A mounting body of scientific research shows there are specific ways students should be taught to read. But many popular reading lessons in American schools, including those used in Illinois, aren’t aligned yet with that science. Data show that, even before the pandemic, only 1 in 3 Illinois third graders were reading at grade level according to the state test.

“It will be interesting to see how the leaders of the Democratic Party in Champaign and Vermilion counties — Mike Ingram and Sandra Lawlyes, respectively — finesse a power struggle over who will replace the late state Sen. Scott Bennett.”