Across the country, elementary schools employ an estimated 67,000 speech language pathologists 鈥� experts on the front lines of diagnosing early language and reading struggles. 

The problem? To meet , schools of them. 

It鈥檚 the same for reading specialists, highly trained educators who have made literacy their professional calling card. There are simply out there with that expertise. 

These shortfalls are part of the reason that students’ reading proficiency is . Today, 40% of fourth graders can鈥檛 do things like provide support for ideas related to a story鈥檚 plot or characters. That鈥檚 up from 33% in 2022. A third of eighth graders can鈥檛 pick out the main idea of an informational text. 

Ensuring that every child has foundational literacy skills is going to be a Herculean task. Based on my work with researchers and technologists, I see enormous potential in automatic speech recognition as a tool for helping to make up for the shortage of specialists. After listening to children read aloud, this artificial intelligence-powered technology can help assess their progress by identifying weaknesses, provide them with feedback and give teachers and parents recommendations for interventions. The promise of this technology is substantial 鈥� if platform developers and their funders can get it right.

This is particularly true in K-2, when students are learning skills that for lifelong reading and success. By assisting speech pathologists and teachers, automatic speech recognition could make sophisticated early literacy screening more accessible and affordable 鈥� and it should only get better as AI advances.

Speech recognition technology has a , and it has been used to support literacy development in young readers since 1990. That鈥檚 when Carnegie Mellon University launched , a computer program that displayed stories on a screen and listened to children as they read the text. The program intervened when the student made a mistake, got stuck or asked for help. It also gave teachers feedback and advice on the child鈥檚 progress and struggles.

The approach worked. A compared the literacy skills of students in grades 1 to 4 who used the program with those of classmates who engaged in sustained silent reading. Those who used the technology-powered intervention, especially in first grade, outpaced their peers in word identification, comprehension, fluency, spelling and understanding of individual sounds.

Some modern versions of automatic speech recognition serve primarily as a screener, like Amplify鈥檚 , which provides teachers with immediate feedback on students鈥� reading fluency and specific areas where they need extra support. Other innovations use the technology to not only assess, but intervene in real time, like 鈥檚 AI reading tutor. An , the tool works in English and Spanish and serves 5 million students in all 50 states. Amira is also collaborating with the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Data Center to develop an for neurodiverse students. 

Automatic speech recognition is particularly strong at helping students decode words, as it improves their ability to match written letters to the spoken sounds they make 鈥� a key skill in literacy development.

This spring, Renaissance Philanthropy launched with one moonshot goal: develop AI-powered tools that, over the next five years, will reduce the number of struggling young readers by half. 

Short for Learning Engineering Virtual Institute, LEVI provides five years of funding to researchers and developers who share their knowledge and learnings while tackling big challenges. We recently the teams selected to work toward the literacy moonshot: Reads Labs at Harvard University, OxEd, LitLab.ai and Project Read with the University of Florida Literacy Institute.

Of course, there are challenges to deploying automatic speech recognition in classrooms if it is to reach its full potential. Developers, companies and researchers need to invest in the that are needed to train the AI behind these tools. Importantly, these must include a range of children 鈥� English learners, special education students, etc. 鈥� so the apps and platforms can assist kids with diverse needs. Finally, developers must ground their tools in cognitive science on how the human brain learns, then validate their platforms through rigorous classroom testing.

Automatic speech recognition can never replace a skilled and caring teacher, but it can serve as a patient, non-judgmental expert companion for every educator trying to better understand who is struggling to read, and why. With thoughtfully designed, research-backed screeners and tutors, the nation can have a powerful new tool to tackle its literacy challenge, and give all students more of the personalized reading help they deserve. 

She created the program in 1995, inspired in part by her father, who could not read or write. What began as an effort to put books into the hands of children in her Tennessee community became an international program that has distributed millions of free books.

Her idea was simple: introduce youngsters to good books. But its simplicity should not obscure its significance. A book in a child鈥檚 mailbox is more than a book. It can become a conversation between parent and child, a bedtime ritual, a story read repeatedly. It can open hearts and minds and change a child鈥檚 understanding of what books and reading are for.

That distinction has shaped my life and work. As a professor at the Warner School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester, where I focus on reading and literacy, I have spent my career thinking about how children learn to read. Through my work with Rochester children and families 鈥� including , Project READ and other literacy initiatives 鈥� I have also learned that teaching reading is only part of the work.

Helping children grow up to love books and enjoy reading is equally important. 

I have watched reluctant readers become increasingly enthusiastic when they are given meaningful choices about what they read. I have seen confidence grow as their skills develop, and I have seen the joy that comes when children find books that reflect their own lives, questions, and experiences. Those moments remind me that motivation and joy are part of how literacy grows.

Our public conversation about reading can become overly focused on scores, reading levels and achievement gaps. Those measures matter. Children deserve excellent reading instruction, and schools must be accountable for providing it. However, a reading score cannot tell whether a child thinks of books as something they want to return to 鈥� or whether reading has become a source of curiosity rather than simply another school task. A child can learn how to read without yet knowing why reading matters. 

Literacy is foundational because it gives children access to knowledge, information and opportunities in a world increasingly saturated with text. Reading also gives children something less easily measured: language to express their experiences and access to worlds beyond their own. Books can help children recognize themselves, encounter people unlike themselves, ask better questions and imagine new possibilities.

That is why access to books is not a sentimental issue. It is an issue of opportunity.

It鈥檚 distressing that legislators in four states 鈥� Indiana, Missouri, Maine and Washington 鈥� are looking to cut public funding for Parton鈥檚 program.

For those who work in literacy, the lesson Parton imparted with her program is both simple and demanding. We need strong reading instruction, skilled teachers, accessible libraries and community programs that reach families where they are. But we also need to create the conditions in which children can discover the pleasure of reading and recognize themselves as readers. The goal is not simply to produce children who can read. It is to help children become readers. 

Parton gave millions of children a place to begin that journey. Our responsibility is to ensure every child discovers the gifts of becoming a reader.

But with the rise of social media and video streaming, some news articles are that the Western world is heading toward a post-literate society where the written word matters less than it used to. Sixty years ago, if you wanted to learn the capital of Zambia or how to fix a leaky faucet, you鈥檇 have to look it up in a book. Nowadays, Google and YouTube can answer such questions, and tools like Claude and ChatGPT can spit out written text without much input from humans.

And yet, as E.D. Hirsch more than 25 years ago, 鈥渋t takes knowledge to gain knowledge.鈥� The internet may have put an extraordinary amount of information at our fingertips, but we still need to be able to read it, understand it and connect it to what we already know. If anything, a world awash in information makes literacy more important, not less.

If reading remains the gateway to learning almost everything else, then one of the most important things a school can do is teach children to read well. So a year ago, 社区黑料 started looking for schools that were beating the odds in teaching kids to read. By comparing literacy and poverty rates for 10,000 districts, 42,000 schools and 3 million kids, we found more than 2,000 Bright Spots across the country and plotted them on an interactive map. 

Since then, we鈥檝e been speaking with teachers, principals and literacy coaches at a number of these Bright Spots schools, trying to figure out what they do differently.

A few takeaways from that search: 

The basics matter more than magic: Some schools were surprised to be on our list. They didn’t necessarily have an unusual program or practice in place, but across schools, we kept seeing the same organizational factors: they all have strong leaders who are resolutely focused on student outcomes, they pay attention to the quality of their curriculum and how it鈥檚 being implemented, and they closely monitor student performance data in service of continuous improvement. These feel like platitudes, but they鈥檙e essential elements to getting reading instruction right.

They focus on core instruction: The Bright Spots schools all seem to prioritize high-quality core instruction, for all kids. Notably, the Worcester County, Maryland, district getting 鈥�improbable鈥� results explicitly protects its reading instructional time and doesn鈥檛 allow interruptions, even for providing a student with personalized help. Similarly, Connecticut’s Meriden school district earned several spots on our list in part by prioritizing a common reading block across the entire district.

They emphasize foundational skills. National data suggests that all boats rise when kids have strong foundational skills. Schools are emphasizing that lesson in different ways. For example, the Indian River district in Florida has an afterschool program that gives students who need extra literacy help explicit instruction on the letters or sounds they鈥檙e learning during the school day. In Illinois, a Rockford school saw strong gains after it shifted to skill-based, rather than grade-based, reading instruction.

They set high expectations. Many of the schools on our list simply set higher expectations than other places are comfortable imposing. A district in Florida officially adopted a goal of getting 90% of their students reading proficiently by the end of third grade and is holding itself accountable for it.

This also plays out in smaller ways. Worcester County schools asks parents to sign logs confirming that their kids read for 30 minutes every night. Over the course of a school year, that adds hours of extra practice time that schools couldn鈥檛 provide on their own. Schools in Steubenville, Ohio, where nearly all third graders read proficiently, by asking students to always respond in complete sentences.

Good schools are good across the board: One thing that surprised me, but maybe shouldn鈥檛 have, is that good schools rarely specialize. There are exceptions, but in general, schools that are good at helping some children learn to read are also good for other groups of students. Researchers analyzing data across 3 million students found that the most of whether a school is going to be good for a specific group is whether it produces strong learning gains overall. This is also true across subjects. Schools that are good at teaching reading also tend to be good at teaching math.

Charter schools were over-represented: In any given community, charters are often among the most academically oriented schools. They made up 7% of all schools in our sample but 11% of those that we identified as exceptional.

Poverty seems to matter more in some states than others. In some states, the connection between a school鈥檚 poverty level and its reading scores was very strong. In others, the relationship was noticeably weaker. My hunch is that this is mostly the result of how states are divided up into school districts and how concentrated poverty is in those communities, but it鈥檚 important for policymakers to understand what challenges students in their area are facing.

Find the Bright Spots: Documenting where students are struggling is important. But advocates and state leaders should spend more time identifying where students are succeeding despite the odds and what other schools can learn from these outliers.

Places like Steubenville and Worcester County show that demographics don’t dictate outcomes. Every state has schools that outperform what their circumstances would predict, and state and local leaders should find them, study them and figure out how to create more of them.

Davis often heard from family and friends that Juri was smart and she should consider enrolling her granddaughter in preschool early.

And a new literacy screening at one of her granddaughter鈥檚 primary care checkups confirmed it.

In recent years, literacy has become an issue that鈥檚 extended far beyond the classroom and a child鈥檚 home, reaching government 鈥� and now hospitals.

At six of Nationwide Children鈥檚 Hospital鈥檚 13 clinics, in Columbus, Ohio, 3 to 5 year olds are receiving reading screenings during their pediatric visits. Since 2022, more than 7,000 children have received the screenings.

鈥淲hen kids come into their primary care pediatrician, if they鈥檙e coming into all of their checkups, they would come in 15 times before they start kindergarten,鈥� said Sara Bode, medical director of school-based health at Nationwide Children鈥檚. 鈥淭hat was a really opportune setting for us to really think about where we are in intervening, assessing or understanding where kids are with their literacy and supporting that from the clinic.鈥� 

The 5-minute screenings are done annually at the beginning of a regular check up by a team of 鈥淜indergarten Readiness Coordinators,鈥� who are former early childhood educators and now work at the hospital.

The screening does not check for learning disabilities, but can identify some challenges with language development. The screening mainly focuses on foundational skills that are learned at home through activities like reading with a parent before bed or letter games.

By doing a small read aloud with a board book, the coordinators assess a child鈥檚 letter and shape recognition, rhyming and fine motor skills 鈥� like turning a page. Afterward, they鈥檙e able to tell parents if their child is ahead, on track or needs additional support, providing an opportunity for early intervention well before a child enters a formal classroom setting.

鈥淲e have light bulb moments. 鈥� One is in a good way when we do this literacy screening and the child is knocking it out of the park 鈥� and the parents are like 鈥業 didn鈥檛 even know they could do this,鈥欌�� Bode said. 鈥淎nother light bulb moment is when kids are struggling and parents will say to us 鈥業 had no idea they were supposed to know these things before kindergarten,鈥� and we鈥檙e like 鈥楾hat鈥檚 OK. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e doing this now, because at the age of 3 鈥� you have all the time in the world.鈥� 鈥�

The coordinators provide learning kits with different reading materials including magnetic letters and activity books. Coordinators maintain a relationship with families in the weeks, months and years to come, with additional resources like care coordination to get students enrolled in preschool, access to library readings and where to find adult education programs if a parent struggles with reading.

Families are given a personalized literacy plan, with checklists for parents to go over where their child is performing well and where they can improve. Check-ins after the initial screening occur a month and three months later, with updated assessments when the child turns four and five.

鈥淢ost of our parents, if you ask them, 鈥榃hat should your child know? What are those early literacy skills before kindergarten?鈥� they can鈥檛 really tell you,鈥� Bode said, 鈥淪o, this is just a real learning opportunity.鈥�

For families, like Davis, the guidance is a helpful launching pad.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know where to start,鈥� Davis said, adding that while she read to her granddaughter often, she didn鈥檛 feel like she 鈥渉ad the right materials to get her started the right way.鈥�

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e at home, you just think of things that you think the child would need to know, but with a coordinator, 鈥� you鈥檙e given things you should be working on. 鈥� It鈥檚 good to know I鈥檓 not jumping ahead or giving her too much that she doesn鈥檛 need now,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭he screening really helped me get focused and to engage more with my granddaughter with different techniques.鈥�

The majority of the children are from low-income backgrounds, Bode said, adding that the primary care clinic serves more than 85% of people and families who are on Medicaid or uninsured with 鈥渕any kids who are really struggling on these assessments.鈥�

鈥淭hese clinics are all chosen because they’re in locations where, typically, we can tell by the school district, that a lot of the kids don’t start school ready,鈥� Bode said.

Across Columbus Public Schools, about 64% of third grade children are not reading on grade level, according to , but hospital staff are hopeful early intervention is beginning to move the needle.

In Ohio, kindergarten students are required to take a at the beginning of the school year that measures social-emotional development, physical well-being and skills in literacy and math.

Recent data from the hospital found its first cohort of 332 students had over a 71% passage rate compared to the district鈥檚 average of 60%.

In the of Columbus, a predominately Black and low-income area, only 22% of children pass the readiness assessment on average, but children who partook in the screening process were over 70%, Bode said.

鈥淲e’re getting these kids connected because these are some of our highest risk populations,鈥� Bode said. 鈥淲e’re really seeing gains where we’re able to intervene, connect them to programs, teach parents what to do at home and it’s actually now translating to their language and literacy scores when they get to kindergarten.鈥�

With the help of the kindergarten readiness coordinators, Juri has been enrolled in a local preschool for a year, where she鈥檚 ahead of the curriculum.

鈥淪he has grown from knowing her name to writing her full name. 鈥� She writes A through Z. She knows her sight words. She can write her birthday,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淛uri has an advantage because [our clinic] saw she was ready at 3. 鈥� By the time she gets to kindergarten, she鈥檚 going to be ready. She鈥檚 going to be advanced.鈥�

Bode is hopeful the screenings will expand to all of the hospital鈥檚 13 locations and that it鈥檒l work with national initiatives like , a program that gives children books at every pediatric visit and , which gifts kids books from birth to 5.

鈥淭here’s a big difference between not being delayed and being ready for school and thriving, and I do think there’s a gap and misunderstanding in the medical field about what is needed,鈥� Bode said. 鈥淪o this idea of mixing health and education is just so important 鈥� because if a kid’s not ready for kindergarten, then they are more likely to fail that third-grade reading test, then they’re less likely to graduate and their adult health outcomes are probably more affected by that than anything I’m treating in the clinic.鈥�

Learning to read and write cursive was for practically every American schoolchild.

Until the early 20th century, children in the U.S. were generally taught to write in , rather than the print writing typically taught to young children today. Some people at the time  based on the quality of their cursive.

In the first half of the 20th century, penmanship was often taught as a distinct subject in American elementary schools, where children could spend as much as 45 minutes a day on  and practice.

Students during these years generally learned print in kindergarten, first and second grade. Cursive was typically introduced in third or a later grade, in part because some that writing in print for young children to learn and aligned with the fonts they found when reading.

I am a product of this system, in third grade and winning awards for my excellent cursive penmanship from the retired nuns who once worked in my Catholic school. Now, I am a , who researches reading and writing.

My experience is no longer typical, though, over the past few decades. Some states and schools, though, are reconsidering the value of cursive for today鈥檚 students.

A shift away from cursive

By the 1980s, the instructional time dedicated to cursive instruction in some schools .

And the time allotted kept falling, in part because of the 1990s standards-based movement, which .

The called for data analysis and probability to be incorporated into mathematics education beginning in the early grades, including kindergarten. The social studies standards, meanwhile, reflected a broader approach to history that brought greater attention to figures such as , the in the early 1300s.

At the same time, computers , making the ability to type on keyboards seem like a necessary skill.

Cursive began to seem antiquated.

The Common Core state standards, , were adopted in some fashion by 45 states between 2009 and 2014. These standards called for kids to learn how to type on keyboards, ensuring that whatever valuable teaching time was left for transcription would be spent on .

A return to cursive?

It did not take long for the pendulum to begin to swing back in favor of cursive in the early 2010s.

Framed as a back-to-basics issue, North Carolina passed the first cursive law in 2013. It required students to read and .

The law also required children to memorize their multiplication tables.

By 2015, 14 other states had some kind of .

As of 2026,, including Pennsylvania, Florida, California and Michigan, .

Lawmakers cite several reasons for mandating cursive in schools.

argue, for example, that an informed citizenry needs to be able to read historical documents, which are often written in cursive script.

In 2025, a Michigan representative suggested that reading cursive was also essential to preserving family history. Her granddaughter was able to read a letter that her deceased father, the lawmaker鈥檚 son, had written in cursive only because her school .

A California assembly member had more modern realities in mind, suggesting that cursive could be used to ensure students aren鈥檛 using artificial intelligence to .

Benefits of cursive

Being able to write in cursive can have benefits for learners.

A 2020 study conducted in Norway hooked up 12 adults and 12 preteens to brain-imaging devices while they .

They found that writing in cursive activates the brain waves and neural pathways used for learning and for memory. Learning to write in cursive is also associated with , a neurological learning disability that makes writing difficult.

Other studies have shown cursive鈥檚 impact on writing fluency and quality. that , while other that have a speed advantage.

First graders in Portugal who were taught cursive wrote in longer 鈥渂ursts,鈥� which the .

There鈥檚 even research suggesting that cursive gives an early boost to students鈥� reading skills, not just their composition skills. that children taught cursive read better by the end of the school year than classmates who weren鈥檛.

learning cursive trains the brain to process letters more effectively.

Cursive in today鈥檚 world

Not everyone is convinced cursive deserves a comeback tour.

For starters, the science is shakier than cursive鈥檚 champions let on. There鈥檚 that handwriting beats typing for learning and memory. What鈥檚 much less clear is over ordinary print.

It is possible that much of the recent brain research getting was done on kids printing their letters, not looping them together.

Still, teaching cursive in today鈥檚 schools is not necessarily simple.

Many of today鈥檚 teachers, and many of tomorrow鈥檚, never learned cursive themselves, which means states are now asking educators to teach a skill they don鈥檛 have. Then there鈥檚 the question of time. Teaching cursive properly can a week, as children learn to master the skill. How does this fit into busy school days? Also, not every kid is .

Just ask any teacher who鈥檚 tried to get a room full of 7-year-olds excited about learning how to properly form a capital G in cursive.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

This year, the survey went out from February to April. Of parents queried, 446,743 responded, and they were strongly positive about their children鈥檚 learning experience. For example, 92% of parents of third grade students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that, 鈥淢y child is progressing in reading the way I would expect.鈥� Such high rates of agreement were consistent across grade levels and subjects.

At the same time the surveys were wrapping up, the kids were for state tests. And those results painted a much less rosy picture. In third-grade reading, just 44% of students scored proficient or above. To be sure, a child who starts behind can make meaningful progress while remaining below grade level. But the size of the gap is still remarkable.

In the early grades, for example, 92% to 94% of parents said their children were progressing in reading as they expected, and 92% to 95% said the same in math. Meanwhile, just 43% of New York City鈥檚 students in grades K-2 at or above the national median in reading, and just 42% did so in math.

