LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — As students prepare to head back to school for the 2026 school year, school districts across Kentucky are implementing new curriculum requirements aimed at fundamentally changing how children learn to read.
A state law passed in April effectively bans teaching reading through visual cues, pushing instead for phonics — a method focused on sounding out letters.
The legislation requires districts to begin phasing out the "three-cueing teaching method," with a mandate that it be completely out of Kentucky classrooms by 2029.
Created in 1967, the three-cueing system has been a staple of literary education across the United States for decades. The approach encourages children to guess unfamiliar words by using structural, visual and semantic cues, such as looking at accompanying pictures.
However, Kentucky legislators and educators point to a lack of empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness. Studies show that the method can lead to long-term reading difficulties, as students rely on guessing rather than actually decoding words.
"What that does is students just guess or they look at pictures," said Brandy Howard, Chief Academic Officer for Bullitt County Public Schools. "That really hurts their memory and their confidence as a reader because they want to guess instead of relying on those skills."
Instead, educators and legislators are pushing for the "science of reading" — a vast body of research drawing on thousands of studies to establish scientific methods for literacy. This research strongly supports phonics, which teaches readers to match letters to sounds.
Howard said the new requirements align with changes Bullitt County Public Schools has already been naturally implementing, noting that three-cueing has been steadily phasing out in their classrooms.
Phonics has already shown a noticeable difference in student confidence, Howard said. For her, the impact is also personal. She noticed the method helping her own dyslexic daughter become a better, more confident reader.
"I will see her do things like really think about where is my tongue at? Or, you know, what is the sound that I'm hearing?" Howard said. "So, to see her use her decoding skills has just really helped her to be a confident reader."
While Bullitt County is already emphasizing phonics, administrators are implementing checks to ensure compliance with the law. Principals will conduct weekly classroom visits, and the district is sending letters to teachers to make sure they are aware of the legal requirements.
"Awareness is really important to us," Howard said.
Parents may also notice a difference at home as children sound out words more frequently instead of guessing.
"While that can kind of feel slower at home if you're listening to your child read, it really is creating independent readers who are not relying on guessing," Howard said.
Though the law mandates a complete phase-out by 2029, the legislation does not specify what punishments or enforcement actions schools will face if they continue to use the three-cueing method.
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