Science of Reading Legislation: What's Next for Teachers

Over 40 states have now passed Science of Reading laws. But passing the laws is just the first step towards change. We received a sobering reminder of why this work is so urgent just yesterday, with global exam results showing American reading scores near a 25-year low. These numbers confirm what I’ve seen on the ground while partnering with states: our legislative intent is high, but our classroom reality is lagging. Read more about what I have learned partnering with states to create plans to roll out literacy screening...and the work that needs to follow. Shoutout to some of the other incredible thinkers leading on this topic...and just all-round wonderful thought partners and pushers. Regan Kelly Jamila Newman Osarugue Michelle Odemwingie Kumar Garg yaacov petscher Dan Reynolds Jennifer Vranek Khaled J. Ismail Cara Stillings Candal Tim Daly Madaline Edison

New York City’s latest reading scores are alarming. But they shouldn’t be treated as a verdict on NYC Reads. In today’s New York Daily News, Katie Pace Miles, Ph.D., founder of The Reading Institute, a client I'm grateful to work with, and Susan Neuman, professor of childhood and literacy education at NYU, weigh in on what the latest scores do — and don’t — tell us about NYC Reads. They make the case for a more disciplined response: take the results seriously, investigate why different measures of student progress are pointing in different directions, strengthen the parts of NYC Reads that need improvement, and keep building on what's working. Worth a read for anyone following literacy policy and the shift toward evidence-based reading instruction. https://lnkd.in/g5S-YQRA #Literacy #EducationPolicy #ScienceOfReading

Great piece from Massachusetts teachers on the opportunity we have with Right to Read passing this session. Luisa Sparrow De'Shawn C. Washington, Ed.D. Jillian Geraghty Jennifer Amento M.Ed.

From the Classroom to Unemployment: PARENTAL INTERFERENCE as a Hidden Variable in the Decline of Academic Standards and the Drastic Narrowing of Students’ Skill Sets - a Professor’s Perspective The distinct shrinking of cultural repertoire and the degradation of new generations' analytical capacity have become, inevitably, one of the most alarming dynamics of contemporary teaching. Having worked in education since 2001, I have observed with growing concern the flagrant decline in students' academic performance and the rapid impoverishment of their cultural repertoire. It is a severe phenomenon of cognitive and vocabulary erosion. When I recall my own education around the age of 15, I had already read Machado de Assis (a Brazilian writer), Franz Kafka, Dino Buzzati, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, Frank Herbert, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Nowadays, my students barely read the instructions for the practical assignments I give in classes A large part of the problem stems from PARENTS, who treat their children in an overly protective manner, to the point that schools and universities force us to administer increasingly less demanding exams. Later, these very same parents complain that their children are unemployed.

If you are a teacher with Gen Z responsibilities.... You might get discouraged by the "not so warm" disposition you may observe in some, in spite of your competence, commitment and communications! Rather than getting disillusioned and disconnect further from the kids (and resort to mere supervision and hands-off approaches- which would appear to be less of a headache!), I would suggest that one should involve more.... The human touch is still VERY MUCH needed in academia. When everything comes around easy, all tend to take things light. And that holds for the teaching environment too. But when there is a great number of students to deal with and when students have multiple courses in a semester system (and also particularly when these students have little systems on their own, to deal with the challenges- only a few follow through routinely and actively participate in the learning processes..... many passively while away time scrolling phones, wake up only for an examination to turn around to brush up on bare minimals...), things tend to go south. At the risk of sounding like a preacher, here is my reflection of the philosophies and policies that I abide by: 1. Teachers should insist on guidelines and deadlines, the minimal professional requirements that a youngster should be trained for, so that he/she could respect authority and fit in a society. 2. Teachers should also pitch their classes and evaluations for conceptual understanding and analytical (in short time scales) and creative/synthetic (in the longer time-span) applications; and not give freebies or liberal grades. 3. Teachers should interact freely and friendly, but never become a friend, per se. If someone involves in malpractices and exhibits aberrant tendencies in the ambiance, one should be in a position to offer a rectifying message. 4. Teachers should make it a point that students pay attention and interact in their classes. Communication skills, confidence-building and social propriety is built through classrooms too! These aspects cannot be built on their own or by AI. These are human-imparted and reinforced values and practices that only human touch can build. These are the foundations of human society. My spirits shall always cherish these values and always endeavor to uphold them.

Recently, I engaged with a journal article written by Julia Gillen which was built on the book Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education and something really clicked for me. Throughout my teacher training, and across my years in the classroom, I don't recall ever being required to meaningfully engage with educational research. And it made me stop and think: How was I ever expected to develop my perspective, challenge my assumptions, or evolve my approach if I wasn't being exposed to the research that could help me do that? It also made me reflect on the potential disservice this may have caused my students. 🤦🏽♀️ Not because teachers don't care. Not because teachers aren't capable of changing. But perhaps because we're often asking teachers to improve practice without consistently giving them access to the evidence, research and ideas that could inform that improvement. It made me wonder whether this is one factor why some teachers' beliefs and methods of operation can remain relatively unchanged for years. If the research isn't reaching teachers, how can we expect research-informed practice to reach classrooms? Perhaps the issue isn't that teachers don't want to change. Perhaps we haven't always created the conditions that enable them to know why, what and how to change. And that raises a much bigger question for teacher education and professional development: What might happen if engaging with research wasn't an optional extra, but a fundamental part of becoming, and remaining, a teacher? Because our students deserve teachers who are continually learning, questioning and evolving. And teachers deserve access to the knowledge that makes that possible.

Love this framing, Dr. Sam! What strikes me most is how you describe Duke’s model as building on the reading rope rather than replacing it — that’s such an important distinction. Too often in this field, new models get positioned as “better than” what came before, when really the strongest contributions are the ones that extend the foundation rather than discard it. Adding effect sizes on top, as Tim did, takes that a step further — it moves us from knowing a component matters to understanding roughly how much it matters, which is invaluable for prioritizing instructional time. Thanks for your time in this, it’s a great reminder of what cumulative, respectful scholarship looks like in our field.

Teachers do not need another literacy slogan. They need language for what they are seeing. When a child reads a sentence accurately but cannot tell you what changed, the next step is not more speed. Ask for a retell, a prediction, or the clue that mattered. That small shift turns reading from performance into thinking. It also gives teachers a clearer signal about where to model, where to pause, and where to let the child try. Literacy authority grows in the classroom through precise noticing, not louder advice.

California made a landmark investment in literacy reform. Now comes the harder part: making sure implementation lives up to the promise. In a new EdSource commentary, PowerMyLearning CEO Arun Ramanathan argues that California’s approach to vetting literacy professional development risks putting too much of the burden on districts—especially smaller districts with fewer resources—to distinguish high-quality, evidence-based programs from the rest. California has demonstrated that it can conduct rigorous, expert-driven reviews. The question is: will it do so for literacy professional development? As Arun writes: “If there was ever a bet I wanted to lose, it was this one.” Because ultimately, this isn’t about winning a bet. It’s about making sure California’s students get the benefit of the reforms the state promised them. Read the full piece in EdSource: https://lnkd.in/ghxWGZ3M #Education #Literacy #CaliforniaEducation #ScienceOfReading #EdPolicy