Today’s Literacy Headlines

Small, regular interactions with a reading tutor — about 5 to 7 minutes — are making a big impact on young students’ reading skills, new Stanford University research shows. First graders in Florida’s Broward County schools who participated in the program, called Chapter One, saw more substantial gains in reading fluency than those who didn’t receive the support, according to the study. They were also 9 percentage points less likely to be considered at risk on a district literacy test. The model — less costly than other programs — combines one-on-one instruction with computer-based activities.

Unlike other ELA curricula, which often give teachers choices of books or allow students to pick their own, knowledge-building programs feature tightly constructed sequences of text that are all thematically related. And while students still practice comprehension strategies—such as summarizing or inferring—the curriculum prioritizes deeply understanding the content, rather than isolated skill exercises. These programs stem from the idea, backed by research, that having a broad array of background knowledge makes individuals better readers. General world knowledge is correlated with reading-comprehension ability.

Learning is complex. It depends on a myriad of cognitive skills, emotions, and behaviors alongside prior knowledge. Fortunately, the field of cognitive science has accumulated a rich body of evidence of how we learn (science of learning) and how to teach to promote learning (science of teaching). These research-backed strategies have the capacity to help students learn and retain more information.

A soon-to-be published study with children aged 10-12 from neuroscientists at Columbia University’s Teachers College indicates that for “deeper reading” there is a clear advantage to reading a text on paper, rather than on a screen, where “shallow reading was observed”. “Reading both expository and complex texts from paper seems to be consistently associated with deeper comprehension and learning” across the full range of social scientific literature. What does it mean when schools are going digital?

Armed with a crash course of expert training in the science of reading, phonics, and other early literacy techniques, reading captains help prepare parents and guardians to reinforce the lessons kids are learning in the classroom. They fan out into neighborhoods with one goal: Make sure the children on your block have the support they need to read on grade level. Because right now, many of those children cannot. They are also plugged into a volunteer network that spans the city.

A whole book about a bunch of kids washing rugs with their grandmother? Author Astrid Kamalyan says she’d understand if you heard that pitch and thought, “Huh?” But — of course — it is so much more than that. “It’s actually a book about Armenian joy and the beauty of Armenian family,” says Kamalyan. “It has so much of what made our childhoods so happy.” In Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day, a little girl named Tato steals some cherry plums before grabbing a brush. She joins friends and siblings outside, where they soak, soap, and wash the rugs.

Too many states aren’t giving teachers the skills to teach reading effectively, according to an analysis by the National Center on Teacher Quality. The report, released by the nonprofit National Center on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), identifies five key areas where education authorities can arm teachers with better skills to teach the fundamentals of literacy — from establishing strict training and licensure standards for trainees to funding meaningful professional development to classroom veterans. While a handful of states were singled out for praise, others were criticized for inaction or half-measures. 

Finland became in short order the most widely celebrated and imitated education system in the world. Admiration eventually grew into a complete fever. Finland was Michael Jackson, educationally-speaking. Everybody wanted to moonwalk. There were breathless superfans screaming at the limousine. Then, Finland’s performance tanked. It has declined more than the performance of any other country in the assessment program as of the 2022 test administration, whose outcomes were reported just a few months ago. It’s a whale of a story. What happened?

Massachusetts’s wealthiest school districts are also, strangely, the most likely to stick with a reading curriculum the state frowns on, one which leaves many students struggling with an essential life skill.

It’s been 40 years since Martin Luther King’s Birthday became a national holiday, and the question of how to celebrate it was probably best answered by the late John Lewis. The Georgia representative called it “a day on, not a day off,” “a day of action, a day of love, to give of ourselves to others and begin anew the building of the beloved community.” A new picture book about Lewis and two about Coretta Scott King make for illuminating reading on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday and throughout the year.

Chronic absenteeism, academic recovery, artificial intelligence and waning COVID relief funds are among the slate of challenges school leaders face.

Landmark studies of preschool programs in the 1960s and 70s showed that they could make a big difference for children from low-income families. But more recent experimental studies of preschool don’t show as strongly positive results for students’ academic and social outcomes. Why? That’s the question that Anamarie Whitaker, an assistant professor in human development and family sciences at the University of Delaware, set out to investigate in a new working paper. 

A new study by the University of Cambridge, has found that sing-song speech is vital in helping babies to learn a language and that babies do not begin to process phonetic information (the smallest sound units of speech) until they are around 7 months old. The study concluded that the rise and fall of tone—as in a nursery rhyme—is crucial to an infant’s processing of information and language.

