As far as I know, schools gave up on whole-word learning 15 years ago when my son was in elementary school. They went back to phonics. I was on the school board at the time it was trashed. (This was a parish parochial school in Laurel, MD.)
I wish you were right. Every school can change at any time, and change back 10 years later.
In general, I think sight-words are as pervasive in elementary schools as in 1940 or 1960 or 1980.