Of course, Big Apple parents are hardly alone. The national nonprofit Learning Heroes has been working to raise awareness about the disconnect between inflated classroom grades and objective learning outcomes. Still, as 社区黑料鈥檚 Jessika Harkay reported earlier this year, many parents value grades over test scores. According to a recent , 71% of parents said grades are more important than tests in making decisions for their children, compared with just 8.5% who said test scores are more important.

But test scores are important, and early grade results are strong signals of future performance. A recent longitudinal from NWEA found that only 14% of students who started kindergarten in the bottom 20th percentile eventually read proficiently by third grade. The chances were even lower in math. Those results reflect the current status quo, but they underscore how important it is for parents and schools to identify learning gaps early and act quickly to address them.

The problem is that many parents may not be getting a clear signal that anything is wrong. If schools tell parents their children are progressing, classroom grades reinforce that message and parents discount standardized tests, then the students who most need additional help may be the least likely to get it.

Disclosure: The author consults with NWEA, but the conclusions drawn here are his own.

Over the past several years, states across the country have rewritten early literacy policy at an unprecedented pace. legislation, teacher training requirements, instructional material reforms, and early intervention initiatives have reshaped the national literacy landscape.

Today, nearly every state has taken meaningful steps to strengthen reading instruction. But passing legislation was intended to be a starting point, never the finish line.

As more states move beyond adopting literacy laws, the challenge has become turning policy into consistent classroom practice. The work has shifted beyond simply deciding what should happen to ensuring that it happens for every teacher, in every school, and for every student.

, senior policy director for literacy at , has watched that shift unfold across the country.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 happen overnight,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淵ou have to stay the course.鈥�

That perspective captures where literacy reform is headed. Strong policy remains the foundation, but lasting change depends on how those policies are put into practice.

Today, the work is helping those policies come to life in classrooms. Increasingly, the work centers on implementation by equipping teachers, building coaching systems, sustaining high-quality instructional materials, measuring progress, and strengthening practice long after legislation is passed.

Literacy reform is entering a new phase

Over the last decade, states have made remarkable progress building cohesive early literacy policies. Teacher training, screening requirements, interventions, curriculum guidance, and accountability measures have become increasingly common across the country. Passing legislation is only the beginning. Policies and funding create the conditions for success. A shared vision helps everyone move in the same direction.

鈥淭he most effective states don鈥檛 stop once the policy is passed,鈥� Taylor explained. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e continually reflecting, improving, and asking what鈥檚 next.鈥�

She believes successful implementation begins with two foundational elements: a comprehensive literacy policy and adequate funding to support it. Beyond those essentials, implementation also requires something less tangible but equally important 鈥� a shared vision.

Successful implementation begins with a clear vision, so everyone understands their role in achieving the desired outcomes.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 everyone鈥檚 role? How are we going to arrive at the outcomes we want? How are we going to sustain the work and continuously improve?鈥� Taylor said.

Rather than viewing literacy initiatives as one-time reforms, the strongest states approach implementation as an ongoing cycle of planning, reflection, evaluation, and refinement.

Teachers need more than training

Professional learning has become one of the most visible components of literacy reform nationwide. now offer some level of science of reading training for educators. Taylor points out that fewer than half require training for all elementary teachers and administrators. As a result, access to highly qualified teachers can vary from one classroom to the next, leaving some students with educators who have received comprehensive science of reading training while others do not.

North Carolina has distinguished itself by taking a broader approach. The ensured that pre-K through fifth grade teachers, instructional support personnel, and elementary administrators all received science of reading training, creating a common instructional foundation across schools. Even so, training alone is not enough. Teachers also need high-quality instructional materials aligned with scientifically based reading research, strong educator preparation programs, and ongoing guidance that helps translate new learning into classroom practice.

Professional learning introduces the research. Implementation happens as teachers put that learning into practice every day.

鈥淧rofessional learning is important,鈥� Taylor said, 鈥渂ut we also have to think about how we help teachers implement what they鈥檝e learned.鈥�

Coaching is becoming the missing link

If training builds knowledge, coaching builds practice.

Taylor repeatedly emphasized literacy coaching as one of the most important, and often overlooked, investments states can make.

鈥淭he most effective implementation often involves highly qualified literacy coaches,鈥� she said.

Across the country, more states are recognizing coaching as the bridge between policy and classroom instruction. This year, approved legislation ensuring every elementary school has access to a literacy coach, joining and as the only states currently providing statewide funding for coaching in every elementary school. Taylor believes this reflects an important step forward in literacy reform.

Teachers participate in countless professional learning opportunities each year. Without ongoing, job-embedded coaching, much of that learning risks becoming 鈥渏ust another training.鈥�

The same is true for high-quality instructional materials. Districts are making substantial investments in new curricula, but those investments yield the greatest return only when educators receive sustained support to understand the instructional design, make sound instructional decisions, and use the materials as intended. Coaches help educators translate research into daily instruction, provide meaningful feedback, solve implementation challenges, and sustain improvement long after workshops have ended. 

North Carolina is moving in that direction as well. Taylor praised the state鈥檚 efforts to expand a scalable coaching model through the use of ExcelinEd鈥檚 The model creates a layered system that connects the Office of Early Learning state leaders, regional early literacy consultants, early literacy specialists, district leaders, local coaches, and classroom educators.

鈥淚t creates that systemic approach that has the power to make true and lasting change,鈥� she said. 鈥淏uild a model that people can understand and see their part in, and they鈥檒l take it and run with it.鈥�

Literacy doesn鈥檛 end in third grade

As states support early literacy implementation, many are recognizing that the work cannot stop in third grade. Students continue developing more sophisticated reading, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension skills throughout middle school and high school.

Several states are already moving in that direction. and established adolescent literacy policies several years ago. More recently, and expanded literacy support into the middle grades, while adopted a K-12 literacy framework that prepares students throughout their educational journey. North Carolina has also taken important steps by expanding literacy training for educators who teach older students.

The shift reflects a broader understanding of literacy itself. Every content area teacher, from science to social studies, has a role in helping students become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers. All students beyond third grade are still learning to read at more advanced levels.

The best states measure more than test scores

One lesson that states are learning is the importance of beginning with the end in mind. Too often, ambitious literacy initiatives begin without a clear plan for evaluating their impact. As a result, educators may believe reforms are making a difference but struggle to demonstrate success because they never identified the evidence that they would need before implementation began.

Evaluation should never be an afterthought. Successful states define their desired outcomes early, determine how they will measure progress, and use that information to expand and sustain implementation over time.

Accountability is an important part of that process. As Taylor explained, the states making the greatest improvements in literacy have built strong partnerships between their accountability systems and literacy efforts. Accountability is about more than measuring results. It provides educators and leaders with the information they need to reflect, make adjustments, and continue improving.

What the leading states have in common

As Taylor reflects on the work happening across the country, she sees a common thread among the states making the greatest progress. Their success is not the result of a single initiative or one legislative victory. It comes from building systems that prepare educators, improve instruction, and continue improving over time.

Those systems begin with a clear vision. Strong policy provides the foundation, but successful implementation depends on everyone understanding their role and working toward the same goals. States that sustain progress invest in educators through high-quality professional learning, refine educator preparation programs, and provide the coaching teachers need to put research into practice.

Just as important, they recognize that implementation is never finished. The strongest states establish meaningful ways to measure progress, learn from the data, and make adjustments along the way. They continue refining instructional materials, expanding supports, and expanding literacy efforts long after legislation is passed.

Long-term commitment is what separates lasting change from short-lived reform. States that continue learning, improving, and investing in educators create the conditions for stronger reading outcomes that endure over time.

Why North Carolina is well positioned

Among the states Taylor follows closely, North Carolina stands out. Its statewide literacy policy, significant investment in professional learning, expanding coaching infrastructure, strong leadership, and commitment to continuous improvement have created a strong foundation for continued improvement.

鈥淲e love ,鈥� Taylor said, noting that it included several areas beyond what many other states had already adopted, including educator preparation and comprehensive professional learning.

Equally important is the state鈥檚 willingness to reflect and improve. Rather than assuming the work is finished, state and local leaders continue examining assessment results, identifying areas for growth, and refining implementation along the way. That commitment keeps North Carolina moving forward.

Like every state, North Carolina still has opportunities to strengthen its literacy efforts. Developing a more systematic process for reviewing high-quality instructional materials, refining consistency around dyslexia screening, expanding adolescent literacy supports beyond policy, and continuing to invest in coaching could further improve the state鈥檚 literacy efforts.

Taylor offered one final piece of advice: 鈥淩emember the old adage, 鈥業f you fail to plan, you鈥檙e planning to fail.鈥� Have a plan, communicate it well, and see it through to completion from the statehouse to the classroom.鈥�

Meaningful literacy improvement takes time. When policy is paired with thoughtful implementation, educators receive the tools, coaching, and guidance they need. Students experience consistent, research-based instruction, and literacy reform becomes everyday classroom practice.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

At first, they shyly raised their hands or whispered 鈥渢hat鈥檚 me鈥� when their teacher sang an attendance song, but then they jumped up and spent the next hour stretching, dancing and singing to calm their 8 a.m. energy.

Providence Public Schools Superintendent Javier Monta帽ez watched from the back of the classroom before he made his way to the colorful carpet full of a dozen 5-year-olds. There, he did windmills with his arms and gave high fives.

Shortly after, it was time for the big task of the morning 鈥� sounding out letters and finding words that began with that letter. Monta帽ez echoed the sound of the letter 鈥楬鈥�, before giving the word 鈥渉appy鈥� as an example and following it with a pair of jazz hands. He laughed as they continued their lesson.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to remember what it鈥檚 like to be a kid,鈥� he said.

It鈥檚 a mentality that resonates deeply with the superintendent who five years ago was tasked to lead the school district he once attended 鈥� a district that had once let him down.

Providence Public Schools, , educates more than 19,400 students, with more than 80% Black or brown; and who qualify for free or reduced lunch. More than a third of students are English language learners.

There鈥檚 many parts of Monta帽ez鈥檚 story that mirror a typical student in the district, including coming from a low-income Latino background.

But there鈥檚 other parts of his story he doesn鈥檛 ever want to see reflected in his students, like being 鈥渢hat kid out of sight, out of mind, in the back of the classroom trying to make myself smaller than what I was,鈥� Monta帽ez said.

The superintendent remembers what it was like to once be a kid who always felt 鈥渄umb,鈥� with neither he nor his teachers having the resources to help. He remembers once being a kid who entered high school homeless, often sleeping under a tree at a local park or in unlocked cars. He also remembers once being a kid who was unable to read until his junior year 鈥� a kid who fell through the cracks with undiagnosed dyslexia.

In addition to being educated in the district, Monta帽ez has also spent more than 30 years as an educator in the Providence public school system; first as a second and third grade bilingual teacher, before advancing through vice principal and principal roles to interim and permanent superintendent in 2021 and 2022.

His experiences have molded and become the center of his vow to make Providence 鈥渢he destination of education.鈥�

鈥淸When I became an educator], I saw myself again in those seats suffering. [I had to ask myself] 鈥榃hat can I do to help any of those kids that are all little Javiers that no one really saw because 鈥� they were only looking at students who were highly achieving?鈥欌�� Monta帽ez said, adding that curricula and expectations were usually watered down for kids who were struggling.

鈥淥ne of the things I grabbed from the past and put into the future is: How do we help all those students who are suffering, but not forget about those students who are on the cuff of meeting expectations and those students who are exceeding?鈥� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淭hat happens through high-quality curriculum, all day, every day, in the classroom.鈥�

In 2019, the Rhode Island education department after a found the district鈥檚 schools were 鈥渋n crisis,鈥� particularly citing issues with struggling leadership, a 鈥渂roken鈥� school culture and 鈥渁n exceptionally low level of academic instruction, including a lack of quality curriculum and alignment both within schools and across the district.鈥�

When Monta帽ez was promoted to superintendent from principal at a district elementary school  in 2021, he wasby education officials and Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee for being a local leader who 鈥渒nows exactly what our schools need.鈥� More recently, Monta帽ez was credited by Providence Mayor Brett Smiley for his work with staff.

With state aid, and under Monta帽ez鈥檚 leadership, Providence Public Schools has overhauled its approach to literacy instruction through a five-year turnaround plan. In that time, education leaders have established and rolled out its Instructional Coherence Model 鈥� a shift to align all its schools using the same reading curriculum, instruction, professional learning, assessment, coaching and intervention.

The district has begun to see the approach pay off, with two of its elementary schools identified by 社区黑料 as Bright Spots, beating the odds of expected literacy rates based on poverty levels.

Of Rhode Island鈥檚 top five exceptional schools, Asa Messer Elementary School and Leviton Dual Language School are in the Providence school district. The two schools were expected to only have between 17 to 19% of third graders reading on grade level based on its poverty rates that are upward of 80%. Instead, both schools are between 41 to 45% proficient.

An additional 10 schools have literacy rates higher than expected.

Monta帽ez led the work at Leviton Dual Language for 10 years as principal before becoming superintendent. For the district, the improvement has just begun, Monta帽ez and his team said, hopeful that stronger gains are on the horizon.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in the early stages. Any major change takes a solid three to five years to really realize,鈥� said Paula Dillon, deputy superintendent of academics. 鈥淥ur early data points are suggesting we鈥檙e moving in the right direction. 鈥� To move a district this large in the same direction, [it鈥檚 critical to have] consistency, 鈥� and in order to have consistency and coherence, [it begins] with leadership.鈥�

A student who didn鈥檛 think he could

One of Monta帽ez鈥檚 earliest school-related memories is being asked in second grade to read a passage aloud. He remembers looking at the pictures on the page and beginning to make up his own story and the sound of his teacher and classmates laughing.

鈥淔rom that very moment, an invisible filter went up and I told myself 鈥業 will never read out loud again,鈥欌�� Monta帽ez said.

Any time there were group reading activities, he made sure to have an excuse to leave the classroom.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I ever really got the foundation that I needed,鈥� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they knew or could recognize dyslexia the way it鈥檚 recognized now. For far too long it was 鈥� 鈥榊ou鈥檙e stupid.鈥� 鈥榊ou鈥檙e dumb.鈥� 鈥榊ou鈥檙e not trying hard enough.鈥� 鈥� At one point, I began believing that was true. I was dumb and I couldn鈥檛 learn.鈥�

As each year passed, he made sure to sit in the back of the classroom and do his best to 鈥渇ly below the radar.鈥�

鈥淔or breakfast, I had an A. For gym, I had an A. Lunch, I had an A and everything else was Cs and Ds,鈥� Monta帽ez said, making a joke that his report card spoke Spanish because it was full of 鈥淐, C, C,鈥� like the Spanish word for yes.

From some of his earliest years, Monta帽ez lacked stability at home. Neither of his parents had graduated from high school and didn鈥檛 view education as a priority.  As early as 9 years old, Monta帽ez was being shuffled between the homes of extended family members because of a volatile living situation with his parents.

And by the time he entered high school, he was homeless.

For years, he would often sleep at a nearby Providence park under a tree or find unlocked cars. Sometimes, depending on the weather, he would hide in the school鈥檚 locker room, and when everyone left, would come out to wash his clothing and have a safe place to sleep.

鈥淚 was thinking survival,鈥� Monta帽ez said, adding that he was often viewed as the kid in the back of the classroom falling asleep and a student who didn鈥檛 care.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 that,鈥� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淚t was the only place I felt a little safe where I could take a nap in the back room. 鈥� [So,] when I hear now that a kid doesn’t want to give it their all, [I ask] have you checked to see if that kid ate last night? 鈥� Have you checked to see if that kid is safe at night?鈥�

For Monta帽ez, it took until his junior year for a teacher to ask those questions.

Monta帽ez was a stagehand that year. And when his drama teacher asked him to fill in and read some lines after a lead actor broke his leg, the teenager 鈥渓ost it. I flipped tables. I cursed him out,鈥� Monta帽ez said. 

When the teacher approached him a few days later, Monta帽ez explained he felt disrespected in front of everyone, that the teacher knew 鈥渂etter than anyone else that I don鈥檛 know how to read and still gave me a script.鈥�

The teacher didn鈥檛 know, but once he learned Monta帽ez couldn鈥檛 read and had instead been learning by listening and repetition, he intervened with a plan. Every morning and evening they would stay at the school. They worked on identifying letters and decoding, starting with Curious George and comic books.

鈥淗e gave me the wraparound services that I needed. He gave me high dosage tutoring. He showed me how to decode words. He started teaching me how to read a sentence, how to write a sentence,鈥� Monta帽ez said.

Later in the year, there was a late night field trip. The same teacher saw Monta帽ez retreat to Roger Williams Park and hide underneath a tree, where he learned the teenager was homeless. 

The teacher told Monta帽ez to come by his classroom the next morning, but the teenager feared he鈥檇 be reported and get in trouble.

鈥淚 never went back to the school after that day,鈥� Monta帽ez said. He dropped out.

What if鈥�

Monta帽ez only began to consider going back to school when he learned he was going to be a father at 18 and couldn鈥檛 enlist in the military without a GED.

Since then, one question has led his life and decision making: What if?

When he successfully passed his exam for a GED, the question became what if he could, against all odds, be successful in pursuing higher education? He did 鈥� attending Boricua College in New York and receiving his GED, associates and bachelors degree in less than three and a half years.

What if he found a way to translate this learning back to kids like him and prevent his experience for other students? He has 鈥� beginning his work as an elementary substitute teacher in New York before transitioning to a full-time teacher in Providence and working his way up the district.

And what if he could raise the standard, instead of lowering it, in a district that educates a majority of low-income children? He鈥檚 in the process of making it happen.

鈥淚f it wasn’t for me going through those tribulations in my younger years, I wouldn’t be as effective as an educator today and have the hindsight to say, 鈥� 鈥業t’s our job to find [what a student is struggling with] and give them the wraparound services they need,鈥欌�� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淓verything that I do is based on student impact, student outcome and how it’s going to support students. Being a student here, and then being a teacher and working my way up to this position, helped me understand the community. It鈥檚 helped me understand the students. 鈥� The 鈥榳hat if鈥� keeps pushing us.鈥� 

The work first began with Monta帽ez and other state and district education leaders aligning reading instruction, intervention and data tracking.

For years, individual school buildings were allowed to choose their own curriculum, but have now all implemented the same program and supplemental learning materials across the entire district that are rooted in the science of reading. 

Other district initiatives that have taken place under Monta帽ez include required districtwide training on phonics, a strengthened universal screening to identify struggling students, including those with dyslexia, and adopting new systems for stronger and more cohesive data collection.

Among recent changes are also regular walk-throughs by school and district leadership. Central office personnel are required to do quarterly walk-throughs of schools as principals are responsible for visiting at least 80% of their buildings鈥� classrooms each month.

The walk-throughs are paired with feedback that鈥檚 provided to educators within 24 hours. New role-aligned professional development for all educators also furthers cohesive and effective implementation of new curriculum and intervention.

鈥淯sing the Instructional Coherence Model to build our walk-through model and being able to give feedback and calibrate with the building leaders about what they鈥檙e seeing, what we鈥檙e seeing 鈥� if it’s the same and where we鈥檙e seeing trends 鈥� has been a game changer,鈥� Dillon said.

Getting all students to achieve in the classroom also extends outside of school.

The development of the Office of Family and Community Engagement has offered a 鈥渇amily university鈥� where parents can learn strategies to work with students and better support their learning. The office also offers translation services and resources for food, transportation and navigating a transition to a new district, state or country.

鈥淚t takes a village to do this. It鈥檚 hard work day in and day out to make sure students have what they need to be prepared and successful in life,鈥� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淲e need [families] to be part of the school and part of the decision making because we can do it better [together].鈥�

Third grade proficiency rates in Providence have increased year over year since 2021 and the district鈥檚 third graders have almost returned to pre-pandemic reading levels with 24% on grade level as of 2024-25, .

But despite seeing forward movement, there鈥檚 a lot of work left to be done.

With third grade students at Leviton Dual Language and Asa Masser nearly twice as proficient in reading compared to the district average, much of the success in those buildings were credited by Monta帽ez and Dillion to efforts like intensive high dosage tutoring, bilingual education programs and stable leadership. They hope to learn from those buildings and continue expansion across the district.

鈥淲e’re in a continuous improvement cycle,鈥� Dillon said. 鈥淭he only way that we can continue to improve is to know where we are and what’s working and what’s not and being willing to change that.鈥�

As of July, the state has returned the Providence school system back to local control, about a year and a half earlier than expected. Monta帽ez鈥檚 contract is up for renewal in 2027.

For now though, it鈥檚 about taking the small wins and pushing forward as a team.

鈥淚t took one teacher to change my life,鈥� Monta帽ez said. 鈥淭hat teacher didn鈥檛 take pity on me; that teacher had high expectations. 鈥�  We need to set those expectations for our students [and] for ourselves as educators.鈥�

This year鈥檚 startling , followed by last year鈥檚 , has some experts asking: Did something go wrong with the test itself?

There is no clear evidence there is a problem, experts emphasize, but the unusually wide swing in scores warrants careful investigation, multiple testing experts told Chalkbeat this week.

鈥淢y instinctive reaction is there may have been an issue last year that we missed,鈥� said Marianne Perie, who consults with states on testing. 鈥淭his kind of big increase followed by a big decrease is surprising.鈥�

Perie co-chairs New York state鈥檚 technical advisory committee, a panel of experts paid by the state to oversee the testing process. She spoke to Chalkbeat about the trends in her personal capacity, she said. The committee is set to meet next month to review the results in detail and seek to better understand what might explain the changes, Perie said.

Half of New York City students on last year鈥檚 tests, down 6 percentage points from the year before, according to preliminary results released last week. The share of third, fourth, and fifth graders who met grade-level standards in both New York City and state.

The sharp test score swings in those grades immediately sparked theories about what could explain them. Some educators and families if the was a factor. Others pointed to a literacy shakeup in New York City that has been .

Last week, EdTrust-New York, a nonprofit advocacy group, called for an independent audit of the state鈥檚 reading tests. Officials 鈥渘ever adequately investigated or explained last year鈥檚 dramatic gains, making this year鈥檚 reversal difficult to interpret,鈥� the group said in a .

JP O鈥橦are, a spokesperson for the New York State Education Department, said the agency 鈥渢akes this decline seriously and will conduct a detailed analysis to better understand where students are experiencing challenges.鈥�

Simona Beattie, a spokesperson for NWEA, the state鈥檚 testing vendor, said in a statement, 鈥淎t this stage, we have not found any anomalies through our standard due diligence process, which includes corroborating results with an external third party.鈥�

鈥淕iven this, we have high confidence in the accuracy of the results,鈥� Beattie added.

In New York City, the share of third graders scoring proficiently on the reading test fell by 14 percentage points, after rising by 13 points the year before. There were also substantial shifts in fourth and fifth grade scores on the test in both the city and state. Seventh and eighth grade reading scores essentially held steady. Math scores ticked up across the state but were flat in New York City.

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said in a statement that the scores merit 鈥渞igorous analysis so we can ensure we鈥檙e measuring what students are learning.鈥�

The fluctuations in elementary reading scores were quite unusual and surprising, said Benjamin Shear, a testing expert at the University of Colorado Boulder. 鈥淚t requires further scrutiny, questioning, and digging.鈥�

What鈥檚 behind the reading score drop? Experts weigh different theories

City officials and after last year鈥檚 dramatic surge in elementary reading scores, arguing that the was paying off.

Now, the teachers union is pointing to the declines as evidence of problems with the city鈥檚 curriculum mandate and . But that does not explain the broad test score declines across the state, including districts that have not made similar curriculum changes.

In general, testing experts, known as psychometricians, say that a number of theories are worth considering to explain large shifts in scores: changes in student demographics, , , and .

Figures released by the city indicate there were no major changes in the number of test-takers in early grades. The share of city students considered low-income in elementary grades also held fairly steady. And while the state finished its transition in the spring to computer-based testing, that wouldn鈥檛 explain swings in fifth grade, where digital assessments have been .

EdTrust-New York noted that in contrast to state scores, there was steady progress on New York City schools administer at least three times a year.

Emily Oster, a Brown University education economist who has test scores across the country, published a this week questioning the plausibility of New York鈥檚 score changes. She suggested that there may have been a technical error in comparing the results year to year.

In an email to Chalkbeat, Oster acknowledged there is no definitive proof for this. But, she said, the reported results are 鈥渘ot consistent with nearly everything else we know about student learning.鈥� She noted that fourth graders鈥� reading scores had jumped last year, but that same group of students, now fifth graders, have seen scores fall back this year.

Asked about Oster鈥檚 post, O鈥橦are from New York鈥檚 education department said: 鈥淪peculation is not a substitute for data 鈥� Our ongoing review of the preliminary data has not identified any of the issues she outlines in her conjecture.鈥�

An over 200-page documented the process to ensure the accuracy of the 2025 results.

Scott Marion, a testing expert with the Center for Assessment, said he鈥檚 naturally suspicious of a large change in scores that doesn鈥檛 persist the following year. To him, it鈥檚 implausible that the rise and fall of scores represents real differences in achievement or teaching practices.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense to me,鈥� he said.

Marion says that perhaps more questions should have been raised about the sharp score increase last year. In his experience, education officials are eager to have testing experts investigate unusual declines, but not unusual increases.

Andrew Ho, a Harvard professor who serves on New York鈥檚 technical advisory committee, said he believes the shifts probably point to real changes in student learning, even if the actual swings aren鈥檛 as extreme as the exams suggest.

鈥淲e should absolutely look at the test, but we should absolutely also look at what the test is likely revealing,鈥� he said.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at

COLUMBIA, S.C. 鈥� Elementary and middle school students posted their best scores yet on end-of-year standardized tests, though more than half still can鈥檛 calculate as expected for their age, released Monday.

Third- through eighth graders in both math and reading, though scores were still generally stronger in reading, according to results from the annual SC READY tests.

Just over 61% of all students tested in the spring could read on grade level, an almost 2 percentage-point improvement over last year鈥檚 statewide average. Nearly 48% could do math as expected for their grade, up from 44%.

In both cases, more students are meeting or exceeding expectations for their grade levels than any year since the test鈥檚 introduction in 2015.

鈥淭hese results tell a powerful story about what鈥檚 possible for South Carolina鈥檚 future,鈥� state Superintendent Ellen Weaver said in a news release. 鈥淥ur students are proving they can compete with anyone, anywhere.鈥�

The state Department of Education has pointed to changes in as a big reason for improvements in English scores. training teachers in different ways of teaching math, known as the Palmetto Math Project, launched this spring, and state officials hope that will help springboard math results as well.

鈥淭his is the new starting line, not the finish line,鈥� Weaver鈥檚 statement continued. 鈥淛ust like a GPS, this data helps us locate ourselves on the map, to celebrate how far we鈥檝e come and to focus our planning for the journey still ahead.鈥�

Students鈥� scores are moving closer to the department鈥檚 2030 goal that three-quarters of all students perform at or above grade level in both subjects. Just two districts met that goal in reading this year: York 4 in Fort Mill and Anderson 4 in Pendleton. No districts have scores that high in math.

The education department highlighted the work done at Meeting Street Elementary at Burns in North Charleston, where students were among the most improved in both math and English. Scores across the board increased 22 percentage points this year compared to last, with nearly 65% of students performing at grade level in both subjects.

Nearly 90% of students at the school live in poverty, which usually leads to lower test scores because of stressors outside the classroom and fewer resources to help struggling students.

The school is one of four , which operate under a public-private partnership in an effort to give low-income students the support they need to succeed. The schools receive support from philanthropist Ben Navarro, who supports various education initiatives through Beemok Education.

鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e demonstrating that innovative approaches can deliver extraordinary results for students and help change the landscape of public education in South Carolina,鈥� said Josh Bell, president of Beemok Education, in a news release. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud of the meaningful progress we鈥檝e made, and we鈥檙e just getting started.鈥�

Younger students continued to outperform their older peers in both math and reading.

About 59% of eighth graders were reading on grade level, compared with 64% of third graders and 66% of fourth graders.

Similarly, 44% of eighth graders could do math as expected, while 59% of third graders were hitting their grade鈥檚 benchmarks, according to the statewide data.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com.

The (S.4689) would strengthen the federal government鈥檚 oversight of the science of reading through amendments to the , which currently provides $194 million to aid literacy instruction in 23 states.聽

鈥淐apable students are dropping out of high school simply because they were never taught to read,鈥� said U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee chairman Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana. 鈥淭his legislation aims to address the national literacy crisis by strengthening evidence-based literacy instruction 鈥� and empowering states, local communities and parents with more resources.鈥�

After the bill鈥檚 20-2 passage out of the Senate HELP Committee, it now heads to the floor for a full senate vote. Other bills, including one that would explicitly identify dyslexia as a learning disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also passed Thursday.

The READ Act closely mirrors and expands on a similar bill that unanimously passed the House of Representative鈥檚 Education Committee in March, but has not yet been taken up for a full House vote.

Both the Senate and House bill aim to define the science of reading in federal law as instruction that teaches phonics and phonemic awareness and also builds vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, oral language and writing skills. 

A report released earlier this year found nearly a third of teachers still used 鈥渄iscredited鈥� methods to teach kids how to read and aren鈥檛 fully committed to the science of reading. Both bills, however, would reject the use of federal funds for other teaching methods, such as three-cueing, where students are asked to figure out unfamiliar words through context clues or pictures.

The READ Act further includes proposals for prioritizing federal support for the bottom 10% of underperforming states and shifting funding of individual literacy projects to more systematic widespread efforts like requirements for early literacy screening.

It also has language that calls for teacher preparation program audits, expands professional development opportunities and creates new requirements for states to provide more detailed annual reports with the number of students receiving intervention, the number of teachers receiving professional development and the number of districts using high-quality learning materials aligned with the science of reading if they鈥檙e receiving the grant.

Keri Rodrigues, co-founder and president of the National Parents Union, said the bill’s passage out of committee is the result of years of advocacy from families.

鈥淭his is a bill that codifies the fact that the sky is blue,鈥� Rodrigues said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just very excited that folks are seeing the importance of this, and we’re able to finally get [lawmakers] to show they can prioritize kids, they can be swayed based on evidence, they can actually make good decisions for kids and frankly do the right thing in what is a very difficult political climate.鈥�

Lawmakers on Thursday also considered the (S.3010), another piece of legislation that would affect students who are learning to read.

The 21st Century Dyslexia Act proposed to add and explicitly define dyslexia as a disability covered under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 鈥� requiring schools to provide accommodations and other services needed for dyslexic students to be successful in the classroom.

Under IDEA, students with 鈥溾�� are protected, but Cassidy argued that making dyslexia a disability category 鈥� similar to what was done with 鈥� would 鈥渋ncrease screening, identification and the number of students receiving appropriate accommodations.”

鈥淲hen reading scores haven’t moved and 20% of readers are dyslexic 鈥� and therefore learn to read differently 鈥� we either choose or choose not to do something positive for these students,鈥� Cassidy said. 鈥淚f we’re serious about addressing the inexcusably low literacy rates, we must pass this bill.鈥�

More than a dozen organizations, including The Reading League, National Center for Learning Disabilities and International Dyslexia Association , with concerns it would undermine support and confuse states.

In a written statement, the organizations also argued the legislation could be harmful because it used an outdated definition of dyslexia from the early 2000s. A new definition, which removed old IQ-discrepancy requirements, was from the International Dyslexia Association.

Democratic lawmakers, such as Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, brought up the challenges Thursday. 

鈥淭here are 27 states, including Indiana, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, South Carolina, that effectively ban the use of this definition. Congress banned the use of this definition in the 2004 version of the IDEA,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淲hen you define dyslexia as relational between intelligence and reading ability, … many students with dyslexia 鈥� are judged to have lower intelligence levels. They don’t get services because you essentially have to show that there is a substantial difference between your reading ability and your assessed level of intelligence.鈥�

Murphy recommended to 鈥渃onvene a national conversation on this issue of the definition,鈥� and for the federal government 鈥渢o provide a higher level of technical assistance to states as they seek to get services out to people with disabilities,鈥� before the bill ultimately passed 12-10.

More than 40 states now mandate evidence-based reading instruction in public schools. The specifics in these new laws and regulations vary 鈥� most require that schools use high-quality curriculum based on the Science of Reading, many invest in new teacher training, and some ban discredited methods. But they all have one thing in common: a focus on the early grades. 

In my nonprofit鈥檚 work supporting districts to implement new curriculum and instruction, we鈥檝e seen educators work tirelessly to shift classroom practice. We鈥檝e then seen them joyfully experience the positive impacts on teaching and learning. And we鈥檝e been hearing a consistent question.

What about high school?

Time and again, school and district leaders would pose the same questions about grades 9-12 that we were exploring in K-8. They wanted guidance about what high-quality English curriculum should look like. They were looking for materials that would nurture literacy for older students, especially those who struggled with grade-level texts. They were asking: How could they identify well-designed materials that truly support strong English instruction in high school, especially as it relates to building knowledge through rigorous, content-rich texts?

At the same time, we were hearing from publishers. Some were expanding their programs for younger students to include high school English, while others were interested in strengthening existing materials. Several were just getting started developing something new. No matter where they were on this journey, publishers wanted thoughtful, evidence-based criteria and feedback to ensure their materials reflected the strongest research and instructional design principles. 

They weren’t simply looking for a rating 鈥� they wanted guidance that would help them build evidence-based curriculum that met the needs of high school teachers and students. 

These many questions converged. It became clear that there was an opportunity to create a shared framework that could support both sides of the equation: helping publishers develop stronger curriculum, while helping districts make more informed adoption decisions. That inspired the Knowledge Matters .

We had past experience to draw on: In 2023, we created a review framework for evidence-based, knowledge-building ELA in . We built on that foundation while bringing together additional experts with deep experience in high school English, to ensure the criteria reflected the unique demands of academic expectations and classroom instruction in grades 9-12. 

That yielded a set of about two dozen criteria across eight domains, starting with a curriculum鈥檚 alignment to the science of reading. A strong curriculum uses evidence-based practices that accelerate student literacy, such as building vocabulary and knowledge through reading a substantial and coherent volume of texts. That helps students grapple with challenging texts, including through communal close reads that build students鈥� stamina, confidence and ability to ensure that what they read makes sense. It also engages students with content-rich topics drawn from history, science, the arts and literature, because a rich knowledge base is what makes complex texts comprehensible and literary analysis meaningful. 

Our tool identifies the features of a curriculum that foster this growth, including activities that systematically develop academic and domain-specific vocabulary; guidance for educators to engage students in productive and sustained academic discussions; explicit instruction in writing and frequent writing opportunities anchored in texts; targeted supports to grant equitable access to grade-level content; and predictable, effective instructional routines and teacher-facing materials to inform professional learning.

We then field-tested the tool by reviewing Novel HS ELA, a knowledge-rich, novel-based 9-12 program published by , The curriculum was designed to foster engagement with rich literature while also developing the knowledge, analytical skills and reading experiences that prepare teenagers for success in college, careers and civic life. Working through the review process helped us refine the tool while providing meaningful feedback to support the development of the materials. It also provided insights into how hard many publishers are working to put strong curriculum into the hands of great teachers. 

Ultimately, our goal is pretty simple: help more educators gain access to the strongest possible instructional materials. We believe that better curriculum sets the foundation for strong teaching, and that clearer guidance helps both curriculum developers and school systems move the field forward. 

When educators have a common language of excellence, both teaching and learning thrive. Our hope is that this tool supports high school educators to develop a shared understanding of what high-quality literacy instruction looks like and where instructional time is best spent. The tool isn’t just a way to evaluate materials 鈥� it’s an opportunity to identify and inspire the rigorous, engaging, effective English curriculum and instruction that all high school students deserve.

This story was originally published by . for their newsletters.

California librarians were stunned when a last-minute budget change stripped K-12 schools of a trove of research materials, potentially leaving thousands of students without resources to do reports, projects or homework assignments.

Without notice to schools or librarians, the Legislature last week canceled $5.5 million that pays online fees for the Encyclopedia Britannica, New York Times, PBS videos such as Ken Burns documentaries, scientific journals and thousands of other online materials used by students and teachers. The cut goes into effect on July 1, 2027.

鈥淲e had no idea this was coming,鈥� said Greg Lucas, head of the California State Library, which helps oversee the program for California鈥檚 10,000 public schools. 鈥淭his will have a huge impact on California students.鈥�

The program, called , is an online database of research and curriculum materials that have been vetted by teachers and librarians. Compass is also available through public libraries, but the vast majority of users are at K-12 schools. Since the program launched in 2018, it鈥檚 received nearly 1 billion hits.

Students use Compass for classroom assignments as well as for recreation. Many of the materials are available in multiple languages. Among the more popular features are National Geographic Kids; Pebble Go Science, which includes hundreds of science activities for pre-kindergarten through second grade; and Alexander Street, which offers videos of cultural performances such as the Joffrey Ballet and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Compass is especially important at a time when fewer schools have libraries 鈥� and librarians 鈥� to help students with research. Although nearly 90% of schools have physical space on campus for books, magazines and other research materials, only about a quarter of those spaces are staffed by librarians. The rest are staffed by volunteers, classified employees or not at all. California ranks 49th nationwide in school librarian staffing, with nearly 10,000 students for each librarian, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Compass is available free to all schools in California. If schools were to subscribe individually to Compass materials, they鈥檇 spend more than $216 million annually, according to a . A typical medium-sized school district might pay $100,000 or more for the services, an expense lower-income districts are less likely to have money for.

Losing the service raises concerns about internet access

Without access to Compass materials, students would likely rely on free resources online. But those materials tend to contain advertisements or track user data, a violation of state student privacy laws. They also are less likely to be vetted for accuracy, a particular danger in the age of artificial intelligence.

鈥淟osing Compass is catastrophic for the state of California,鈥� said Kate MacMillan, library services coordinator for Napa Valley Unified. 鈥淭his service is a lifeline. I can鈥檛 believe the Legislature would let this happen.鈥�

Funding for Compass was in earlier versions of the budget the Legislature debated over the past few months. But the final version eliminated Compass funding after July 1, 2027. Instead, it directs $5 million of the funding toward the , and $60,000 for technical support of an online lesson-sharing platform called California Educators Together.

Legislators and staff members on the budget education committees contacted by CalMatters did not comment on why the money was cut.

Meanwhile, librarians are launching an aggressive campaign to save the program. They鈥檙e emailing Newsom and the Legislature, and trying to bring attention to the issue.

Connie Williams, a retired school librarian and former head of the California School Library Association, said that losing Compass will exacerbate disparities in the state鈥檚 education system. Lower-income schools will lose crucial learning resources, while higher-income schools will be able to pay the subscription costs themselves, without state assistance.

鈥淭he disparity will be overwhelmingly glaring,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e leaving students at the mercy of whatever is free on the internet.鈥�

It鈥檚 especially galling, she said, that this move comes as the state is promoting media and digital literacy in schools. In 2023 California enacted a law requiring schools to in all subjects, with a focus on teaching students to recognize fake news, determine if an information source is trustworthy and generally think critically about what they view and read online.

鈥淲e want students to think critically, put away their phones, know how to do research,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e grabbing away some of the best learning tools we have.鈥�

This article was and was republished under the license.

OKLAHOMA CITY 鈥� Touting his state鈥檚 soaring literacy scores, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves urged Oklahoma leaders to commit to tough reading policies.

This year, Oklahoma as Mississippi, whose fourth-grade reading scores have after decades of ranking near the bottom. The state鈥檚 meteoric rise has been called the 鈥淢ississippi miracle.鈥�

鈥淚t really wasn鈥檛 a miracle at all,鈥� Reeves said during an Oklahoma State Chamber event Wednesday. 鈥淚t was the direct result of very good, strong policy followed by a plan to properly implement, and also 鈥� and perhaps most importantly 鈥� an accountability piece that was built into the statute.鈥�

Mississippi began implementing significant investments and changes in its literacy laws in 2012, Reeves said. That included a controversial requirement that struggling readers repeat third grade.

Oklahoma students will face a similar 鈥渢hird-grade gate鈥� starting in the 2027-28 academic year. Third graders who score below a basic level on the annual state reading test and who fail a second standardized assessment would have to repeat the grade, unless they meet limited criteria for an exemption.

, signed into law in April, also requires Oklahoma public schools to provide extra tutoring, small-group reading lessons, summer academies and transitional classrooms starting in kindergarten to support students who show early signs of falling behind.

The state Legislature invested $5 million to grow a statewide team of literacy coaches, $5 million for reading instruction training for teachers and $840,000 to purchase reading materials to mail to children. Lawmakers also added $26.25 million in school funding for reading instruction.

State Chamber President and CEO Chad Warmington said literacy coaches and teacher training will be essential to improving Oklahoma鈥檚 academic outcomes. The chamber, a powerful collective of Oklahoma鈥檚 business community, has been a .

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take the science of reading and make sure that teachers have that training so it鈥檚 being taught in the classrooms, none of this meant anything,鈥� Warmington said.

The science of reading emphasizes phonics-based instruction. Focusing on phonics is 鈥渁 good place to start鈥� for a state turnaround, Reeves said.

Mississippi also has raised its standards for how it defines a proficient reader. A state law whenever 75% of students make a proficient score on yearly tests or when 65% of schools or districts make a grade of B or higher on annual A-F evaluations.

鈥淲e have increased that level, by the way, four times since I鈥檝e been in office, and (are) about to increase it again,鈥� Reeves told Oklahoma City news reporters. 鈥淏ecause what鈥檚 going to happen when you raise the bar, when you raise the level of expectations, what鈥檚 happened in Mississippi is exactly what鈥檚 going to happen in Oklahoma.鈥�

Oklahoma鈥檚 proficiency standards . NAEP tests students in all 50 states every two years and compiles the results in the Nation鈥檚 Report Card.

Not only has Mississippi鈥檚 overall fourth-grade reading progress impressed the nation, but the state鈥檚 scores among Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students have ranked at or near the top of the country, according to .

Mississippi ranks only 40th in eighth grade reading, though, which has raised questions about the long-term efficacy of the third-grade gate.

Reeves said he signed legislation this year to add reading, math and career coaches focused on grades 5-8 to address the middle-school regression.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 start seeing better retention of those (reading) gains, then we鈥檙e going to start testing kids when we get towards the seventh grade, just like we test kids in the third grade,鈥� he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

This is an important reversal. The key trend over the last 10 to 15 years has been a steady decline in student performance across a range of tests, across ages and grade levels, and across a variety of subjects. Moreover, the steepest declines have been among the lowest-performing kids.

But the latest results showed something different. In math, for example, the median score for 9-year-olds rose 3.5 points. For the highest performers (those at the 90^th percentile), scores rose by 0.7 points. In contrast, for students at the 10^th percentile, their math scores rose 7.5 points. Similarly, in reading, the lowest performers gained 9.3 points.

These scores come from a nationally representative sample of some 32,000 9- and 13-year-olds who were tested on reading or math during the 2024-25 school year.

Called the Long-Term Trend, this battery of tests is administered using pencil and paper and has been given in comparable form since the early 1970s.

The latest gains are both meaningful and historically large. Depending on the year, students in general gain about 10 points per year on the NAEP math tests. As a rough comparison, that means achievement gaps narrowed by nearly one year鈥檚 worth of schooling over the last few years. In historical terms, the gains from 2022 to 2025 now represent some of the largest on record.

The gains were also widespread, with particularly large increases among the lowest-performing Black, Hispanic and low-income students.

To be fair, there are several good reasons to temper any collective enthusiasm.

For one, the gains for 9-year-olds on the latest NAEP results did not transfer up to 13-year-olds. Particularly in math, the scores of middle school students continued to decline, for low performers. It鈥檚 quite likely that COVID-related school closures contributed to a lost generation that is slowly working its way through the nation鈥檚 schools.

It鈥檚 also possible that the gains from 2022 to 2025 may not be replicable. That is, they could just be a bounce off the depths of the COVID lows, fueled in part by an infusion of federal funding, and not the start of a new rising tide.

Still, while the increases on the Long-Term Trend tests are surprising, they are not the only evidence pointing toward recent improvements. For example, a team of researchers from Dartmouth, Harvard and Stanford universities released an last month that mainly documented the 鈥�learning recession鈥� that began around 2013. However, their full report also showed increases in 2025 in both reading and math. Similarly, interim assessment data from shows that students made larger-than-expected gains in the 2024-25 school year, and the 2025-26 results are on a similar trajectory.   

In other words, it鈥檚 worth pausing to reflect on the increases that have emerged recently. The policy question now is how to understand what changed and how to extend those gains upward through the grade levels.

Disclosure: The author consults with NWEA and is serving in an advisory role with NAEP on an unrelated project. The conclusions drawn here are his own. 

Those were dark years before principal Carol Leveilee arrived at the Seaford, Delaware school.

Kids were never greeted by staff when they entered the building. It was a familiar sight to see school aides in the back of classrooms on their cellphones and children fighting or running out of the building. There was no art on the hallway walls, decorated instead with mold and paint that looked like it was original to the school鈥檚 opening in 1922. 

The school felt like a 鈥減rison,鈥� multiple teachers said 鈥� dark, dreary with overwhelming behavior problems amounting to over 300 suspensions in one year. The school was like the district鈥檚 鈥渟tepchild,鈥� veteran staff said 鈥� a school no one wanted to send their kids to, ranked last in test scores; and on the edge of a state takeover 12 years ago.聽

鈥淚 really thought about quitting teaching. I didn鈥檛 want to teach anymore because it was that bad here,鈥� said fourth-grade teacher Mike Hurlock. 鈥淚n my second year I was feeling like, 鈥業’m gonna go be a corrections officer because I’m already [one] here.鈥� 鈥�

Hurlock filled out an application for a nearby prison and decided to wait one more year before submitting it. 

His wait paid off. Leveilee arrived in September 2014, bringing with her a dramatic overhaul.

鈥淚t saved my career,鈥� Hurlock said, now a 15-year veteran teacher at the school. 鈥淭here was never a sense of pride 鈥� until Carol got here.鈥�

Armed with more than 30 years of experience, 11 as an elementary teacher and the rest in administration in schools across Charles County, Maryland, Leveilee had been on the brink of retirement before she took the job at Frederick Douglass. 

She felt her work wasn鈥檛 finished.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel like I鈥檇 done enough or helped enough kids yet,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 saw [Frederick Douglass] was high needs and I knew I wanted a challenge. I didn鈥檛 know quite how big of a challenge I was getting myself into 鈥� [but] I just felt like I was meant to be here.鈥�

It may have felt like an overwhelming transition at first, but Leveilee has made all the difference at the school an hour south of Dover, the state capital.

The veteran educator not only saved Hurlock鈥檚 career, but also thousands of kids along the way, providing them a school where they would be educated and emotionally supported.

Now, at 8 a.m. every morning, hundreds of students flood out from a row of yellow school buses. Outside the school鈥檚 front door stand Leveilee and other staff who are swarmed with high-fives, hugs and laughing children racing to get inside.

As the children enter the building, they鈥檙e also greeted with banners recognizing the school as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School and a 2024 Delaware Department of Education Recognition School alongside blue bulletin boards highlighting kids of character and upcoming birthdays 鈥� all a testament to the school鈥檚 transformation under Leveilee.

Throughout her time at Frederick Douglass, Leveilee has created spaces that are warm and celebrate students.

She got rid of staff that didn鈥檛 see her vision or fully commit to the idea that everything done at the school is what鈥檚 best for kids. And most importantly, she fought for her school, several staff members said, whether it was pushing back against layoffs, advocating for renovations or paying for supplies out of her pocket.

鈥淵ou see Carol and you don’t see her as a fighter. She looks like she’s somebody’s grandmother, just sweet 鈥� but no, she’s a fighter,鈥� Hurlock said. 鈥淪he came in and fought for us, and the difference in the students [and staff dynamics], just in one year, was tremendous.鈥�

Frederick Douglass Elementary School enrolls about 500 students in grades 3-5, a majority of whom are children of color and from low-income backgrounds. Expected to have a reading proficiency of 32.8%, according to a data project focused on Bright Spot schools launched by 社区黑料, it鈥檚 defying the odds at 60.5% and is among Delaware鈥檚 top five exceptional schools. 

For educators who have stuck out the journey, they say the school鈥檚 transformation feels 鈥渦nreal鈥� and 鈥渟omething that you dream of.鈥� They credited Leveilee as the sole factor in the school鈥檚 success, but she argues it was the relationships that were built.

鈥淪ome people say you start with instruction, but in my opinion, in this building, I could have had the best curriculum possible, state-of-the-art smart boards and everything, and we would have been taken over by the state,鈥� Leveilee said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 all about people.鈥�

Soon to be 12 years, the principal鈥檚 commitment to the school continues to pay off in strong staff retention, low disciplinary referrals and growing student achievement.

Cleaning house

When most people hear B.C., they think of dinosaurs or other prehistoric periods, but Jen Covington thinks of it as 鈥淏efore Carol.鈥�  

Covington, a former third and fifth grade teacher who recently became the school鈥檚 special education coordinator, taught at Frederick Douglass Elementary School for 15 years before Leveilee鈥檚 arrival. Off the top of her head, she could rattle off at least six principals and 12 assistant principals that were part of a leadership revolving door.

鈥淚t was pretty much a free-for-all,鈥� Covington said. 鈥淭here weren’t set guidelines. There weren’t expectations. 鈥� Nobody was on the same page.鈥�

Shannon Rolph, another veteran staff member who joined the school in 2004, said Frederick Douglass had hit rock bottom and remained there for several years before Leveilee.

鈥淭here was no consistency. There was no leader,鈥� Rolph said, a former third and fourth grade teacher turned reading coach. 鈥淚t just was not a great place to work. The behaviors were crazy, 鈥� but I lived here in Seaford. My kids went here. I was invested.鈥�

So, when Leveilee came to the lower Delaware city in 2015, it took time to gain trust, both teachers said. 

鈥淔or those of us that had been here, it was like, 鈥極K, here comes another one. How long are they gonna stay? How invested are they gonna be?鈥� 鈥� Covington said.

Just like the teachers at the school, Leveilee had no idea what was in store when she signed her first three-year contract.聽

She remembers walking into the school on her first day and no one acknowledged her or offered her the keys to her office. When she toured the campus, she couldn鈥檛 figure out why the hallway was so dark, until a teacher told her they had the custodian take out all the center lights because they didn鈥檛 want people looking at walls full of ripped paper, chipping yellow paint and destroyed cork boards.

Just 32% of third graders were proficient in reading and the school was under 鈥渁 constant magnifying glass鈥� she said with recurring visitors from the state asking questions, doing walkthroughs and scrutinizing student data. 

Like the hallways at the school, it was a dark time for Leveilee.

鈥淚鈥檒l never forget my first year was all defeats,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 got here and I regretted my decision daily. I cried myself to sleep many nights. I worked 16-hour days, seven days a week. 鈥� People didn’t like kids. Kids didn’t want to be here. Parents didn’t like the school.鈥澛�

But, Leveilee knew her students were her saving grace.

鈥淓very single one of those kids needed me,鈥� Leveilee said. 鈥淭hey needed me to hire the best teachers and staff possible. They needed me to wake the para up that was always asleep in the chair. 鈥� Needed me to tell the kindergarten teacher in my first year, 鈥榊ou know teaching isn鈥檛 good for you, you don鈥檛 like our kids鈥� and those hard conversations. Those 383 kids were counting on me and my team.鈥�

Within two months, it was clear to Leveilee it was time to clean house, both among staff and the actual physical space of the school.

She first tasked teachers with cleaning out their rooms, many filled with decades of outdated material.

鈥淲e were like 鈥榃hy does she care about what鈥檚 in our closet? 鈥� Why does she keep telling us to clean out our filing cabinet? 鈥� She鈥檚 lost her mind,鈥� 鈥� Covington said, gritting her teeth with an eye roll before laughing at the memory. 鈥淏ut, what [we later realized is], when your space is organized and clean, you become more effective.鈥�

Leveilee was in and out of classrooms, taking notes on a notepad she still wears around her neck and that staff now jokingly call 鈥渉er brain.鈥� Within three months, seven teachers were put on improvement plans. 

By Christmas, two of those educators had left. In her first three years, about half of the staff followed, Leveilee said.

鈥榃e needed a leader鈥�

When Reesie Jones and Monika Kittell arrived at Frederick Douglass Elementary School a year before Leveilee, they were long-time veteran aides.

But in that year, they learned that students ran the school. The kids’ behaviors were out of control, disrespectful and students didn鈥檛 care about the consequences, they said. Suspension was a normal occurrence, and anytime one of them was called to be a substitute, they鈥檇 ask the other to come for extra support.

鈥淲e needed a leader,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淲e were in desperate need of a leader.鈥�

In Leveilee鈥檚 first year, she bought everyone a copy of The Energy Bus for Schools by Jon Gordon. Weekly, she assigned a chapter to read and led discussions. The book stressed the importance of collaboration and how everyone needed to be heading in the same direction, said Kittell, now a third grade teacher.

鈥淚f you are a Negative Nelly, you need to get off the bus. [Leveilee] would truly say 鈥業f you are not part of this bus, you need to get off because you鈥檒l bring all us down,鈥� 鈥� Kittell said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how it all started shifting.鈥�

After 11 years, the veteran educators 鈥� including Jones, Kittell and Rolph 鈥� have kept yellow toy school buses that were gifted after completing the book.

鈥淪ome did not give it a chance. 鈥� It took a few years to get some people out that just weren’t here for the right reasons. Carol wasn’t going anywhere, so either you needed to change or鈥︹�� Rolph said, trailing at the end of her sentence with a laugh.

Changing from reactive to proactive

A handful of other changes occurred simultaneously in Leveilee鈥檚 early years, including a new piloted reading curriculum, aligned with the science of reading, which has stuck around.

The district also reconfigured the school from a K-3 campus to 3-5, which shifted demographics and created more diversity within the city鈥檚 four elementary schools.

Curriculum alignment and reconfiguration in the district were catalysts to some growth, but continuing work on school climate was the biggest challenge 鈥� and game changer. 

Beyond staffing changes, the actual campus needed an overhaul.

鈥淭he decor was probably the same from the time the building was constructed,鈥� Rolph said. 鈥淲e saw other schools and they looked so nice, and it was just like, why didn鈥檛 anyone care to fix our grounds up?鈥�

More than just cleaning closets, Leveilee had the school repainted, cork boards installed to decorate the halls with students鈥� proudest work, new furniture installed, murals painted and fences and landscaping fixed outside.

While it began with small cosmetic changes, Leveilee was also acutely aware of the needs of students.

鈥淲hen I first came here, there were 312 suspensions,鈥� Leveilee said. 鈥淣ot only are [our kids] in high poverty, but they come with huge backpacks filled with trauma. 鈥� We had to do something because sending these kids home was not the answer.鈥�

In Leveilee鈥檚 first few years, she kept a dozen students with her and out of the classroom because of behavioral issues. She would take children into the cafeteria to try and regulate them, which eventually led to the creation of the Reflection Suite and Positive Path.

The Positive Path extends through two hallways, decorated with Legos, velcro tic-tac-toe and coloring paper walls, where kids can get 10-minute passes to go into the hallway and 鈥渞eset.鈥澛�

The Reflection Suite is a series of rooms, some empty to prevent a child from hurting themselves, and others filled with bean bags and motivation quotes on the wall for when students are overwhelmed or need sleep. In the Reflection Suite, students can also meet with counselors.

鈥淧rior to Carol coming in and reworking the whole system, it was very much punishment based,鈥� Covington said. 

But now, the relationship has changed. This year, there have been only three suspensions.

鈥淵ou can tell when their feet hit the pavement 鈥� what kind of morning they had had, what kind of night they had 鈥� if they needed to just go in the Reflection Suite and sleep the first hour because they were up taking care of a one-year-old little brother or sister,鈥� Covington said. 鈥淲e have to take care of all their basic things first before we can ever expect them to learn.鈥�

In addition to having designated spaces to regulate student behavior, there鈥檚 an incentive model, including positive office referrals, character slips that praise a child鈥檚 positive decision-making and other rewards which have changed how kids view school. 

Over time, the changes began to come together.

鈥淥nce the kids started realizing staff checks on them 鈥� whether it’s the reading specialist, whether it’s the nurse, whether it’s the cafeteria 鈥� 鈥� we turned the behaviors from reactive to proactive,鈥� Rolph said. 鈥淭hey just needed to feel that this is a safe place.鈥�

The behavioral improvements led to a 37 percentage point increase in reading scores between 2014-15 and 2018-19.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 70% of third graders at Frederick Douglass Elementary School were reading on grade level. 

The school saw a dip after the pandemic, which persists, but reading scores remain higher than the state average, which was . Math scores at Frederick Douglass are also nearly double the state average.

Twelve years later

When Leveilee walks around Frederick Douglass, kids stop her in the hallway for a hug and start telling her about their weekend. When she stands by a classroom door, kids wave. When one student passed on his way to the bathroom, Leveilee knew to ask about the passing of his grandfather and to ask if he was doing OK.

For most students, if you ask about their favorite thing at Frederick Douglass Elementary, they admittedly say recess, but a close second is the staff.

鈥淚 really like the playground and the teachers and the stuff that they do in the school,鈥� said David Impert, a fourth grader. 鈥淚 really love all this.鈥�

Fifth graders said they feel ready and prepared for their next academic journey, but confess it鈥檚 a little scary to be leaving a place that鈥檚 made them feel heard and accepted for who they are.

鈥淚鈥檝e just had a lot of people who understand me. A lot of people, when I tell them I want to be a bug scientist, basically, they鈥檙e like 鈥楨w, what? That鈥檚 weird.鈥� But I come here and they鈥檙e like 鈥榃ow that鈥檚 cool. How can we help you learn more about this?鈥� 鈥� said fifth grader Willow Pinkerton.

Those responses are not something that would鈥檝e been heard 10 years ago, Leveilee said.

Teachers see the difference too, especially with some of the highest-need children.

鈥淚’ve had kids that have been through [the Division of Family Services], and have been [emotionally] withdrawn, but as soon as they’re back [to school], they’re so excited to be here because it’s their safe place,鈥� Hurlock said.

For teachers, they say one of their favorite parts of the job is Leveilee. Several educators said she spoils them, and they can鈥檛 imagine what the school will look like without her one day.

鈥淚 could probably cry,鈥� Covington said. 鈥淭here are many times that she fights for teachers and teachers don’t even know that she’s fighting for them. I truly think that there is never going to be another like her.鈥�

As for Leveilee, finding a new place to call a second home has been one of her favorite parts of the journey. She doesn鈥檛 cry every night anymore, she said, and the challenges were worth it to see the school thrive.

鈥淚’m so glad that I did come, and for the sake of these kids that they’re able to learn and laugh in a much better setting than what they were in,鈥� Leveilee said, 鈥渁nd to me that’s worth all the tears, all the gray hair, all the stress.鈥�

The Nation’s Report Card released Long-Term Trend assessment data this morning, and the findings are mixed. While 9-year-olds are making progress in math and reading, 13-year-olds have stagnant scores. Across the board, students are largely working below levels seen during the pandemic and around 2012 when achievement was at a high point.

In math, where the declines are sharpest, average scores for 13-year-olds are down roughly 10 points from just before the pandemic and around 15 points from 2012. Average math scores for 9-year-olds are still down too, though they’re now moving in the right direction.

The new report shows trends dating to the 1970s. In reading, 13-year-olds are still working at the same levels as their counterparts then. The report also includes survey questions about student experiences in and outside of school. The share of 9- and 13-year-olds who report they read for fun most days is stuck at historic lows. For example, just 14% of adolescents say they generally read on their own daily. That’s the same as in 2023, but it’s down significantly from 35% in 1985, when the question was first asked. Among 9-year-olds, 37% read almost every day, down from 53% in 1984.

In addition, the share of 9- and 13-year-olds who say they talk about the things they’re learning in school with their family nearly every day is low. Only 1 in 5 13-year-olds report having these regular conversations. Among 9-year-olds, about a third have these talks just about daily. As a book lover, and mom to two school-aged boys, all that hits hard.

I hear all the time from parents who have been told their child is fine but have started to suspect that story is not the whole picture. These new NAEP results confirm something the country has been slow to address: Average scores for students peaked a decade and a half ago.

It’s important to look at what’s changed in schools if parents, policymakers and educators want to improve them. Around the time these declines began, after decades of progress, there was a loosening of policies around the country that brought attention and focus to achievement and made schools more accountable for learning gains.

As accountability loosened, distractions expanded.

The iPhone launched in 2007, when the 13-year-olds working at the 2012 high water mark were 8 years old. Instagram launched when they were 11. They were likely aware of these products and platforms during their adolescent years but not immersed in them. This 2012 cohort may be the last whose childhood happened mostly off a personal screen. It’s notable that students in subsequent grades did worse academically.

The country has spent the last year or so debating phones and artificial intelligence in schools, and confidence in education technology is low. In a recent , half of students said using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers. But the cost of letting that collective distrust harden into blanket rejection is high.

When I taught special education students in New York City, the children in my classroom were the ones a ban on technology would have hurt most. I’ve seen the value of tech tools that help identify learning gaps and support accessibility. It’s imperative for teachers and school and system leaders to be able to tell the difference between research-based learning resources and distraction engines, and be clear in articulating that distinction to parents and teachers.

It is possible to return to an era of progress across subjects and grades if state, district and school leaders focus on creating strong, coherent teaching and learning strategies, taking responsibility for what is and isn’t happening in schools, and building lasting trust with students, families and teachers. Here are ways to help make that happen.

Tell parents the truth, clearly. Schools can send families regular updates on individual student performance and outline how they are addressing areas of concern. States like Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana are starting to promote these practices, and Mississippi provides reports to parents when students need extra help with literacy. But many state and school systems are not being transparent with parents, and are doing much of the hiding.

Make the school-to-home conversation easier. My family gets regular emails home from school with updates and questions that can spark face-to-face conversations with our children. On busy and chaotic days, it’s so helpful to have a prepared question to ask a student, like, “Today in math, children estimated the circumference of a pumpkin or apple by cutting a string and comparing it to their fruit. Ask your child which fruit they chose, and whether their string came out longer or shorter.”

Make AI governance a discipline, not a slogan. AI guidelines must actually be used in schools, not just filed away. They must be clear so they enable school and system leaders to make decisions quickly, learn from what’s happening and adjust as evidence comes in. States and districts should name outcomes before naming tools, audit what they already pay for and design for safety before scale. And, of course, parents and educators should be included at every stage of this work.

Teach every child how to decide. The Alliance for Decision Education and the Burning Glass Institute reviewed 6.8 million U.S. job postings and found 41% required decision- making skills. Educators must help young people understand information they encounter by teaching strong analytical, critical thinking and other skills that will always be in demand. Ensuring that students read broadly, are exposed to a range of perspectives and debate ideas across subjects is a good start.

Put real books back in children’s hands. Schools and libraries should make space and time for kids to pick books they actually want. Let their curiosity be the spark and their choice be the fun. Adults can put reading time on the family calendar. Educators and leaders can offer support for parents who haven’t read aloud since they were kids.

Today, 13-year-olds in the U.S. read at roughly the same achievement level as the federal government assessed more than 50 years ago 鈥� a worrisome sign that education isn’t progressing over time as it should. I don’t believe the solution can be bought or banned. It requires real books, engaging learning opportunities, evidence-based approaches and meaningful data accompanied by the will to act on it. 

Unfortunately, conventional wisdom in American education is that until third grade, students learn to read by building foundational literacy skills, and from fourth grade on they read to learn, mastering subject matter without the need for basic literacy support. This means that after third grade, there鈥檚 no time in the schedule for literacy instruction or intervention, and most secondary school educators aren’t trained to teach it. If you’re a sixth-grade English teacher, you’re expected to focus on literary analysis, not literacy. 

Given that the most recent found that only 31% of fourth graders and 30% of eighth graders read proficiently, it鈥檚 fair to say that this approach is not serving students well. Literacy is a continuum, not a finish line that kids cross at the end of third grade. The two-thirds of students who can鈥檛 read proficiently still need to practice key literacy skills. But that’s not what they’re getting.

A solution is to provide educators and students with a core curriculum that includes supports for students who struggle with reading. For example, eighth graders might be reading To Kill a Mockingbird, with an assignment to discuss the role of racism in the story. Students who can’t read To Kill a Mockingbird can absolutely practice that same grade-level skill with a book that has a slightly more accessible text. The same applies to background knowledge: Students who read about civil rights at a more accessible level than their classmates are able to join the discussion even though they aren鈥檛 yet able to read To Kill a Mockingbird independently. 

Several dozen schools and districts across the country have adopted this approach of embedding grade-level standards into foundational literacy skill instruction, and it has proven effective. In a 2025 conducted by Johns Hopkins University, students at five middle schools showed both increased NWEA MAP scores and a more positive attitude toward reading. In my conversations with middle and high school teachers around the country, I鈥檝e found that they are eager 鈥� even desperate 鈥� for a curriculum that allows their entire class to practice grade-level skills together, regardless of their differences in literacy ability.

Closing the gap between knowledge and practice also requires interdisciplinary communication. When middle and high school teachers collaborate with the reading interventionist, multilingual learners鈥� coordinator or special education teacher about what works for their struggling readers, they can identify strategies to reinforce literacy growth across subject areas.

Students must read to succeed in science, social studies and even math, so all educators must become teachers of literacy who connect the dots among subjects. If students are learning about the water cycle in science, their teacher can introduce the unit with a morphology lesson where students learn the Greek prefix hydr– and the Latin base aqua. They may learn about the Hydra (a serpentine lake monster) when studying Greek mythology in English class and aqueducts when studying Ancient Rome in social studies. Then, they can apply their knowledge of the Greek prefix to understand what it means when a character is dehydrated.

Reinforcing these interconnected threads across subject areas enables students to simultaneously learn grade-level subject matter and strengthen their understanding of how words are formed and meaning changes, based on their structure. For this approach to succeed, secondary school educators in all disciplines need professional development focused on how they can engage and support students with varied literacy skills.  

Engagement is essential because kids who struggle with reading often become discouraged. But when they read about subjects that spark their interest, in a format that feels comfortable, the opposite happens. I believe that when it comes to struggling or reluctant readers, all reading is good reading, whether it鈥檚 in a book or on a tablet, in an audiobook or a graphic novel. 

Students who can’t sound out words but can understand concepts can listen to an audiobook and deepen their knowledge without the barrier of decoding. They can also read an accessible text that uses simplified grammar or defines challenging vocabulary words by offering strong context clues. Once they鈥檙e engaged, students can make amazing leaps quickly, just like my fifth-grade student who was obsessed with the Jonas Brothers. From there, teachers can gradually increase the rigor of the language, enabling students to progress toward the literacy outcomes they need to succeed in school and life.

While teaching literacy can be more challenging in the upper grades, a coherent curriculum that marries engagement with rigorous instruction can not only teach older students how to read, but also inspire them to love reading.

In a survey of more than 1,200 K-3 educators in the fall of 2025, researchers at the Fordham Institute, an education reform nonprofit, found 30% of teachers don鈥檛 鈥渇avor phonics,鈥� a major pillar in the science of reading that teaches students how letters represent sounds and how to blend those sounds together.

The number of teachers 鈥渓ess informed and committed鈥� to the science of reading is even greater in high poverty schools, according to the .

鈥淒espite everything that has been said and written in the past few years, nearly a third of teachers still put phonics and cueing on equal footing,鈥� the report said, also finding 鈥減rogress that has been made in some teachers in high-poverty, majority-nonwhite schools are still, on average, less informed about and committed to basic principles of the [science of reading] than teachers in whiter and/or more affluent settings.鈥�

About half of all surveyed K-3 teachers said they teach with a 鈥渟tructured approach鈥� which includes a mix of  鈥渋nstruction in phonics, decoding, and related skills,鈥� the report said, adding nearly one in three teachers use a 鈥渂alanced approach,鈥� where students are asked to figure out unfamiliar words through context clues or pictures 鈥� a practice known as cueing, which has been banned in some states. 

Thirty percent of teachers reported favoring both phonics and cueing for reading instruction and 2% said they preferred cueing over phonics, according to the report.

The report also found teacher belief and use of the science of reading is between nine to 15 percentage points lower in low-income schools compared to those in higher-resourced schools.

Researchers recognized schools have experienced 鈥渟ignificant , , and even 鈥�,鈥欌�� around the best way to teach kids to read for decades, which in part accounts for teacher hesitancy and/or inexperience with parts of the science of reading. 

As of late March, 42 states, and Washington D.C. have implemented laws around the science of reading, according to . But even with these initiatives, some teachers expressed concerns that the 鈥減endulum swings too far to one side and we need balance.鈥�

鈥淲hile I support our current emphasis on phonics, I worry that kids are going to lose out with less comprehension and vocabulary instruction,鈥� one teacher said in the report, with another adding 鈥渢he pendulum swings like political winds. Let us teach. Please!鈥� 

Others felt the shift toward the science of reading has led to 鈥渇ar more non-fiction texts鈥� at the 鈥渆xpense of rich literature鈥� and that 鈥済uided reading 鈥� is out, phonics-based small groups are in.鈥�

For educators more positive about the science of reading, said the growing emphasis around phonics has 鈥渄rastically changed how quickly students are able to learn to read,鈥� according to the report. 

鈥淭hey are happier learners because they aren鈥檛 as frustrated with reading,鈥� one teacher said. Another added: 鈥渢he shift to the science of reading has been huge 鈥� and has profound effects on teaching kids to read.鈥�

The science of reading is rooted in : phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, but most of the conversation around the evidence-based approach has centered on phonics.

Hesitancy around the science of reading is concerning to researchers, said David Griffith, one of the report鈥檚 co-authors.

鈥淎lmost every literate person I’ve ever met remembers getting phonics,鈥� Griffith said. 鈥淭here is abundant evidence that phonics is successful, and what the research shows is that you need to know how to decode words in order to learn how to read. 鈥� If kids don’t learn to do this, then they won’t learn to read, and if they don’t learn to read, they won’t learn much else.鈥� 

Griffith acknowledged teacher concerns about the trade-off of incorporating more phonics-based instruction and feeling students would miss out on comprehension, 鈥渂ut I would push back鈥�  that there is some sort of balance that we need to strike in terms of helping kids learn to decode,鈥� he said. 鈥淜ids need to learn to decode, and then once they’ve done that, there are many other things that we can start doing.鈥�

Griffith also argued having more non-fiction texts in K-3 could level the playing field for students who may not have exposure to certain background knowledge or vocabulary that would make them successful early readers. Lacking this kind of curriculum and instruction has created disparities and affected skills like finding the main idea or inferring for many children, he said.

鈥淎 weak reader who knows about baseball will outperform a strong reader who doesn’t know anything about baseball,鈥� Griffith said. 鈥淵our ability to draw inferences is entirely dependent on whether you understand what the passage is talking about and whether you have the right vocabulary.鈥�

The report found more than 40% of teachers hadn鈥檛 鈥渇ully internalized the importance of knowledge and vocabulary to reading 肠辞尘辫谤别丑别苍蝉颈辞苍.鈥�

The report found teacher knowledge around the science of reading is inconsistent.

Griffith said 鈥渢he chaotic information environment that the typical teacher is subject to,鈥� has been the biggest thing hindering implementation now.

鈥淎n older teacher tells you one thing. Your curriculum tells you something else,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou read an article online written by some think tank and it tells you a third thing. Teachers want to do the right thing, 鈥� [but there鈥檚 a] lack of clarity 鈥� about points that really should be clear.鈥�

Teachers in higher-resourced schools scored slightly higher than average in their science of reading knowledge and commitment (in the 54th percentile), while those in low-resourced schools scored below average in the 44th percentile.

The report called it a 鈥渟ubstantial difference that will have dire consequences for poor students should it persist,鈥� that shows 鈥渢he fragmented nature of curriculum adoption and the complexity of translating exposure to science of reading鈥揳ligned training into better practice.鈥�

Griffith added that teacher turnover in those environments likely play a role.

鈥淭eaching is just harder in high-poverty schools. There is less time to think, there’s less time to do research on the science of reading or anything else. There is probably not a long tradition of veteran teachers building strong curricula over multiple years,鈥� he said.

Across the country, most K-3 teachers have received some type of professional development in the science of reading, the report also found. Those who have completed those courses have a better understanding of the evidence-based approach than those who rely on what they were taught in higher education and teacher preparation programs. 

Even though most educators receive professional development, researchers said teachers鈥� knowledge of the science of reading declined as the grade level increased, with kindergarten teachers 鈥渆xhibiting the deepest knowledge and third-grade teachers exhibiting the least understanding.鈥�

鈥淭hese differences may reflect the fact that science of reading鈥揳ligned trainings and curricula often disproportionately target kindergarten, where a focus on decoding is particularly crucial. Still, given the number of third graders who are still struggling with decoding 鈥� and the continuing need to build knowledge and vocabulary in higher grades 鈥� the mediocre performance of teachers in higher grade levels is grounds for concern,鈥� the report said.

Other findings from the report included how 93% of teachers use multiple reading curricula, some which still use practices like cueing. And that many teachers reported 鈥渓imited insight into the needs of English learners and students with dyslexia.鈥�

鈥淚f we could somehow improve the quality of pre-service preparation, we would really be making progress, because it is hard to change the practices of teachers who have been teaching for 15 to 20 years,鈥� Griffith said. 鈥淚t would be enormously helpful if teachers got the right message at the start of their careers.鈥�

Fordham researchers called for colleges of education to require instruction aligned to the science of reading.

The report also found teachers in states with reading-aligned licensure tests had a deeper understanding of the evidence-based reading model, which became another recommendation for better implementation. Other suggestions included mandates around K-3 teacher training to be completed within their first three years in the classroom and a push for states to establish approved curriculum lists.

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Students attending Compton Unified School District and Modesto City Schools are improving in reading faster than students in demographically similar districts amid what a team of researchers has identified as a national 鈥渞eading recession.鈥� District leaders and researchers credit years of sustained academic reforms and data-driven intervention systems.

鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling really comfortable with what we鈥檝e built for literacy development. Now we鈥檙e like, 鈥極kay, now what can we learn from that experience to make gains in mathematics as well?鈥� 鈥� said Vanessa Buitrago, Modesto City superintendent.

The findings come from the , a database released Wednesday by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth that compares reading and math test scores across more than 5,000 school districts in 38 states, including more than 500 districts in California.

Researchers said the project is intended to make 鈥渓ocal recovery efforts 鈥� both successful and unsuccessful 鈥� more visible,鈥� highlighting both successful and struggling districts. To allow comparisons across states, the team aligned state test scores with results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a nationwide exam given every two years.

The nationwide reading recession began around 2013, according to researchers, and worsened in many school districts following the pandemic. But some districts, including Modesto City Schools and Compton Unified School District in California, have bucked the trend and were among the 鈥渄istricts on the rise鈥� identified by the Education Scorecard team.

Both districts implemented reforms before the pandemic and, importantly, maintained them through the uncertainty of school closures in the peak pandemic years. They also both rely on data from internal assessments to identify struggling students and provide targeted support quickly.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see us as a district, so to speak, recovering from the pandemic,鈥� said Darin Brawley, 13-year superintendent of Compton Unified. 鈥淚 see us as a district that really used that moment to strengthen and build stronger systems to create stronger instruction, to create stronger accountability, and ultimately, to produce better outcomes for the students that we serve.鈥�

The Education Scorecard team found that 33% of California students attended districts where math scores exceeded 2019 levels 鈥� up two percentage points from . The share of students in districts surpassing pre-pandemic reading levels also rose, from about 18% to 22%.

鈥淚 think you鈥檒l see in that list of districts on the rise, a lot of districts that don鈥檛 normally get mentioned in this national discussion of who鈥檚 making a difference, but we鈥檙e trying to put a spotlight on local leaders that are making a difference,鈥� said Stanford professor Sean Reardon, who helped create the Education Scorecard.

Data-driven collaboration

Modesto City did not have a professional development department until Sara Noguchi, superintendent from 2018 to 2025, joined the district.

Today, principals, assistant principals and intervention specialists from every Modesto City elementary school meet quarterly for 90 minutes to two hours to review and evaluate student performance data, said Vanessa Buitrago, current superintendent.

Schools facing similar challenges 鈥� such as chronic absences or high rates of special education assessments 鈥� are paired together to share strategies for improvement. During Graduation Rate Intervention Team meetings, school teams develop specific action steps that they revisit at the next quarterly check-in.

鈥淲e need to create those strategic pairings so that they can learn from each other,鈥� said Buitrago.

The GRIT meetings also include discussions about classroom walk-throughs and what professional development teachers may need based on what school leaders observe in the classroom.

Teachers also meet weekly in their Professional Learning Communities to identify students who need additional support and collaborate on intervention strategies.

鈥淚n my experience, there are two things that are really sacred to teachers: the classroom space, in other words what they teach and how they teach, and grading,鈥� Buitrago said. 鈥淚 would say that this is probably the most challenging part of our work, 鈥� finding that balance between culture and all this other technical work that is very data driven.鈥�

Some of that work has included a revamp of reading instruction during the pandemic, and of math a couple of years earlier. The district created a new department to help students who are still learning English. Schools also ramped up teacher training, paying educators $5,000 to complete an extensive 鈥渟cience of reading鈥� program called LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. Teachers can opt in to meeting with math coaches who can provide feedback on their teaching, or they can request a substitute so they can observe other math teachers鈥� classrooms.

鈥淚 really think it comes down to creating the conditions for the teacher to be successful,鈥� said Noguchi, the former Modesto City superintendent. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about building a relationship with that third grade teacher, fifth grade teacher, what have you, because everyone has different needs.鈥�

While initially establishing the systems now in place, Noguchi said districtwide buy-in was critical. This meant consulting with leaders across the district, including those reluctant to change.

鈥淚f you bring them in on the forefront and really listen to their issues and those concerns, that will help counterbalance others within the system,鈥� said Noguchi. 鈥淚t worked and we got complete buy-in.鈥�

The latest Education Scorecard data shows that Modesto鈥檚 test scores grew enough to represent an extra 18 weeks of learning in math and 13 weeks in reading. Nevertheless, the district still has a way to go: Overall scores remain far below grade level.

鈥楽ustained focus and aligned instruction鈥� are critical

According to the Education Scorecard, reading and math scores in Compton Unified District have increased since before the Covid-19 pandemic 鈥� with the only setback being a slight decline in math scores between 2019 and 2022.

Compton Unified is one of 108 districts identified by researchers as improving faster in both reading and math than demographically similar districts.

The district鈥檚 strategies for improvement include data meetings every four to six weeks, where groups of principals review student performance and discuss interventions. Like Modesto City Schools, Compton Unified expects principals to closely track which students are receiving additional instructional support and whether that intervention is effective.

鈥淥ur belief is pretty simple: the earlier you identify learning gaps, the faster you can intervene,鈥� said Brawley, district superintendent.

Other ways Compton Unified seeks to identify and intervene on academic gaps, he said, include:

• Weekly quizzes where students answer seven questions each in English language arts and math.
• In-class, small group tutoring for students who are not reaching the district鈥檚 threshold of 71% or above on internal assessments.
• A 鈥渉eavy, districtwide focus鈥� on the standards and vocabulary students are likely to encounter in the CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress), the state鈥檚 annual assessment.
• Teams consisting of Brawley, directors and principals who do walkthroughs of school sites throughout the year

鈥淲e believe that students must be able to explain their thinking, justify their responses, communicate their reasoning and engage in analytical discourse, and if they don鈥檛 have the academic language that is necessary for that, then that creates a bigger problem,鈥� said Brawley.

Some district teachers have raised over whether the district might be emphasizing too much test prep with the internal assessment calendar teachers are expected to follow.

鈥淲e basically believe that assessment should not be viewed as an event,鈥� Brawley said. 鈥淚t should be embedded within the instructional cycle.鈥�

EdSource鈥檚 data visualization specialist, Yuxuan Xie, contributed to this report. Sharon Lurye and Jocelyn Gecker of The Associated Press, Lily Altavena of Chalkbeat and Ruth Serven Smith of AL.com also contributed to this report.

A new report on whole-book reading in secondary English classrooms arrives at a useful moment. The debate over whether students in school has become increasingly , and at times nearly . A growing chorus insists that American schools have abandoned literature and are trapped in a joyless regime of excerpt-driven 鈥渟kills instruction鈥� imposed by standards-aligned curriculum and testing. Rand brings something refreshing to the conversation: evidence. And, as it tends to do, the evidence complicates nearly everyone鈥檚 preferred narrative.

The report鈥檚 headline finding is less alarming than much of the recent rhetoric would suggest: Nearly 90% of secondary English Language Arts teachers report assigning at least one full fiction or nonfiction book during the school year. About two-thirds assign between one and four books annually, while roughly one-quarter assign five or more. Clearly, that鈥檚 not a picture of novels disappearing entirely from classrooms. But neither is it particularly reassuring. For one thing, the report doesn’t tell if the average number of books assigned has declined, or which books students are reading: graphic novels or classic literature? The authors also acknowledged, 鈥淲e do not know the form their assignment took; teachers could have used the book for whole-class instruction or as a choice for independent reading.鈥�

The researchers鈥� most troubling finding is that teachers serving disadvantaged students consistently assign fewer books. Students in high-poverty schools or majority nonwhite schools, multilingual learners and students with disabilities all appear less likely to experience sustained encounters with complete works of literature. 

That matters, because reading a book is not just an extended version of reading a passage. It requires different cognitive habits: sustained attention, memory, fluency and the ability to remain immersed in language and ideas over long stretches of time. As Doug Lemov noted in a I hosted recently, teaching whole books effectively means cultivating 鈥渃ognitive persistence鈥� in ways that are becoming increasingly rare in our fragmented digital culture. 

So, if there is a singularly troubling implication in the Rand report, it is not that books have vanished. It鈥檚 that the students most in need of the benefits that whole books provide appear least likely to receive them.

The report also contains a finding that will delight critics of standards-aligned curriculum: Teachers using publisher-developed instructional materials assigned fewer books on average than educators using self- or district-created materials. Rand cautiously suggests that excerpt-heavy curriculum design may partly explain the trend. That said, I suspect the authors of the report may be assigning too much causal weight to curriculum publishers and not enough to the accountability systems that have shaped their products. For at least a quarter-century, high-stakes reading tests have functionally imposed a theory of literacy upon American educators that views reading comprehension primarily a suite of transferable skills that can be amply demonstrated on short, decontextualized passages: finding the main idea, making inferences, citing evidence, identifying author鈥檚 purpose and so on.

If that is what policymakers demand and tests reward, curriculum publishers would be irrational not to align their products to it. Said differently, the tests drive practice. Curricula are adapted to the tests. This is one reason I have that reading exams damage literacy instruction: they subtly teach educators to think about reading in ways that are at odds with cognitive science, leading schools to de-emphasize the importance of background knowledge, vocabulary and fluency in favor of a skills-and-strategies approach that assumes reading comprehension can be taught, practiced and mastered via repeated practice on brief passages. This approach largely conflicts with the science of reading that policymakers, literacy advocates and curriculum reformers are to persuade states, districts and schools to embrace.

To be sure, testing mandates in grades 3 to 8 cannot fully explain the decline of whole-book instruction in high school. But accountability systems helped shape the field鈥檚 broader conception of reading itself 鈥� not merely elementary and middle school test prep. High school assessments like the SAT largely reinforce these signals, emphasizing analytical skills applied to . The point is not that standardized tests directly cause teachers to assign fewer novels in high school. It鈥檚 that the accountability era has normalized a fragmented theory of reading across the entire K-12 system. 

It would be a mistake to respond to the Rand report with a simplistic demand to raise the novel count. Assigning lots of books is not automatically good instruction. A poorly taught novel can easily become an exercise in disengagement or superficial discussion. What matters is whether schools and teachers understand why whole books matter in the first place and can confidently guide their students through literary analysis and conversation.

The AEI webinar I hosted last month touched on both of these crucial topics. During the event, Lemov argued that whole books are cognitively powerful precisely because they demand sustained thought. They immerse students in language rich enough to shape how they themselves think and speak. Reading a book requires students to hold ideas in memory over time, revise their understanding as characters evolve and tolerate ambiguity long enough for meaning to emerge.

Mike Austin of Great Hearts Academies made a related and more humanistic point: Books welcome students into an ongoing cultural and moral conversation larger than themselves. Whole books matter not merely because they are long, but because they allow students to inhabit another consciousness deeply enough to encounter enduring questions about human life and moral values. 

On the question of how to teach books effectively, Kyair Butts, a Baltimore middle school teacher, emphasized the importance of building classrooms where students feel safe taking academic risks, reading aloud, building fluency and participating in shared intellectual work.  Lemov reinforced this point by sharing a video of eighth graders reading To Kill a Mockingbird together in class. Their teacher walked around the room, paper book in hand, as she modeled expressive reading, cold-called on students to read and encouraged self-correction. All these practices help students develop their reading fluency, a key aspect of upper-grade literacy.

In sum, good ELA instruction doesn鈥檛 happen simply because a publisher inserts a novel into a curriculum map. Nor will schools fully recover sustained literary reading until or unless policymakers and administrators create structures that signal its value and reward it. For years, schools received the opposite signal. 

The question now is whether schools are prepared to reclaim a richer understanding of reading itself 鈥� not as a toolbox of comprehension 鈥渟kills鈥� or test prep, but as immersion in language, knowledge, memory, narrative and thought.

Annika Hernandez, a research associate in education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and a former middle and high school English teacher, contributed to this essay.

Anna Gawf scans her third graders, sitting cross legged on purple carpet at in Springdale, Arkansas, to see if the concept sinks in. It鈥檚 a Tuesday in early April, and Gawf is prepping the class in reading comprehension for a state exam just a few weeks away.

While it鈥檚 a motto all four Hunt Elementary third grade teachers follow, they have achieved some high scores themselves. Hunt鈥檚 has some of the highest in the state, a measure of how well their students meet or exceed academic growth benchmarks in all subjects. 

Principal Michelle Doshier credits that success to the strategies the team created together. Three of the team members 鈥� Gawf, Jami Cheshier and Robyn Hubbard 鈥� have been with the school since Doshier helped open it 21 years ago. They came together as a third grade team five years ago, after teaching other grades. Teacher Lindsay Dees joined the team two years ago after working with adults in the district鈥檚 family literacy program.

鈥淥ne of the things that is so great about them is [the fact that] Anna’s taught second grade and third grade, so she knows those grades really, really well. Robyn Hubbard has taught fifth, fourth, third and second, so [she] knows where they are and where they need to go,鈥� Doshier said. 鈥淛amie has taught kindergarten, first, second and now third 鈥� she takes a lot of the low-performing kids because she knows that foundation. And Lindsay brings lots of new, fresh ideas.鈥�

The four teachers鈥� classrooms are located in a circle in a third-grade wing of Hunt Elementary. Students don鈥檛 stay in one classroom for the entire year, or even for the entire day. Instead, the four educators share students depending on their skill level. Children in Cheshier鈥檚 classroom might move to Gawf鈥檚 for reading instruction because they are more proficient than their classmates. 

Doshier said this practice is used in all grade levels. Some students will spend a part of their day in a lower or higher grade if that鈥檚 where they鈥檙e at in a certain subject. 

鈥淲e used to, I think, have the mindset of, 鈥楾hese are my little kiddos, or my 25 kids,鈥� and now it’s, 鈥楾hey’re all ours,鈥� 鈥� Gawf said. 鈥淲e want to see them all grow. For the bulk of the time, we do have our kids in our own classroom, but we do rotate so much. It’s nice to see other kids from other rooms and just know that you’re supporting your partner teacher.鈥�

The third grade team meets regularly to review academic data and discuss which reading skills students need improvement on, such as understanding the main idea or articulating certain word sounds. Then, they decide which classroom the students belong in and whether they need higher-level reading instruction or interventions.

鈥淚 think we’ve done the best job ever this year of them really being all of our [students],鈥� Hubbard said. 鈥淚’m noticing things like kids in my room have real relationships with [the other teachers]. They will say, 鈥楬ey, I drew this for Miss Gawf, can I go take it to her?鈥� Or they are making sure they say hi to Miss Dee every morning or telling me something Miss Cheshier said to them 鈥� they don’t just go to their classes. They really have relationships with all three of them.鈥�

Administrators from other schools in the Springdale district, which serves nearly 22,000 students in northwest Arkansas, visit Hunt Elementary to observe strategies like those used in third grade. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a journey to get to this point,鈥� Cheshier said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 think we don鈥檛 have really hard days.鈥�

Teaching looks a lot different at Hunt Elementary now than it did when the school first opened, they said. Over the years, the percentage of English learners increased from roughly 5% to 35%, and more immigrant students are enrolling in third, fourth or fifth grade without many reading skills. In the last decade, the school鈥檚 poverty level from 39% in 2015 to 60% in 2025.

鈥淢y first year that Hunt was open, I taught third grade,鈥� Hubbard said. 鈥淏ack in those days, it was all about comprehension. And I never had taught a child how to read from the beginning until our population changed as drastically as it did. When I came back to third grade, I was now having to teach third graders how to read.鈥�

Like teachers across the country, the third grade team has also dealt with a rise in student needs and behaviors since the pandemic. All four teachers recounted how last year鈥檚 class 鈥� which entered kindergarten during COVID 鈥� needed more support than any other group of students they鈥檝e had in recent years. The children lacked social skills and required more discipline. 

鈥淚n families, everyone was stressed out about their own jobs, and the students missed out on a chunk of learning during COVID,鈥� Dees said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 learn the right skills.鈥�

Doshier said children who were in third grade in 2024-25 also needed more academic support than normal, and they had the lowest reading proficiency rates in Hunt Elementary鈥檚 history, at 37%. Third grade reading proficiency was at 57% the year before.

Doshier said the team is working hard to build the current class鈥� reading proficiency so the rate can go back up.

The teachers’ work can also be seen through their average growth score that鈥檚 measured by the state. A score higher than 80 means that teacher鈥檚 students are growing academically, on average, more than expected. Anything below 80 means the kids are progressing more slowly than they should. 

Gawf, Hubbard and Cheshier have a three-year growth score average of 90 points or higher, according to school data. A have a three-year average greater than 82 points. Dees doesn鈥檛 have a three-year average score because she鈥檚 been at Hunt Elementary for only two years.

Arkansas lawmakers approved the in 2023 to reward high-performing educators. Teachers who have a three-year growth score average above 80 can earn up to $10,000 in annual bonuses.

鈥淚 was recently talking to a friend who’s from another school in Springdale, and she said, 鈥楢re you still at Hunt? Do you still love it?鈥� Yes and yes,鈥� Hubbard said. 鈥淪he said that Hunt is known around the district as being a well-oiled machine. That comes from the top. Our administrators are amazing, and all the teachers want to work for them, and we want to do our best for them, because they give us so much grace and so much freedom. It creates a really awesome culture.鈥�

As of this year, say yes and impose some form of retention policy linked to a child鈥檚 reading scores, according to the advocacy group ExcelInEd. But the question of retention has been hotly debated as a tool to drive reading scores, with Ohio its version in 2023 and dropping its requirement in 2024.

On one side, research suggests that third grade reading scores are of a student鈥檚 likelihood of academic success through middle school and into high school. Children who behind in the early years to ever get back on track.

On the other hand, it feels harsh to hold students back and separate them from their peers based on the results of a test. Plus, there is good reason to suspect that the children who will actually be affected by such a policy will be Black and low-income.

But there鈥檚 one more argument that, in my opinion, tips the scales in favor of third grade reading laws. In threatening to hold students back if they haven鈥檛 been taught to read properly, states are warning the adults to make sure each child is on track in literacy.

When you start to see third grade retention policies as less of an intervention and more about how they change adult behavior, you can see it show up in the research literature. For example, from Michigan 鈥� a state where, thanks to various exemptions and remediation efforts, the number of kids who are actually retained is just 鈥� found positive effects of its third grade reading law even in districts that did not hold any students back. A Florida found that flagging a child for retention improved the academic outcomes of their younger siblings. One of the study’s authors that, 鈥渢he high-stakes retention signal for the older siblings might inform parents and educators about the educational needs of the younger sibling and induce them to act.鈥�

If the actual act of retention were the trick, these results should be impossible. As is, they imply that the laws are forcing adults to change their behaviors in ways that boost reading outcomes even for kids who were not retained. 

One of the most active champions of third grade reading laws is ExcelinEd鈥檚 Kymyona Burk, who implemented Mississippi鈥檚 third grade reading bill while serving as the state鈥檚 literacy director. Last year, she told , 鈥淩etention is not the goal of the retention policy. 鈥he goal is for students to be identified early and receive the tutoring, the attention, the individualized reading plan to prevent a student from being retained.鈥�

Notably, did not just threaten to hold kids back. It also required districts to administer a state-approved literacy exam to identify any children in grades K-3 who might have a reading deficiency. If a student is identified as being at risk, districts have to draft an individual reading plan outlining the child鈥檚 specific deficiencies and a plan to address them. Schools also have to notify parents if their son or daughter has a reading challenge and provide parents with 鈥淩ead at Home鈥� lessons including guided reading assignments.

Like other states, Mississippi鈥檚 law includes 鈥済ood cause鈥� exemptions, for students who are non-native English speakers who have been in the country for less than two years of instruction or who suffer from severe disabilities that prevent them from learning to read successfully.

For children who are held back, the requirements get even tighter. Schools are required to provide them with at least 90 minutes of research-based reading instruction per day, delivered through small-group lessons, tutors or summer or afterschool programs.

Some skeptics argue that Mississippi鈥檚 up the national fourth grade reading rankings was dubious, as some of the tested students were older because they had been held back in third grade (and thus given more instruction and time to mature). For example, three professional statisticians published in January noting that, 鈥淚t is a fact of arithmetic that the mean score of any data set always increases if you delete some of the lowest scores.鈥� It is true that Mississippi has more students than average who are for their grade (54% versus 39%). But Mississippi鈥檚 rate is the same as Oklahoma’s and South Dakota’s, and Mississippi has much better reading than those two states. Besides, Mississippi has held back more kids than other states 鈥� what changed was the formal tie to a child鈥檚 reading performance.

If anything, states with third grade reading retention policies like Mississippi’s are taking early reading challenges more seriously than states without one. After all, student literacy is not likely to magically improve without some rigorous intervention. What鈥檚 more likely is that doors of opportunity will slowly close to them over time as schools pass them along from grade to grade.

Third grade reading policies can certainly be harsh for the students who are subject to them. But they force schools to address each child鈥檚 reading problems before they have a chance to fester.

Disclosure: Chad Aldeman is a consultant with ExcelinEd on an unrelated project. 

This story originally appeared in , a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. .

When Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her signature literacy legislation in聽2024, she stressed that New York was late to the game 鈥� calling it 鈥渆mbarrassing鈥澛爐hat Connecticut, New Jersey, and other states had already embraced phonics-based instruction. New York schools had fallen behind the national curve, she said, and had been teaching students how to read the wrong way.

A large reason for that, she emphasized, is that under state law, districts choose their own curricula. The Back to Basics law was supposed to fix that problem, by requiring school districts to align instruction with research on how children best learn to read by September 2025.

Specifically, districts had to start teaching using the 鈥渟cience of reading,鈥� a phonics-based approach grounded in the idea that reading isn鈥檛 innate and must be explicitly taught through skills like sounding out words. At the time, it was gaining traction as the policy du jour in literacy instruction as an alternative to 鈥渂alanced literacy,鈥� an approach long embraced by New York districts that teaches children to instead rely on context clues for reading comprehension.

By passing the Back to Basics plan, New York joined聽 and the District of Columbia in a nationwide movement fueled in part by results in Mississippi, where rigorous literacy laws聽 in academic performance over the past 13 years.

But a New York Focus analysis of mandatory school surveys submitted to the state has found that more than 130 school districts are still using 鈥渂alanced literacy鈥� curricula.

Teachers in those districts, primarily in rural and suburban areas, are often required to use reading programs that advocates say contradict the settled body of research around teaching reading. The misaligned curricula could have an especially profound impact on students of color and those from low-income families, who are already more likely to experience reading difficulties, these advocates say.

New York鈥檚 law differs from those of some other states, which require districts to pick from a list of state-approved reading curricula and offer extra funding for districts to purchase them. Others have allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to advance multiyear literacy plans with clear benchmarks.

While New York鈥檚 Back to Basics law required the State Education Department to provide best practices to districts, it entrusts school districts with making the switch and measuring their own compliance 鈥� leaving in place a discretionary system that advocates argue contributed to New York鈥檚 low literacy rates to begin with.

So far, that piecemeal approach has left hundreds of thousands of students learning how to read with widely discredited curricula and instructional materials.

鈥淥ur concern is a lack of urgency,鈥� said聽Jeff Smink, deputy director at the advocacy group EdTrust-New York, which recently published聽 of the survey data submitted to the state in September. 鈥淚f 400,000 kids aren鈥檛 getting evidence-based instruction, that, to us, is a crisis.鈥�

Smink said the law lacks enforcement mechanisms in part because of New York鈥檚 deeply embedded culture as a strong local-control state, where most decisions about public schools are determined by districts, school boards, and even individual campuses. He also said the state teachers union wields significant influence and 鈥渙pposes anything they think threatens teacher autonomy.

The literacy law, which invested $10 million in teacher training and tasked the union with training 20,000 teachers, came under fire after a March聽 revealed that the training program heavily featured the instructional methods that Hochul set out to replace.

The survey data offers an unprecedented statewide look at how schools are teaching elementary school students how to read and write 鈥� and insight into the state鈥檚 progress as it gears up to replicate the same approach with聽.

New York鈥檚 reading scores are average at best.聽Thirty-one percent of New York fourth graders were proficient in reading last year,聽according to the National Assessment of Education Progress 鈥� just slightly above the US average and much lower than similar states like Massachusetts and New Jersey. Mississippi, the nation鈥檚 poorest state, also outperformed New York, which spends more money per pupil than any other state.

According to education advocates, the Back to Basics is doing little to make up for lost ground. 鈥淲e are shockingly behind,鈥� said聽Assemblymember Robert Carroll, a leading literacy advocate. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do something, we are on the path to be the last in the nation on this.鈥�

In response to a request for comment, a Hochul spokesperson wrote, 鈥淲e anticipate continued progress and are working with SED to ensure that all schools are implementing evidence-based literacy instruction.鈥�

The structure of New York鈥檚 education system means that students in neighboring districts may be learning with vastly different curricula. Until recently,聽Celine Schneider鈥檚 children attended school in Riverhead Central School District, where last year less than a third of third graders were proficient in reading.

On the literacy curricula survey, Riverhead was聽one of 16 districts that reported not aligning with the state鈥檚 best practices in every category of reading instruction, as well as in writing. The district said it uses a mix of curricula, including some aligned with the science of reading alongside balanced literacy programs critics say fail to teach children how to decode words properly.

Riverhead declined an interview request, but provided a statement through a communications firm verifying that its reading curriculum and instruction 鈥渁re aligned with the state鈥檚 core curriculum standards and teaching practices.鈥�

Schneider said that in Riverhead, students were promoted from one grade to another without gaining basic literacy skills. After watching her daughter fall behind, lose confidence, and endure bullying for not knowing how to read, Schneider said she decided to transfer her children to a nearby district with stronger reading intervention, despite the hefty tuitions required to switch districts. (The district, Quogue Union Free School District, said in its survey response that it uses science of reading curricula and aligns with the state鈥檚 best practices, though it did also report using a popular balanced literacy program.)

鈥淚t was either let them continue to fail, or struggle financially to make sure my kids are okay in the long run,鈥� she said.聽

Schneider asked Quogue to assess her children鈥檚 reading abilities, and expected mixed results: Her oldest struggled with dyslexia, and she had just learned her other daughter was going to enter second grade as a nonreader. But the other three seemed to be succeeding in school.

Instead, the results were shockingly similar 鈥� all five were at least a grade level behind.

鈥淣ot being able to read destroys a child鈥檚 future,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are setting our kids up to fail.鈥�

Educators and policymakers have long debated how to best teach students how to read. 鈥淏alanced literacy鈥� dominated US classrooms for much of the past 20 years, but many schools have moved away from it due to mounting evidence that can lead to poor reading outcomes.

The science of reading, on the other hand, represents a vast body of research emphasizing the importance of phonics 鈥� the relationship between letters and sounds 鈥� in teaching children how to read. While the approach has some detractors who say it pushes a 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all鈥� approach that may not work for every child, studies show that instruction based on the science of reading improves reading proficiency, especially for children with dyslexia.

But whether it can underpin an effective education policy depends on how it is implemented, and some worry New York鈥檚 patchwork approach could limit its potential benefits.

In 2024, 46 percent of New York third graders were below basic proficiency in reading.聽Those outcomes could have profound implications: Research shows聽children who fail to read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

Mississippi鈥檚 success with the science of reading is hard to ignore. The state was ranked second worst nationwide for fourth-grade reading in 2013 and rose to the top 10 within a decade. Nearby states that followed suit, including Alabama and Louisiana, saw similar gains, a trend referred to as the 鈥淪outhern surge.鈥� Outcomes in other states have been more mixed, fueling debate between critics who see stalled scores as a cause for concern and proponents who argue the reforms need time to take hold.

Under New York鈥檚 Back to Basics plan, all school districts were supposed to confirm in the September survey that they transitioned to the science of reading in their curricula, instruction, and teacher training, and that they鈥檙e following best practices in seven literacy and writing categories. As part of the survey, districts submitted the curricula they use.

Most school districts reported meeting best practices, but the results still show areas of concern, especially in writing, fluency, and vocabulary practices; in each of those areas, over 100 school districts and BOCES 鈥� regional organizations that provide educational resources to districts 鈥� said they were out of alignment. Many also shared plans to improve instruction, including by reviewing curricula, revamping teacher training, and establishing literacy committees to inform programming.

Plattsburgh, Friendship, and Watkins Glen school districts all reported misalignment even though they submitted curricula that align with the science of reading. Superintendents at those school districts said they opted for candor, and that the survey revealed where instruction still needs improvement.

鈥淭here was a relatively large learning curve to get a full staff of teachers up to the expectation of Back to Basics,鈥� said聽Watkins Glen Superintendent Kai D鈥橝lleva.聽鈥淏ut there has been tremendous buy-in, and we鈥檙e excited to see the fruits of this labor develop over the next few years.鈥�

Overall, more than 130 of the state鈥檚 713 school districts submitted balanced literacy curricula, with the most popular being Fountas and Pinnell and Lucy Calkins鈥� Units of Study, two of the most controversial programs. Scores of districts also created their own curriculum or reported using other programs that have not been reviewed by EdReports, a nonprofit that states and districts use to review the quality of K-12 instructional materials.

Kat Fratticci, co-founder of the Long Island Literacy Coalition, a community-based advocacy group founded in 2024 to promote the science of reading, said some districts are hesitant to revamp reading instruction because they鈥檝e already invested heavily in their current curriculum, instructional materials, and teacher training.

At the same time, the state law does not have any clear enforcement mechanism built in to account for these variations. And the survey results don鈥檛 capture the full picture. Districts have to fill out the attestation survey annually, but they鈥檙e not required to submit proof that their curricula are aligned, and the state doesn鈥檛 provide guidance on what programs districts should steer clear of. Dozens of districts reported using balanced literacy programs despite confirming their alignment with all best practices.

The state shouldn鈥檛 tell school districts exactly what to purchase and teach, said聽Tarja Parssinen, founder of the Western NY Education Alliance,聽but 鈥渢here has to be some guidance, some support, and some recommendations about what to stay away from.鈥�

Balanced literacy curricula can mask dyslexia and other learning delays, research shows, because they often encourage students to guess words based on pictures or context clues rather than decode letters and sounds. In Schneider鈥檚 case, she said she thought her children were reading at the appropriate level because they would read aloud at home 鈥� until she noticed they were just reciting passages they had memorized in class.

Other Riverhead parents told New York Focus how their children who struggled to read were pushed along without proper intervention. One mother, who asked to remain anonymous due to potential litigation, said her son was reading at a kindergarten level in fourth grade before he started receiving one-on-one reading intervention.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a mantra in New York state: Just wait and see, wait and see if they grow out of it,鈥� said聽Yolanda Thompson, special education advocate and three-time Riverhead school board candidate. 鈥淭here needs to be a huge cultural mindset shift. We can鈥檛 fix something we don鈥檛 understand.鈥�

The students most harmed when districts don鈥檛 use best practices are often students of color, those from low-income families, and multilingual learners, said Fratticci. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 necessarily have that safety net of private tutoring or reading specialists outside of school, so when the classroom fails them, there鈥檚 no backup.鈥�

That鈥檚 true in Riverhead, said Thompson. A majority of students there are from low-income families and around聽40 percent are English language learners.

In the survey, Riverhead wrote that many of its teachers are new to the profession and work with high-needs students, and that financial constraints limit access to instructional resources. The district added that it hired three literacy coaches to lead professional development and support implementation of the science of reading, and is evaluating the need to purchase new instructional materials to teach phonics.

Education Department spokesperson Karen Male said in a statement that the agency plans to reach out to noncompliant districts to provide free instructional resources, explore professional development with colleges and universities, and work with districts to identify other needs. The agency did specify when districts must achieve full compliance.

Without holding districts accountable, Assemblymember Carroll said, New York will continue to lose the race to literacy.

In 2023, Carroll introduced a bill called the Right to Read Act, which would require all elementary school teachers to be trained in the science of reading, provide grants to districts to hire literacy coaches, and mandate school districts to choose from a list of approved, evidence-based curricula. The legislation is currently awaiting action in the education committee, but Carroll said he鈥檚 optimistic it will advance this year, citing recent conversations with colleagues and the governor about the need to improve New York schools to keep residents from leaving the state.

鈥淩ight now, in New York, you have to be lucky to learn how to read 鈥� and that is unjustified and unconscionable,鈥� Carroll said. 鈥淲e know how to fix this, and I know the governor wants to fix this. But we all need to work together because this is going to take the effort of the legislature and the governor working together to get this done.鈥�

Carroll鈥檚 bill has the support of EdTrust, which is also calling for school districts to submit literacy plans with evidence of implementation and notify parents if they are using non-evidence-based curricula. In addition, the organization wants to see the state invest聽$15 million so that districts can purchase science of reading curricula, and mandatory universal screening in grades K-3.

鈥淲e have to catch up with the rest of the nation,鈥� Smink said. 鈥淔or the amount of money we spend and for how important learning to read is, we deserve policies like every other state.鈥�

Dacia Toll, co-CEO of and co-founder of , joins Michael Horn and Diane Tavenner to share how Coursemojo is using artificial intelligence to support students and teachers in English Language Arts. The conversation dives into how Coursemojo functions in real classrooms and the very human process it took to build the product itself.

Toll explains how she and her team started with the core curriculum 鈥� high quality instructional materials that build knowledge and vocabulary over time 鈥� in schools, then focused on how to ask students the right questions to gauge their understanding, give them the right feedback and then ask the right next question. They then figured out how to surface those insights for teachers in actionable ways. 

Listen below to hear about the professional development Coursemojo offers teachers and how AI makes it much easier to rapidly incorporate feedback and update the product, but, of course, with limitations.

Listen to the episode below. A full transcript follows.

Diane Tavenner: Hey, Michael.

Michael Horn: Hey, Diane. Good to see you and continue to crank on, uh, these, uh, AI tools that are starting to change what learning looks like in schools with you today.

Diane Tavenner: Today is gonna be a really fun one. I鈥檓 very excited to dive in with our guests today, but before we do that, this is our second time making this ask of our listeners, a second time in like seven seasons. And we never really thought this was important or quite frankly even thought about it, but it turns out it would be super helpful if you all could rate or review Class Disrupted wherever you鈥檙e listening to the podcast. And of course, please subscribe to it, and, and we鈥檝e never asked you to do this because this is very much like a labor of love for us, but, but it turns out it kind of matters.

A little bit.

Michael Horn: Yeah, it鈥檚 absolutely true, Diane. And so a good way for other listeners to find out about it. And we of course get tons of private feedback from listeners, so we know you鈥檙e all out there. But, you know, if you can rate it, review it, subscribe it, you鈥檒l help other people figure out as well what鈥檚 going on here. And while, as you said, this is a passion project for us, we do want it to matter and change the broader dialogue so people are having these conversations. And it turns out those, 5 stars, subscribe, beep, whatever it is. Those are a big deal, right, Diane?

Diane Tavenner: Yeah, they are. And then the last thing we鈥檒l say about this is please keep telling us privately the things that we鈥檙e asking you to now say publicly, which is like what you like, who we should talk to, what鈥檚 working. We really do love the feedback and try to incorporate it every chance we get. And so please keep that, keep that coming.

Michael Horn: Keep it coming indeed. This is going to be a fun episode today though. It鈥檚 a friend of both of ours who, deep admiration for Dacia Toll, is our guest today. She鈥檚 a lifelong educator, school builder. She鈥檚 known for her work, obviously in 1999, founding principal of Amistad Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, dedicated to closing that achievement gap and then went on to found, of course, Achievement First. A network of many, I think 40-plus charter schools in the country, recognized nationwide as one of the highest performing school systems and so forth. And then in 2021, Dacia left Achievement First and soon after launched this company called Coursemojo, which we鈥檙e gonna get to talk about today. We鈥檙e gonna break it down.

It鈥檚 an AI-powered teaching assistant, but we鈥檙e gonna actually say what that in fact means, 鈥榗ause it has very, very cool specific use cases that I think people are gonna enjoy learning about. And Dacia, thank you so much for being here. We鈥檙e thrilled to have you.

Dacia Toll: Very happy to be here with both of you guys.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah, super happy. I will say that over the years I have learned so much from Dacia on so many fronts. And so I鈥檓 really grateful to be here with you.

Dacia Toll: Right back at you, Diane.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Horn: Well, I was gonna say, this is fun, right? We鈥檝e all known each other and Dacia, you and Diane, you have something in common, which is you founded a school, then a CMO, and left a few years back and now both of you running edtech companies. We may come back to that. I should say you both raised venture funding. Like, there鈥檚 a lot of interesting things here. Listeners, of course, have a sense for why Diane made her job move, in my parlance. But why, why did you make yours? Like, what鈥檚 the founding story behind Coursemojo and the problem you were trying to solve by founding it?

Teaching, Outcomes, and Challenges

Dacia Toll: Yeah, so as you pointed out, I鈥檝e been at this for a while now. I鈥檝e spent a lot of time in my happy place, which is classrooms. Trying to figure out how to create the student experiences and the student outcomes, short-term, long-term, that we all want. And I do think we had a fair amount of, our students had a lot of success by at least the traditional measures. And then importantly, we always anchored in college graduation and launched into a career as part of what we were very focused on. But, it was hard. Like everything, you know, to really get a great teacher in every classroom with high-quality instructional materials and a strong classroom culture and relationships amongst kids and teachers and family and community connections. And then, I got inspired by Diane and tried to pull off project-based learning and expeditions and personal goals.

And sort of double down on, I don鈥檛 know, I don鈥檛 like calling them soft skills, but like the whole package, both as a parent, I now have teenage boys and as an educator.

Michael Horn: I always remember seeing your kid in the school, whereas you were making that transformation. It was so much fun to watch.

Dacia Toll: Yeah. Yeah. So yes, my own kids went to Achievement First schools. And so it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 all very personal and I, I both believe as much as I did in the, in the possibility of success, but if we鈥檙e honest about it, it took so many things to line up to be successful. And I just, especially when AI emerged on the scene, I thought, wow, this, I鈥檝e been frankly for most of that time an edtech skeptic. I think there have been lots of promises and it鈥檚 sort of overpromise, underdelivering is I think the pattern if you鈥檙e honest about most edtech. And AI felt different. Like we refer to it internally, I know others do as well as an electricity.

And you still have to build the light bulb or the power screwdriver or, you know, the tools that will leverage that electricity, but you are fundamentally working with something different now. And I found that inspiring. And so how, the problem we are focused on, it does feel like it鈥檚 been a lifelong effort, is, uh, reading achievement. Like, as you guys know, the NAEP scores in 8th grade are at the lowest level in 30 years. It does really feel like too many kids are falling off a cliff when it comes to basics of reading and writing. We could debate whether we think that鈥檚 still gonna matter in an AI-powered future. I do. And so it, and it feels really urgent.

And so we are, we have two big north star goals. We are trying to improve reading achievement. Specifically, we focus at the middle school level, although we鈥檙e now expanding to grades 3 through 10 next year. And then second, on teacher efficacy leading to teacher retention. Like we want more great people to stay in this profession. I think a lot of AI tools are trying to save teachers鈥� time. We certainly do that too, but we think we are in this profession because we wanna serve kids well, and that what will motivate you is if you feel like I鈥檓 doing a really good job at this thing that I care a lot about.

Michael Horn: So let鈥檚 dig in then, and just Coursemojo, obviously that tool, as you were saying, that you built using the electricity of AI to help solve that reading problem and boost teacher effectiveness. How do you describe what it does today in middle schools? What is Coursemojo?

Dacia Toll: So, there鈥檚 a student-facing side and a teacher-facing side. On the st鈥� well, let me just say, take one quick step back before I dive in. You guys have been having so many fascinating conversations. Thank you for that. and people should like and subscribe and rate.

Michael Horn: Thank you.

Dacia Toll: Favorably, but what I, you know, I think it鈥檚 Bob Hughes and others who鈥檝e talked about like multiple levels of AI in schools or models or paradigms. There, there is the one that I think is happening the most, which is finding efficiencies in small ways for teachers, whether that鈥檚 grading or on the operational side. And I鈥檓, again, that鈥檚 great, but it鈥檚 sort of at the margins. And supplemental or not actually touching students at all. Then there鈥檚 this second model, which is more transformational when it comes to the teaching and learning experience. I think that鈥檚 at the moment where Coursemojo sits. And then there鈥檚 the third model, which is the AI-native schools. And I did listen to your episode with John Danner, and that I think is so.

AI鈥檚 Impact on Future Schools

Dacia Toll: And my personal belief as somebody who spent a lot of time in schools is that some people will want to and be able to make a leap to an AI-native school that鈥檚 an entirely different design, including in the, the goals that it鈥檚 trying to achieve with young people. But I think a lot of folks are gonna, hopefully make this transition into the model 2, work where it is meaningfully, it鈥檚 transformative in terms of what the experience is like, but it鈥檚 not a different universe. It鈥檚 like you鈥檙e still in schools, you鈥檙e still trying to do the core jobs, many of which I think are still important, although we could have that conversation if you wanted. So we鈥檙e going into the ELA classroom as it current 鈥� mostly as it currently exists, where you, especially in middle school, generally have content expert teachers who are trying to help kids improve their critical thinking about text and their writing skills, discourse, collaboration among students. And we start with the high-quality instructional materials. As you all know, it鈥檚 been one of the, I think, most positive steps forward to really have a quality curriculum that鈥檚 anchored in building knowledge, vocabulary, and reading skill over time. But that鈥檚 another one of those things that we all believe in, but is hard to execute effectively. And as a result, we have not universally seen the gains that we all believe we could. So we start there.

The first thing our team does is identify the hardest thinking part of every lesson. Which we know from the national research on these core curricula is often the part that gets a little watered down or skipped. Teachers run out of time, or frankly, they鈥檙e worried about the diversity of learners that exist. I think there鈥檚 on average a 5-grade-level span in a typical middle school classroom right now, so you can understand why teachers are anxious about giving the rigor of the text and task. So we identify the hardest thinking part of the lesson. Then for that part, not the entire thing, but for that 25-minute chunk. That鈥檚 where, for the kids, as a student said to me, it鈥檚 like the handout is talking to me. So it鈥檚 the same rich, wonderful text we鈥檙e already trying to read.

Adaptive Learning for Collaboration

Dacia Toll: It鈥檚 the same analysis questions we鈥檙e already supposed to be grappling with, but now kids are in partners or small groups, and we can come back to why that鈥檚 important to us, but they鈥檙e talking and then typing, and Mojo is like a learning buddy in that context. And what happens is Mojo figures out what the kid knows or doesn鈥檛 know about in response to that question, and then affirms, gives a little moment of metacognition if they need it, if they鈥檙e, if they鈥檙e struggling at like an insight, and then gives them the next just right question. And we could get back to why all three of those steps I think are important, but that鈥檚 something we worked on over time to make sure, we鈥檙e not trying to replace the teacher, but we鈥檙e trying to, as our great teachers have said, I can鈥檛 be in 27 places at once. So how can we get as close as possible in what a good teacher would do when a kid鈥檚 struggling, with a rich, meaningful question. So the kids are working. Meanwhile, the teacher has a live dashboard that shows every student鈥檚 level of understanding for every question. And so every class is wonderfully different, but In general, 85% of kids are humming with their partner and with Mojo, but the teacher knows right away the 15% of kids who are struggling for whatever reason, could be motivational, could be comprehension, and directs their effort and then sort of tees up for them what鈥檚 the gap between what the student鈥檚 current response and the criteria for success for that question. And so the teacher can, does, go around the room, conference one-on-one or with the entire small group, and push them forward as well. So we don鈥檛 think the AI鈥檚 gonna get every kid exactly where they need to be for deep understanding.

And in fact, we very meaningfully want the teacher to be focused strategically on what they can uniquely do well. So that happens for about 12 to 15 minutes that the kids are working on these close, generally close read questions, could be writing, and then the teacher goes over to, pushes a button and Mojo tees up the two biggest misconceptions in the class right now, and a suggested discussion question. So the teacher reviews them. We always want the teacher to make the choice about what鈥檚 the best use of time. Then the teacher pauses the class and facilitates a class discussion, not about every single question, but about the thing that is most holding kids back, often cuts across questions. And what we found is, I think it鈥檚 85% of kids say they鈥檙e more likely to participate in class after having worked with Mojo. So on both the student side, they鈥檙e encouraged to participate. And then on the teacher鈥檚 side, they鈥檙e more confident because they kind of know what to go after.

And I think this just hits on another point. There are AI-powered learning experiences that are silent solo.

Diane Tavenner: Tons of them.

Dacia Toll: We, for a whole bunch of reasons, we鈥檙e talking about core Tier 1 instruction. We want it to be as beautiful as what these curriculum materials and teacher vision calls for, with more discourse, not less. And then again, there鈥檚 a lot we don鈥檛 know about the future for these young people, but we know we鈥檙e going to need our human skills more than ever. So that ability to work together, both in a full group setting and a partner setting, is really important. Anyway, and then finally it does end with an exit ticket, which is kids do independently, often writing. What鈥檚 different now is kids get, in every phase of this, kids get multiple rounds of feedback and then they revise their thinking and they revise their writing to make it better. And we know that also, like, if you don鈥檛, I think about all the grading I did over the years and like, you just grade and the kids don鈥檛.

You have to revise.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah.

Dacia Toll: So that鈥檚 inherent. And then there鈥檚 celebrations throughout. And Mojo also can make, it pulls exemplary student work, highlights kids who should be shouted out. So that鈥檚 the long whirlwind tour as to what it looks like.

Diane Tavenner: It鈥檚 awesome. Thank you for making it so concrete.

Michael Horn: Yes.

