Reading is essential for achieving equity in education: ensuring all students have whatever it takes for each of them to master rigorous grade level standards at a minimum. Reading opens the doors to all the other academic disciplines.
We have years of data and research that confirms for us that students who fail to learn to read proficiently, face a lifetime of hurdles including a greater likelihood of dropping out of school, substandard wages, an increased probability of being incarcerated during their lifetime, and being viewed as inferior to their peers and marginalized from society (Fien, Chard, & Baker, 2021; Fiester 2010 and 2013; Holmes 2023).
We also have years of data and research that tell us how to teach reading so that all students become proficient readers (National Reading Panel, 2000; Slavin 2020). However, despite this invaluable knowledge, many schools continue to teach reading with methods, based on tradition or the personal beliefs of educators, that lack of evidence of effectiveness for all students. Yes, some children learn to read with these methods. Some is not enough. It must be all children learn to read proficiently.
However, as a country only 33% of our fourth graders are proficient in reading and 31% of our eighth graders are proficient as measured by the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Why is it that we continue to fail to use methods of teaching reading that have robust evidence, that when used by highly skilled teachers, results in all students learning to read proficiently. I believe that much of the resistance to changing our instructional methods to proven methods is due to lack of courage and lack of the intense professional development support needed to make it happen.
Courage accompanied by intense ongoing professional development and support are needed as schools and districts work to ensure that all students develop proficiency in reading at or above grade level. It takes courageous leadership (teachers and administrators) to say, “we will not settle for anything less and we will recreate the system to get the results that our students need.” It takes courage to admit that as individual educators we don’t know everything and have a great deal to learn as we each strive to ensure every student is a proficient reader. It takes courage to give up our unproven instructional practices that we are so comfortable with and follow the evidence.
It takes courage to stop tracking students into below level reading groups (Gorski, 2018; Schmoker, 2018). Courage to stop putting students in remedial reading groups that increase the gap rather than providing acceleration so that they can learn on grade level. Courage to say we will follow the evidence and use only research proven programs and practices (Slavin, Lake, Chamber, Cheung & Davis, 2009), rather than the latest shiny program to be pushed out by publishers. Courage to work through the change needed, knowing full well that the change will fundamentally change our practices and often be messy and uncomfortable (Tuckman, 1965).
Recreating our schools, so that all students learn to read on grade level or above, also takes ongoing professional development and support. We are asking educators to work differently and so we must provide the learning and support they need to change their practices and therefore the system (Slavin, Lake, Chamber, Cheung & Davis, 2009). Professional learning that results in changing teacher behaviors and improved student learning includes:
- Sustained and intensive professional learning that is focused on teaching and learning.
- Collaboration among teachers and administrators across the school resulting in change.
- Substantial time for educators to learn and work together on their practice.
- Supports for students needing additional supports to work at grade level.
(Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009; Holmes 2023).
This requires creating schedules that provide ample time for educators to learn and grow together. It requires understanding that this process is a continuous improvement journey and not an overnight change. It requires long term commitment and a willingness to grapple with the learning as we are on the journey. It requires much more than handing out new curriculum materials and having a couple of days of workshops before using the materials.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the NY City Department of Education Chancellor David Banks announced last May a citywide campaign to change how reading is taught in their schools. They are switching from their long-held Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, which has been identified as not having evidence of teaching all students to read, to research-backed curriculum with educators receiving intensive training, according to their press release. This is a courageous first step. Teacher’s College at Columbia University has also announced that there will be changes made to the Techers College Reading and Writing Project as they continue to learn from the research. This too is a courageous first step.
However, the hard part is still to come. It can be hard to select a research-proven program rather than the latest shiny new one that is research based, but not research proven. It is hard to dedicate the time and ongoing effort to professional development throughout the school years to truly change our practices around teaching reading to students. It takes much more time than a few days of workshops. New York City needs to continue to lead with courage and select only proven programs that provide ongoing coaching and support for multiple years in how to teach reading so that every students succeeds.
I would recommend that educators looking for research proven programs accompanied by intense ongoing professional development, investigate the reading programs at the Success for All Foundation, developed and extensively researched at Johns Hopkins University with impressive, rigorous research results to back them up. At a minimum, check out the programs with strong evidence of effectiveness at Evidence for ESSA or the What Works Clearinghouse.
References:
Darling-Hammond, L., Wei, R.C., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional learning in the learning profession: A status report on teacher development in the United States and abroad. National Staff Development Council.
Fien, H., Chard, D. J., & Baker, S. K. (2021). Can the evidence revolution and multi-tiered systems of support improve education equity and reading achievement? Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S105-S118.
Fiester, L. (2010). Early warning! Why reading by the end of third grade matters. Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved February 22, 2021 at https://www.aecf.org/resources/early-warning-why-reading-by-end-of-third-grade-matters/
Fiester, L. (2013). Early warning confirmed: A research update on third grade reading. Annie E. Casey Foundation. Retrieved on February 22, 2021 at https://gradelevelreading.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EarlyWarningConfirmed.pdfv
Gorski, P. C. (2018). Reaching and teaching students in poverty: Strategies for erasing the opportunity gap, (2nd ed.) Teachers College Press.
Holmes, G. (2023). Equity in our schools: Ensuring marginalized students achieve at a high level. Rowman and Littlefield.
National Reading Panel (2000). Report of the national reading panel: Teaching children to read. Executive summary and report of the subgroups. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Institutes of Health.
Schmoker, M. (2018). Focus: Elevating the essentials to radically improve student learning (2nd ed.) ASCD.
Slavin, R. E. (2020). How evidence-based reform will transform research and practice in education. Educational Psychologist, 55(1), 21-31.
Slavin, R. E., Lake, C., Chambers, B., Cheung, A., & Davis, S. (2009). Effective reading programs for the elementary grades: A best-evidence synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 79(4), 1391-1466.
Tuckman, B.W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin 63:384-399.
This blog is written by Dr. GwenCarol Holmes, a long-time educator and passionate advocate for all students mastering rigorous standards.