ATLANTA — A two-year-old Georgia law requiring teachers to use the “science of reading” in their lessons has led to literacy gains in the state’s lowest performing schools, the Georgia Department of Education announced Wednesday.

House Bill 538, which passed unanimously in the state House of Representatives and with just one ‘no’ vote in the Senate, called on the state agency to overhaul teacher training and develop new literacy tests.

The education department responded last fall by sending literacy coaches to 60 schools that had been performing in the bottom 5%.

Scores on the new reading tests improved 15%, with the strongest gains in kindergarten, according to the agency.

The law, which took effect in July 2023, required all public schools and school systems to provide onsite teacher training, with model lessons for students and prompt instructional feedback. It also required all teachers in kindergarten through third grade to complete literacy training by the beginning of this month.

The education department coaches reached 1,000 teachers and affected 18,000 students, the agency said, noting that teachers reported improvements in their confidence, their instructional ability and their use of data.

“Targeting intensive supports where they’re most needed, by placing coaches directly in our most challenged schools, has shown immediate promise,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said, adding that the initiative laid “a strong foundation for lasting, statewide literacy success.”