H.R. 7890 — Science of Reading Act of 2026

This section revises the definition of comprehensive literacy instruction under the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grants program (i.e., provides federal grants to states for literacy plans and subgrants to implement evidence-based reading and writing instruction from early education through grade 12) to exclude the three-cueing model (i.e., an approach using context, pictures, syntax, or visual memory as the primary basis for word recognition); defines science of reading (i.e., evidence-based research emphasizing phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, writing, background knowledge, and oral language); and defines three-cueing model. The section further (1) requires state grant applications to describe the extent to which their comprehensive literacy instruction plans align to the science of reading; (2) establishes grant priority for activities aligned to the science of reading; and (3) establishes subgrant priority for science of reading-aligned activities for birth through kindergarten entry and for kindergarten through grade 12 (also changing terminology from "grants" to "subgrants").

This section establishes general provisions for the Act and its amendments made to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), including that they apply to ESEA funds awarded on or after the date of enactment and rules of construction providing that (1) they do not limit or alter rights, protections, or individualized instructional requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or the Americans with Disabilities Act; and (2) they do not authorize any federal officer or employee to mandate, direct, or control a state, local educational agency, or school's specific instructional content, academic standards and assessments, curricula, or program of instruction.