William & Mary announced a $978,904 federally funded longitudinal study examining how the Virginia Literacy Act affects K–8 reading outcomes, assessment performance, achievement gaps, and the return on the state’s literacy investment.
Editorial Note
William & Mary announced the research project on October 5, 2026.
The announcement of the grant is new, but the Virginia Literacy Act itself is not.
The law dates to 2022 and implementation began earlier.
The study is designed to evaluate policy effects over time, so it should not be described as having already proven that the Virginia Literacy Act either succeeded or failed.
Research findings will emerge over the project period and may carry limitations associated with observational data, implementation variation, assessment changes, and other factors affecting student achievement.
Virginia Is About to Put Its Literacy Reform Under a Longer Microscope
William & Mary’s School of Education announced October 5 that Elizabeth Talbott will lead a $978,904 Institute of Education Sciences-funded longitudinal study examining the Virginia Literacy Act and literacy outcomes for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The project will pay particular attention to students who have experienced persistent achievement gaps and will use Virginia’s longitudinal data to examine performance before and after implementation of the literacy law.
The research team plans to study student data spanning 2021 through 2028.
Bottom Line
The project asks one of the most important questions in education policy:
Did the reform actually improve student learning?
States frequently pass literacy laws requiring new curricula, screening systems, teacher training, intervention structures, or science-of-reading approaches.
Legislative passage attracts attention, but implementation outcomes matter much more.
Virginia now has an opportunity to examine the reform over several years instead of relying only on short-term test-score headlines.
What Happened
William & Mary says the three-year research project will examine several dimensions of literacy policy.
During the first year, researchers plan to study how well Virginia’s newer Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System, or VALLSS, predicts later literacy outcomes compared with its predecessor, PALS.
In year two, the team plans to examine growth on Standards of Learning assessments in grades three through eight before and after Virginia Literacy Act implementation.
In year three, researchers plan to study the return on Virginia’s literacy investment.
The research team includes specialists in methodology, literacy, data analytics, and education policy.
The Policy Context
Virginia lawmakers passed the Virginia Literacy Act in 2022.
The policy is intended to strengthen evidence-based reading instruction, accelerate literacy development, support students at risk of reading difficulty, and increase the likelihood that younger students meet reading benchmarks.
Like other science-of-reading policies, the law reflects a broader shift toward explicit attention to evidence from cognitive science, language development, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and related components of literacy instruction.
But science of reading is not a single commercial curriculum.
A state can require evidence-aligned practices and still experience uneven results if teachers receive inadequate training, materials are poorly implemented, interventions are delayed, staffing is insufficient, or assessment systems fail to identify students accurately.
Why Longitudinal Research Matters
A one-year test-score comparison can be misleading.
Student outcomes are influenced by prior achievement, attendance, mobility, economic conditions, special-education services, pandemic disruption, district capacity, teacher turnover, curriculum implementation, and many other variables.
Longitudinal data allow researchers to follow patterns over time and compare student growth across different implementation periods and demographic groups.
The project also includes students from rural, urban, and suburban communities, which is particularly important in a state where district contexts vary considerably.
Who This Affects
The research is relevant to classroom teachers, reading specialists, special educators, principals, superintendents, state policymakers, teacher-preparation programs, families, and students.
It may be particularly important for students with disabilities and students from lower-income communities because those populations have often experienced persistent literacy achievement gaps.
What This Does Not Mean
The October 5 announcement does not prove the Virginia Literacy Act works.
It also does not prove the policy has failed.
The study is being launched precisely because researchers need stronger evidence about implementation and outcomes.
Likewise, a change in statewide reading scores cannot automatically be attributed entirely to one statute.
Rigorous analysis will need to consider other changes occurring during the same period.
The Assessment Question
One of the most practical parts of the project concerns VALLSS.
Screening systems matter because intervention often begins with identification.
If a screening tool inaccurately identifies risk, schools may miss students who need help or devote scarce intervention resources inefficiently.
The research team therefore plans to compare how well VALLSS and the older PALS system predict later literacy performance.
That analysis could influence how educators interpret screening data rather than treating every score as equally predictive.
The Bigger Picture
Virginia is part of a much larger national literacy-policy movement.
States across the political spectrum have adopted reading reforms, and federal policymakers have also considered legislation emphasizing evidence-based instruction, screening, intervention, and teacher preparation.
The policy consensus around early literacy has grown considerably.
The next question is whether implementation evidence becomes equally strong.
What Happens Next
The William & Mary team plans to conduct the project from 2026 through 2029 and share results with superintendents and principals in accessible formats.
That dissemination piece matters.
Education research has limited value if findings remain inside academic journals while district leaders make decisions without access to them.
Why This Matters
Literacy policy should ultimately be judged by whether more children become capable, independent readers.
Legislation, curriculum adoption, professional development, and assessments are means toward that goal rather than outcomes themselves.
Virginia’s willingness to examine several years of data could help policymakers understand not merely whether scores changed, but which parts of implementation appear to be working and where adjustments may be necessary.
Key Takeaways
- William & Mary announced a $978,904 IES-funded literacy study on October 5.
- The project will examine Virginia Literacy Act outcomes for K–8 students.
- Researchers plan to analyze data covering 2021–2028.
- The study includes comparisons involving VALLSS and the older PALS screening system.
- Researchers will examine SOL growth before and after implementation.
- The final phase will examine the return on Virginia’s literacy investment.
- Results are expected to be shared with Virginia school leaders over the project period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Virginia Literacy Act new?
No. Virginia passed the law in 2022. The October 5 development is the announcement of a new longitudinal research project evaluating its effects.
When will results be available?
The project is planned across three years from 2026 to 2029, with different analyses occurring during each year.
What grades are included?
The broader research concerns literacy outcomes for students from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Is this research federally funded?
Yes. William & Mary identifies the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education as the source of the $978,904 research grant.
Final Thoughts
The Virginia Literacy Act is entering a more important phase than legislative debate: evaluation.
States have spent enormous energy deciding how reading should be taught.
The next generation of literacy policy should be driven by equally serious work examining whether those decisions improve outcomes for the children who need stronger reading instruction most.
That makes this study worth following well beyond today’s grant announcement.
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