A group of education leaders and experts met for the first time Friday to decide how to better prepare teachers on instructing young children how to read.

With reading proficiency scores lagging and the multi-million dollar Read to Achieve investment showing null results, the state is asking how to do things differently. The PreK-12 Literacy Instruction and Teacher Preparation Task Force will report to the State Board of Education in March with recommendations on how the state should tweak teacher licensure requirements, summer reading camps, professional development opportunities, and educator preparation programs through coursework and clinical experience.