Cursive is making a comeback amid concerns that learning to use a keyboard had superseded handwriting skills that are important for intellectual development — and also that a new generation of students could not write or read the flowing words of historical documents, old letters and family recipes.

Early, universal screening for reading disabilities is fast gaining traction among states, with 46 states now requiring some kind of dyslexia assessment in the early grades. Emerging research suggests new ways educators should think about how to identify dyslexia, particularly among vulnerable populations.

What does “differentiating instruction” mean to you, and what does it actually look like in the classroom? Two educators and a literacy professor share their thoughts.

An effort to overhaul how children learn to read, known as the science of reading movement, is sweeping the country. Here’s where it stands.

Since the COVID pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young children who are slow to develop language skills, with pediatric speech delays more than doubling for children aged 12 and younger. PBS Wisconsin’s Zac Schultz reports on what’s behind the delays and whether schools have the resources to help teachers, students and caregivers.

Children are eager listeners—of audiobooks, according to a new Library Journal / School Library Journal survey. Almost all public libraries now carry audiobooks for teens and children, the survey of nearly 500 public librarians found. “Kids in our community listen to audiobooks as they are learning to read and then continue to listen as they grow older, even if they are able to read the story,” according to Sammy Nieman, youth services librarian at Sun Prairie (WI) Public Library.

The federal government recently released an updated policy statement on the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. The statement outlines the many academic benefits of inclusion for young children with disabilities. Notably, it also emphasizes the positive impact inclusion has on all children in the classroom. Children with and without disabilities learning together have the opportunity to strengthen their social emotional skills, build new friendships, learn about human diversity, and participate in creating a sense of belonging.

“Our results showed that bilinguals seem to be more efficient at ignoring information that’s irrelevant, rather than suppressing—or inhibiting information,” deMeurisse said. “One explanation for this is that bilinguals are constantly switching between two languages and need to shift their attention away from the language not in use.” An example of this could be an English- and Spanish-speaking person having a conversation in Spanish—both languages are active yet English is cognitively put on hold but ready to be deployed as needed.

We know that many children are failing to learn to read in our nation’s classrooms. So it’s tempting to hope that tutoring by artificial intelligence could provide a solution. But how close are we to this for our earliest readers? And if AI isn’t yet the solution, are we making full use of digital tools that can help? We decided to find out about AI. 

Almost 40% of U.S. public schools say they’re offering high-dosage tutoring and more than one out of 10 students (11%) are receiving it this 2023-24 school year. Here are four lessons: (1) timning matters, (2) There’s a hiring dilemma, (3) we need more research on the effectiveness of video tutoring, and (4) humans and machines could take turns. 

For my family, reading Scarry together was itself like a car trip — the rare sort where no one gets cranky and the world, as seen from the back seat, is fresh and startling.

High-dosage tutoring is one of the most effective tools to help students recover from lost learning, including in subjects like reading, where many are far behind. But what if schools didn’t wait until students fell behind? What if all kindergartners got a reading tutor from the start? That’s what the early-literacy tutoring company Once is testing out. They have a hunch the results will look good. 

Some states have passed laws or implemented policies related to evidence-based reading instruction — as two-thirds of children struggle to read. How are colleges that train teachers responding?

Teachers can have students use graphic organizers and timelines to clarify their thinking during the writing process.

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a major shift in education policy that could transform the way many schools teach reading across New York. The proposal comes as education experts point to increasing evidence that the state’s approach to literacy is failing. Last year, fewer than half of New York’s third graders were proficient on state reading tests. Ms. Hochul said she would call for the state Education Department to require school districts to certify that their curriculums have embraced “scientifically proven” approaches to literacy by September 2025.

When your child is an English learner, it can be confusing and difficult to understand whether they are progressing normally toward proficiency in the language and what they need to do to be reclassified as fluent and English proficient. Here’s a quick guide to how schools classify students as English learners, what they have to provide for students to help them learn English, what criteria they take into account in reclassifying them as proficient in English, and why reclassification matters.

Kate DiCamillo hardly needs an introduction. The beloved author of Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and Flora & Ulysses has two Newbery Medals and a Newbery Honor under her belt, and many of her books have been adapted for the theater and the screen. But even more impressive than her long list of accolades are her words themselves. Her books, filled with humor, honesty, and an almost aching kind of hope, have made millions of readers around the world feel less alone.

