JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri House passed a bill to change how students will learn to read on Tuesday.

House Bill 2872, sponsored by Rep. Cathy Jo Loy, R-Carthage, will require school districts and charter schools to notify parents that if their child’s substantial reading deficiency is not corrected by the end of third grade, the child will not be promoted unless the child qualifies for a “good cause” exemption.

While acknowledging the need for the restrictions, Rep. Mark Boyko, D-Kirkwood, asked how the bill would address parents who believe they can override the school district’s decision to retain the student. Loy said that parents will have to be understanding of those decisions.

“When you send your child into a public school or private school, you sign on to the policies that are in their schools,” Loy said.

“We don’t let parents come in and demand that their precious child gets an A when they come to D. And so if their child cannot read in the third grade, our policy is you’re going to retain the child,” Loy added.

In addition to changing reading requirements, the bill will prohibit educators from using the three-cueing system to teach students how to read.

The system utilizes visual and contextual clues to help students understand how to read words. The method has been widely viewed as ineffective by scholars and is often advised against by educators, who teach students to phonetically sound out words they cannot spell.

“This legislation offers the same types of reforms that help states like Mississippi move from near the bottom of the national reading scores to the middle of the country,” Loy said. “If a child cannot read, they cannot fully access math, science, history or any other subject.”

“The goal is not retention. The goal is literacy, making sure that children learn to read early so that retention becomes unnecessary,” Loy said.

The bill will allow the Evidence-Based Reading Instruction Program Fund to support reading tutoring programs during regular school hours, rather than only outside regular school hours.

The bill faces a final vote before going to the Senate, which is considering similar legislation.