The Indiana Senate passed a bill Tuesday requiring schools to define “the science of reading’’ and to implement curriculum based on those findings.

The bill also would mandate that the Indiana State Board of Education and the Indiana Department of Education implement an academic standard for reading based on the science of reading and not what is known as the three-cueing model.

The science of reading is reading instruction that draws on research from developmental psychology, educational psychology, cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience.

Three-cueing is the method young learners use when they extrapolate the meaning of words from their context in sentences, their letters, etc. Long used in teaching children to read, it has more recently come under criticism as a less effective method.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, the bill states that a superintendent or the equivalent for a charter school must adopt a curriculum that is based on the science of reading. Beginning July 1, 2024, the state could review teacher preparation programs to make sure they are aligned with the guidelines. After June 30, 2025, teaching licenses would no longer be granted to individuals without passing a foundation of reading examination.

Freeman spoke to why he authored the bill, saying the state has moved away from the practice of sounding words out and phonics.

“Sixty-seven percent of Indiana fourth graders and 73% of Indiana eighth graders are not proficient in reading. Ninety percent—nine out of 10—African American eighth graders are not proficient in reading. Houston, we have a problem. Indiana we have a problem. United States of America, we have a problem,” Freeman said.

The bill passed unanimously, 45-0.