StoryCorps interviews with grandparents and community elders can bridge divides and build the kinds of listening and communication skills our students need to thrive.

Beyond her trailblazing role as the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor considered iCivics – a civics education nonprofit founded after she retired from the court – to be her “most important legacy.” “The practice of democracy is not passed down through the gene pool,” O’Connor once stated. “It must be taught and learned by each new generation.”

We’ve heard a lot about the science of reading this year. Within this scripted method of how to make children proficient readers, there’s one critical element that’s been largely overlooked: the joy of reading. As efforts toward developing strong readers go, reading aloud to children is one that teachers’ anecdotes and research inform us is worthwhile. Here’s a glance at why reading out loud to students matters, the barriers teachers face in executing the read aloud, and the benefits of making it happen.

For decades, researching dyslexia has been a passion and a fascination for Albert Galaburda, the Emily Fisher Landau Professor of Neurology, Emeritus, at HMS. Ask him why, and he’ll likely say that, for him, it is a quest to untangle a condition shaped by so many facets of who we are. “It extends from sociology to molecular biology,” he says. “It has to do with how genes regulate themselves, but also with our brains, our schools, our education system, and our cultural attitudes toward reading.”

One of the most fundamental skills students learn in school is still at the forefront of the national education conversation—how kids learn to read. The “science of reading” movement pushed forward in 2023, with at least five more states passing new laws designed to bring reading instruction in line with evidence-based practice. At the same time, opposition to these attempts to overhaul classroom practice has surfaced, too, with one state seeing the first major legal challenge to new legislation. Looking back over the year, Education Week rounded up four important developments in reading instruction policy and practice. 

Great books can make you feel like you are actually in them; they whisk you away to imaginary worlds and far-off places. Many of this year’s best children’s books had this effect. Shana Gozansky’s My Art Book of Adventure drops readers into famous works of art, like Thomas Moran’s The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Edvard Munch’s The Sun. Nikki Grimes’ A Walk in the Woods envelops us in a thick forest, home to garter snakes, owls and white-tailed deer. And David LaRochelle’s latest book transports us to a magical land of 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli.

Indiana state officials must continue to fund strong afterschool and summer learning programs that have helped many students catch up after the pandemic — even when government money runs out, according to a new report from advocates. Programs that add hours and support to the school day, are especially critical for low-income students who were set back the most during the pandemic, according to the report, “The Expanded Classroom.” Those students’ families can’t pay for tutoring, museum visits, and arts activities that more affluent families can.

Kids have questions about death, and we don’t always have answers. In fact, we rarely do; we have questions of our own! “There are no words” might be all the rage in condolence cards, but there are words, and you can find them in these new picture books about grief. 

As a newly minted middle school English teacher, I was shocked by the number of students who entered my classroom unable to decode text. As I got to know them, I saw that herculean efforts to mask their reading disabilities revealed intelligence, determination, and traumatic relationships to school.

First, new funding is meant to increase the number of children served and get kids off waitlists. Second, additional funding is targeted to better meet the needs of working families. Finally, $35 million is slated for classroom startup grants of $25,000 to help open new classrooms and expand existing programs in public schools and community-based organizations.

In this video, Sarah Schwartz, Education Week’s curriculum and instruction reporter, recaps developments in reading policy in 2023, and offers a look at what’s ahead in the new year.

Children learn at their own pace, and therefore, some meet communication milestones earlier or later than others. Multilingual children develop language skills progressively, just as monolingual children do. When children do not meet developmental milestones that are typically displayed by children of the same age and learning the same language, families may be concerned. Here are some areas to consider more closely when there are communication concerns in multilingual children.

From students’ stalled learning recovery to the shifting politics of education reform and cybersecurity at schools, here were the year’s top themes.

Three years after the COVID pandemic began, schools across America are still finding their new normal. School communities are desperately trying to reduce chronically absent students, struggling with how to spend waning federal COVID relief dollars, implementing new “science of reading” laws, and waffling on how ChatGPT should (or should not) be a part of classrooms. Here are nine storylines from Chalkbeat reporters across the country that dove into those topics.

Every year we ask our staff and book critics for recommendations for Books We Love — NPR’s annual, year-end books guide. Here are some of the 2023 picture books they selected — to see the full list, including books for older kids — head over to Books We Love.

