The phonics screening check is so closely correlated with month of birth that it can be argued that it is a test of age rather than decoding.

Tasked with spelling out the word "drop," the first grader at Logan Elementary School had instead written "drip" onto his laminated sheet with a dry-erase marker. But quickly realizing that spelling ...

California took a big step toward overhauling its reading curriculum last week when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill pushing for phonics-based instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms.