathway to identify whether students have characteristics of dyslexia and for schools to report identified students to the Georgia DOE. In addition, the act:

  • Tasks the Deal Center with leading the state universal reading  screener review every three years.

  • Establishes the Literacy Coach Coordinating Committee and adds a Coordinator of Georgia Literacy Coaching at the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The Committee is tasked with coordinating statewide literacy coaching efforts.

  • Prohibits the use of three-cueing in reading instruction and in high quality instructional materials.

READ THE LEGISLATION

Approved Literacy Screeners | SB 464

Following substantial debate, the State Board of Education (SBOE) approved a list of five literacy screeners that will be used in accordance with the Georgia Early Literacy Act.

READ ABOUT IT