This year marked the fortieth anniversary of “A Nation at Risk,” the seminal report that did so much to reshape America’s modern education landscape. In the four decades since its publication, there have been unsung highs—like the rise in student achievement in the early aughts—and unwelcome lows, such as the post-Covid achievement crash that’s still with us. Indeed, nary a year has passed without both positive and negative developments, many of them traceable to the education-quake that NCLB triggered. This past year was no different. Here’s a roundup of some of the biggest ed headlines from 2023.

Studies have shown a link between dramatic play games and emotional control in children. In my work as an educator, I use theater training to help all students grow their self-regulation. Research demonstrates that children who have strong self-regulation skills at a young age are more likely to have academic success and greater physical and mental health as adolescents and adults. Use these games as part of your morning meetings, body breaks, or closing circles. There’s ample opportunity to tie in curriculum as well.

While standards can and should set the bar for annual learning targets, they shouldn’t be used to define the particulars of daily classroom instruction. Fluent reading is built on skills, yes, but it is ultimately fueled by curiosity and the desire to make meaning. Nobody picks up a text to practice finding the main idea of a paragraph. Rather, they learn to find the main idea by engaging with a text because it’s interesting, opens a window into new knowledge or offers a unique insight. What if, instead of foregrounding skills, students were learning about dinosaurs, butterflies, or the American Revolution, and mastering reading skills along the way?

Kindergarten enrollment remained down 5.2 percent in 2022-2023 school compared with 2019-2020, as fewer families consider it an assumed first step in a child’s formal education. Kindergarten is considered a crucial year for children to learn to follow directions, regulate behavior and get accustomed to learning. Missing that year of school can put kids at a disadvantage, especially those from low-income families and families whose first language is not English, said Deborah Stipek, a former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Those children are sometimes behind in recognizing letters and counting to 10 even before starting school, she said. 

States across the country have their versions of mandates meant to support students with dyslexia, and these continue to evolve. One example in recent headlines is dyslexia screening mandates, which the majority of states now have in place. These policies require all students be screened for dyslexia, mainly in grades K–2, ideally to catch at-risk characteristics early and provide interventions immediately. Far fewer states have mandated intervention for students with dyslexia, and states that do have proper mandates often fail to support and coach educators in the classroom on how to implement necessary instruction.

Carey Wright is a top-tier recruit with deep ties to Maryland. She spent decades working as a teacher and administrator in some of the state’s largest school districts before serving a nine-year stint as schools chief in Mississippi, where she was credited with leading a highly successful overhaul to literacy instruction. Locals are hoping her appointment can jump-start a similar revival in Maryland, where pandemic-era learning loss has dealt a severe blow to student scores that once ranked among the best in the country. 

Promoting creativity with educational technology in elementary school is a fantastic way to foster the 4Cs of 21st-century learning—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity—while providing students with future-ready experiences. Teachers can guide students to explore versatile tools like Flip and Seesaw in a range of assignments across the curriculum.

Beginning readers have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. The clock is ticking toward the grade 4 deadline for gaining basic skills. The science of reading approach has lost the sense of urgency about getting readers off the ground quickly. Explicit instruction is time-consuming. Only a limited amount is necessary, and the “harm” of overteaching is the opportunity costs: It eats up precious classroom time that could have focused on other goals.

To wrap up 2023, we’re taking a look at the big themes that emerged in your comments and conversations across our channels. We’re digging into the ideas and solutions that you—teachers, administrators, counselors, and other school staff—praised and critiqued. Here are nine big themes and conversations that lit up our channels this year. 

As educators stress the importance of social and emotional learning, more are adopting sensory spaces to help support self-regulation for all students. During the pandemic, and now beyond, sensory spaces have morphed from being used with just those with special needs to more inclusive environments that support all students as part of universal design for learning.

How much faith should parents have that their child’s school and teachers understand good literacy instruction? And if schools and teachers are shaky on effective practice, how much do parents need to know to advocate for their children and raise strong readers?

Researchers have found kindergarten through third grade classes spend, on average, 89 minutes a day on English language arts, 57 minutes a day on math — and just 18 minutes a day on science. One way advocates are trying to encourage more science time? Adding outdoor classrooms to elementary schools.

The state has for decades, over numerous initiatives, attempted to battle its literacy crisis by adopting the science of reading.

Setting up a self-contained classroom for English language learners bolsters academics and helps students reach fluency faster.

Key to all these lessons is teachers’ effective use of instructional time through student engagement.