Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law to raise Iowa students' lagging literacy. The classroom impact:

ADEL — Gov. Kim Reynolds sat cross-legged, surrounded by first-graders, on the floor of a classroom in Adel Elementary School, watching as the students practiced their vowel sounds. Reynolds had just come from signing a new law aimed at improving how early literacy classes are taught in Iowa. In the classroom, she saw some of those teaching techniques in action. First-grade teacher Erin Koelker showed students letter combinations such as "igh," "ay" and "ore" and had kids call out the sounds the letters make. The students also used handheld whiteboards...