YOUNGSTOWN - As children literacy rates across Ohio stay down, Governor Mike DeWine is pushing schools to switch teaching techniques. 

The science of reading is a more interactive way of teaching. Educators use phonics to have students sound out words rather than pairing them with pictures to learn how to read. 

“Sometimes you put sand down and you sound the word out but you also are tracing that at the same time,” Governor DeWine said. “It's very verbal and it works.”

DeWine met with officials across the Mahoning Valley in a round table discussion on Monday about the technique. Steve Dackin, the director of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce said 300,000 Ohio students in grades K-4 are not reading at their grade level. He also said 40% of 3rd graders across the state are not reading at a proficient level. 

“We have to see that as a crisis,” Dackin said. “We know how to solve the problem, we have the science to back up how to solve the problem.”

Dackin and DeWine believe that solution is the science of reading which they said is backed by decades of research. 

The state will be providing funding to schools that have to retrain teachers to switch to the science of reading and new legislation will require universities to have future teachers trained in the technique.

“Literacy is a cornerstone skill for children especially in their formative years because it quickly turns into a lifelong skill,” Bill Johnson, Youngstown State Universities President said. 

YSU students who are studying to become future teachers are already training in the science of reading. One YSU student who teaches young children in Austintown said she's seen a significant improvement in her students ability to read after just two months of using the science of reading method in her classroom. 

DeWine hopes the new way of teaching will bring literacy rates up and in turn prepare children for the workforce ahead. 

“Being able to read is the key to life, it really really is,” Gov. DeWine said.

DeWine is scheduled to have three more roundtable discussions across Ohio in the next few days about the science of reading.