Reimagining Teaching with AI

Diane Tavenner: Literally taking us into a classroom about, and you know, anyone who鈥檚 been in a classroom, an English language arts classroom, what I taught certainly, like what you鈥檙e describing is what I aspired to do as a teacher, right? But I had to use my whiteboard or in the old days, my chalkboard. And I would, what I would call bumblebee around the classroom. Like you鈥檙e just trying to like bumblebee around so the kids are supposedly doing what they鈥檙e doing, but you鈥檙e not giving any feedback. You don鈥檛 actually know if they鈥檙e getting it or not, you know, like and so, it is making, well, in my words, it鈥檚 making the mere mortal be able to be the sort of superhuman teacher that we all want and imagine. And it鈥檚 just like my partner in doing that, right? I can be everywhere all at once and, and I, you know, have this brain working next to me and whatnot. What I know is that well, What I know from you in our previous conversations, and this is where I鈥檇 love to dig in and get a little bit nerdy right now, is I don鈥檛鈥� Michael and I keep pressing people to say like, what do you mean when you say by AI? You know, AI, because I think most people think that鈥檚 like, you know, logging into ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini and just asking a question. And you have gone through an extraordinary amount of work with AI to enable everything you just described. So will you take us sort of under the hood a little bit?

Talk about the type of work your team had to do to train the AI and get it to do the things you鈥檙e talking about and for you to feel good about it.

Dacia Toll: Yeah. This is something I both think AI is a game-changing electricity and I鈥檓 sort of frequently disappointed from a pedagogical perspective, even with the general large language models in terms of how well they evaluate student responses and how poorly generally they do at coming up with the next just right question. They鈥檙e so wired to give away the answer that it really is not the best pedagogical experience at this point. But what we do is, so first we start with the text and the questions, but then that鈥檚 nowhere near enough. It鈥檚 about how the AI, what the AI uses to evaluate the student response. And what they鈥檙e using is not just the knowledge of the unit and the unique text complexity and the lesson objectives for the day, but rather we have programmed in question-specific criteria. So they know if you鈥檙e analyzing this beautiful Langston Hughes poem and you鈥檙e answering this question that you need to鈥� it鈥檚 maybe a vocabulary and context question鈥� you need to know both what the word means and you need to know what it means in the context of this beautiful extended metaphor. and there鈥檚 not one right answer.

This is what鈥檚 complicated about the criteria of success, but there is a universe of good answers. There is a universe of typical kid confused answers, and that can be constantly refined. Like as kids teach us new insights into, you know, something like poetry, we can upgrade and do in real time. But so they鈥檙e criteria-specific questions, criteria, I鈥檓 sorry, question-specific criteria for success, which to my knowledge, I don鈥檛 know that anybody else is doing. Because it takes a lot of work on the front end.

Michael Horn: Now, I was gonna say, like, you have to go deep into these texts, right? I mean, just describe a little bit of that creation process also.

Dacia Toll: Yeah. And then there鈥檚 a whole other reading framework, but we can get to that. So yes, initially it required some of the best teachers we know on staff to do that kind of level of intellectual prep that you would do. Basically, what constitutes an exemplary answer? What are the transferable criteria of that great answer? So originally we human-powered it. Now we have so many examples of excellent human-powered criteria and have trained an AI authoring platform, which is internal-facing only, to give us a good rough draft. But we are still having humans do a gut check basically on, on鈥� we could talk about what that looks like, but there are multiple steps. It鈥檚 like dominoes that the AI agent will tee up different things, and we still want those excellent teachers to go through and check.

Complexity of Reading Challenges

Dacia Toll: But so that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening on the question-specific criteria. The other thing that we found is essential, which is why I really do believe for at least a long time, the specialized products are gonna outperform the general, like thin-layer products. And so we are very clearly geeking out on reading. It鈥檚, as we know, reading is not math, and it鈥檚 not as simple. Like when a kid is struggling to understand a poem and to identify the central idea, it鈥檚 rarely that the problem is the skill of identifying the central idea. It鈥檚 almost always that there鈥檚 something else about the way that text complexity that is getting in the way, or it could be a fluency issue or background knowledge or a vocabulary issue, and we sometimes wanna say, oh, it鈥檚 a main idea problem, which then leads people to go outside the curriculum and do a bunch of main idea practice, which we know does not work. So like there are a set of ways in which we now have a whole reading framework that we鈥檝e developed with, the good folks from Anet, Whitney Weldon, a whole bunch of reading experts, and it sort of honors the complexity of reading.

So Mojo鈥檚 looking at the criteria-specific success, it鈥檚 looking at the reading framework, and it鈥檚 trying to figure out what does this kid likely not understand about this? And that鈥檚 where there鈥檚 now this light bulb step that gives them like a little hint, and then it asks them the next just right question. And that is actually pulled from a bank of suggestions that is also, was initially human-authored, is now AI-authored specific to that question. So that鈥檚 not even tuning or training. It鈥檚 that the AI in real time is consulting with a set of resources and trying to pull the exact right instructional move for that kid. Would it be helpful to give an example or

Diane Tavenner: Yeah, well, because these have been created by expert teachers, vetted by expert teachers.And so like, I think the thing I want to, and Michael helped me here with the language, but like, there鈥檚 a lot of people, I would say the majority of people who are doing AI products are literally just putting like a wrapper around the language model right.

Michael Horn: With a bunch of instructions of guardrails around the context window.

Dacia Toll: It鈥檚 like prompt engineering, maybe.

Michael Horn: Yeah, not the training you just described.

Diane Tavenner: No, they haven鈥檛 literally taken expert professionals to work hand in hand with the AI to then produce this new experience, if you will, that brings the best of both of those. And so please do give us an example. I think it鈥檚 super helpful.

Dacia Toll: Well, I was in a classroom last week in Colorado, and the kids were analyzing a poem, and the question from the curriculum was, what role do lines 6 and 7 play in this poem? And these 7th graders were like, I really have almost no idea. So to the best of their ability, They are, they sort of, most of them tried to say what was going on in lines 6 and 7. And so what Mojo does is like, OK, affirm, first of all, good job, you know, in your own words explaining what鈥檚 happening in lines 6 and 7. But then the light bulb step comes. This question is actually asking you about the author鈥檚 craft and an intentional choice the author made to include these lines. Follow-up question: how would this poem be different without lines 6 and 7? That is like a 鈥� both the kid is like, oh, I didn鈥檛 even understand that this was about a choice the author was making, like author鈥檚 craft, and then I did 鈥� now I鈥檓 like guided into a process of actually trying to figure this out. And then if they struggle with that, Moja will say, well, what happens before and what happens after, you know, there鈥檚 like a set of additional questions that come out that what new teachers have told us, it鈥檚 one of the greatest compliments, is they do the Mojo activity before the kids so that they understand how to ask a scaffolded question without totally draining the rigor out of the thinking work that鈥檚 required, or how to give bite-sized feedback.

So that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to do.

Diane Tavenner: Dacia, let鈥檚 stay here for a minute, as like a lifelong English language arts teacher. I wonder if I know some people will hear this and be like, who the heck cares if that author, like what their purpose was in those two lines? Like why, why are kids even learning this? Can鈥檛 we just teach them to read? So let鈥檚 spend a minute on how that transfers into the world and why that is so important and how, yeah, let鈥檚 start there. And then yeah.

Dacia Toll: Well, there鈥檚 so many layers to your question. And I鈥檇 love for you as a lifelong ELA teacher to offer your own point of view as well. But I think first we have the question, do kids in this new future still need to learn to read and write? And my, my strong conviction is yes, they do. Like, we鈥檙e going to be processing lots of information, but as we all know, there鈥檚 no firm line between listening, reading, and writing. It鈥檚 all the same cognitive process with each of them reinforcing the other. So learning to read is also a way in which, even if we believe AI is going to talk to us in the future, I think there鈥檚 still like the vocabulary and the, and the sort of way sentences get put together to effectively or ineffectively convey meaning. So that鈥檚 one. It鈥檚 like we could talk more about that. But I also think, I actually do believe we should be letting kids write more advanced pieces using AI.

That鈥檚 a whole separate other question. But if they haven鈥檛 learned to write themselves, I think that is a very dangerous place to start.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah.

Dacia Tol: So, that鈥檚 one. Second, it鈥檚 really just critical thinking.

Diane Tavenner: Well, that鈥檚 where I鈥檓 going. Like everyone鈥檚 talking about cognitive offloading and the lack of critical thinking and what you just literally put your finger on that activity is, oh. I can question or get curious about what an author鈥檚 intention was and why they did something. And that applies to every article. It applies to the 鈥�

Michael Horn: Well, it applies to the AI reading output you鈥檙e getting, right?

Diane Tavenner: Literally. Like, that is 鈥�

Dacia Toll: It applies to art. I mean, it applies to human interactions. Like, why is this person doing or saying what they鈥檙e doing in the way they are doing or saying it? And what does that reveal about them, their purpose? The message they鈥檙e trying to convey. Yeah, I think, I mean, just to, in defense of productive struggle, the brain, that鈥檚 the way we learn. Like if we don鈥檛 attend and focus and think and productively struggle, now there鈥檚 a zone in which that鈥檚 productive versus unproductive. But, and that鈥檚 part of what I think AI can help us get more kids like in their zone. But you have to, you have to remember. And forget and recall.

And these are the ways that the neural pathways get formed in our brain.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah. And I think your ability to like bring this into the classroom every day where it鈥檚 like, let鈥檚 just imagine now these young people every day in their class, they鈥檙e just doing this type of work over and over and over and over again. It is a muscle. You have to work it out. You have to build it. You have to practice it. You know, it will go away if you don鈥檛 use it. And as much as we鈥檝e aspired for classrooms to look like this all day, every day, they, they for the most part don鈥檛 and haven鈥檛.

And I鈥檓 not putting blame on anyone because it鈥檚 just so hard to do. And I think that鈥檚 why you call AI electricity, because it actually enables that, right?

Balancing Curriculum and Students

Dacia Toll: Well, I think so. Again, part of what we鈥檙e doing is going into the. Part of what you asked again, what set me on the journey, one teacher said to me, she said, am I supposed to teach the rigor of the curriculum or the kids in front of me? And the answer is both, but back to the whole thing being a little hard. Yeah. Like, she鈥檚 not wrong that bridging that, much less bridging that for 26 wonderfully unique individuals is very hard. And I think what too often we see happening in classrooms is the teacher, one of two things happens. Either they are so worried about kids struggling, and they鈥檙e not wrong, left to their own devices with that question, I watched it. A lot of kids out of the gate didn鈥檛 know what to do with that question. And so, the teacher holds it for the whole class and they ask the question and maybe, maybe 3 kids answer and then they move on.

And then the next question, same thing. And frankly, intellectual engagement is optional. For the other 24 kids in the room. And some of them are probably paying attention. Some of them, this is middle school, may not be or they鈥檙e going in and out of attention. The other option is I give it to them on a handout and kids are set to struggle and they put down the best answer they can. They put down the literal comprehension of those lines of poetry and then they move on.

Diane Tavenner: Yep.

Dacia Toll: The difference now is every kid is answering every single question. And intellectually grappling with it, and they鈥檙e getting real-time feedback that allows them to revise their thinking and their writing, and they get closer to encoding success before they move on. Cognitively, that鈥檚 a very different experience. Yeah.

Michael Horn: Yeah. I was gonna say the headline I鈥檓 taking away from this, right, is everyone鈥檚 worried right now about AI and cognitive offloading. You actually have used it to do the exact opposite, which is to make sure no one escapes this cognitive work and struggle, which is a significantly different use of use case of AI, but it鈥檚 significantly different use case of the classroom in a lot of average schools across the country right now. It leads into the question I have, which I鈥檓 just curious, like, is it hard for schools to figure out how to use Coursemojo? What does that on-ramp look like? Do they think of it as AI? Do they think of it as like an engaging digital learning activity? Are you, are you getting caught up in the backlash against edtech and the overpromising and underdelivering? Like, how is that all playing out?

Dacia Toll: Yeah. I personally lead a lot of teacher PD. I just love doing it and I learn a lot from it and it鈥檚 kind of fun to show up and we have a phenomenal partnership with Jackson, Mississippi and I was their leading teacher PD and they鈥檙e so nice. Like teachers are so nice. They come in, they, but the truth is they鈥檙e looking at me like, who is this lady? And it didn鈥檛 help that all they were told is like, come and learn about a new AI tool aligned to the curriculum. Like, That does not inspire confidence in the vast majority of teachers. And one of the things that鈥檚 wonderful is they actually have a significant number of experienced teachers. So it was actually teachers who had been teaching for a while and they start out a little side-eyed, like they鈥檙e nice, but they鈥檙e like, eh, skeptical.

And the first thing we do, like within the first 15 minutes of the PD, is they become students in a Mojo-powered classroom. And it鈥檚 often a text because it鈥檚 a curriculum that they鈥檝e taught. And we start normally with, you know, we give, serve up a very challenging one. I remember in this case it was historical fiction about westward expansion, and they were like, 鈥淥oh, the kids really struggled with this one.鈥� And 5th grade. And then the teachers get into it and they realize how delightful it is. I mean, one thing I do really want to emphasize is we care a lot about joy and you should love reading. This should not be, yes, it鈥檚 cognitive and you have to productively struggle. But we are often like Mojo and the, and the way it鈥檚 organized, we鈥檙e taking delight in the text and the insights and the combination of affirmation.

And then when you get a partially correct or fully correct answer, Mojo has like just little emojis, like hundreds of them that sort of like your message the same way it would on social media or texting. And the kids love that. Like, oh, I got the little man on the surfboard or the muscle. And, and then if you get a 3 out of 3 on your writing after multiple rounds of revision, you get different gifts. And I saw a llama on a surfboard yesterday. And like, it鈥檚 the digital sticker. Like, we don鈥檛 overly gamify. They鈥檒l never be playing Asteroid Blasters or whatever in reading class, but We believe in recognizing quality thinking and quality work, you know, the same way a great teacher does that praise.

And we make it easy for teachers to celebrate kids too. That鈥檚 even more meaningful. But the point is the teachers start out in this skeptical place and then they experience it and they experience the delight of my ability to identify who needs help and make my way over to them or facilitate the class discussion. And the other thing I would say is because they have this live dashboard teachers have told us they鈥檙e more comfortable letting kids work together in partners in small groups. Which I also think is something that I鈥檓 anxious about is there鈥檚 not enough of in classes in this, especially in this AI future. And because now they have, as a teacher said to me, eyes everywhere. They know immediately if that group in the back that鈥檚 gotten good at looking like they鈥檙e working is not actually working. So that鈥檚 important.

Improving Instructional Effectiveness

Dacia Toll: I think in terms of what鈥檚 hard, we also have the pleasure of working in New York City, and I was walking classrooms there with some coaches, and we were identifying that some of the small group work could be more effective. They were just happy it was happening, but they want鈥� with it, it could be more effective, and that the full class discussion could also be more effective. Those are things they said their work鈥� I mean, New York City has seen great gains with New York City Reads. But that鈥檚 the thing, that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e working on already. Like that鈥檚 the same way we鈥檙e all trying to improve effective instruction. Yeah. And I think the feeling was in the moment Mojo is nudging those behaviors to be enabling and nudging, but that there still is a level of teacher training and expertise that has to run alongside. So we鈥檙e asking ourselves, how could we support that even more in the context of the product with suggestions and sort of additional insight in real time.

But that鈥檚 really the hard part. I would say logging in is smooth and easy because of all single sign-ins. The dashboard is clear and intuitive. It鈥檚 colors that direct you where you need to go. So that鈥檚 not the hard part. It鈥檚 teaching and helping. We鈥檙e giving an alley-oop, but the teacher still has to execute some of those, those effectiveness moves.

Diane Tavenner: Dacia, along those lines, I think about this often, and I don鈥檛 want to give you heart palpitations because it gives me heart palpitations, but if you were back leading a network of schools again, like we, we used to, and I know neither of us, that鈥檚 not our chapter of life right now, but if you were there at this moment, what other opportunities besides this one, because clearly this is a need and you鈥檙e passionate about, like what else are you seeing in the world that you would be hopping on and wanting to bring into your schools and your network? What鈥檚 the sort of low-hanging fruit that you鈥檇 be going after?

Dacia Toll: Yeah, well, I think those are two different questions. Low-hanging fruit versus, I mean, what you inspired me to do, Diane, oh my gosh, more than a decade ago, was to create a whole new school model. And I do think back to this model 1, model 2, model 3. I mean, we鈥檙e all finding incredible efficiencies just by using AI and finance, the operations that there鈥檚 so many ways in which we should be doing that. And I am for saving teachers鈥� time. I鈥檓 most interested in the space I鈥檓 in, which is like, how do we improve the core teaching and learning? And I think those have to be in some level student-facing because, yeah. And I know there鈥檚 been some resistance to that and it has to be safe and, and pedagogically strong, but I would be trying to create a new model as well.

AI-Powered Learning Transformation

Dacia Toll: And I think that I don鈥檛 think it, you take it, you know, what we did inspired by you was first one school and then three schools. But I have the pleasure of being a part of a CIPRI fellowship, and they asked us to redesign, you know, to design a school, if we could, or a school model based on what we know now. And I do think the emphasis鈥� I still believe knowledge matters. I still believe core skills matter. And the emphasis has shifted for me, like entrepreneurship, creativity, the human connection skills, leadership, judgment, ethics. And I think because we can potentially have the AI-powered learning experiences be so much more effective, I think that opens up more time for, I know a personal favorite of yours, project-based learning. I think there鈥檚 a way for AI to be embedded coaches in projects so that we, they were always so darn hard to pull off. But I think what鈥檚 exciting to me about this chapter, and the first thing we鈥檙e always talking to district leaders about and they鈥檙e talking to each other about is, Start with what鈥檚 your vision? What are your goals? What鈥檚 your vision? What are your values? And now increasingly AI can power a lot of that.

Now it takes this kind of specific design the way we鈥檝e done it. I don鈥檛 mean to imply like you can go to ChatGPT and it will run your school for you. Like that is not how it鈥檚 gonna work. But if you decide we鈥檙e committed to project-based learning based on a knowledge graph, that can be powered now. And I鈥檓 hopeful that there鈥檒l be more and more products that are trying to bring more and more of these experiences to life.

Michael Horn: Let me ask one last question. And Diane, I want you to answer this as well. So it鈥檚 a question for both of you. You didn鈥檛 wanna give yourself PTSD on running a network again. But, but, you know, we鈥檝e talked about it, like you both founded schools, you both founded charter networks, you both had distinctive philosophies, enjoyed success. You both left, founded edtech companies. I鈥檓 just, I鈥檇 love to hear one reflection that you both have from being on the other side, if you will, on the edtech company side, or a company that provides to schools. You can view it either way.

One reflection that your school network founder self would have been surprised by at the time. Both of you, I鈥檇 love to hear your reflections.

Dacia Toll: Do you want to go first, Diane?

Diane Tavenner: I鈥檓 thinking, I鈥檓 thinking.

Dacia Toll: I will just say. There鈥檚 so many things, but what I was, it took a while for me to build new muscles, frankly, because initially what, what, particularly when you were running a system that got into a certain size, like as you said, we were 41 schools when I left, you had to set these big multi-year priorities and goals and you had to go after them in a sustained focus kind of way. And it was a lot about. Keeping this large organization aligned around the pursuit of those goals and cascading communication and systems to support this. And this is fast and iterative and responsive. And if we had tried to write a 2-year product roadmap, it would鈥檝e been so painfully wrong. And so we start with vision and values. I鈥檓 not saying you don鈥檛 start with vision and values.

But then part of why I鈥檓 spending so much time in schools right now is watching and listening to kids and teachers and both what鈥檚 causing them friction in the moment and what their aspirations are. Like, what are they trying to get done they can鈥檛 get done? And then that literally dictates our product roadmap in the most wonderful way. And it鈥檚 really a code鈥� we consider our school partners co-designers with us. Like it is that we鈥檙e running design input sessions with them about next future-facing things. Like it is fun and then the tech is just moving so fast.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah.

Dacia Toll: So like our ability to now have an agent that takes the do, all the work from today and creates your do now for you the next day in all of these things, like this is now that鈥檚 so different than it was 4 months ago.

Michael Horn: Wow.

Diane Tavenner: Wow. Yeah. That, that totally resonates with me, sort of the misalignment between how quickly well-run schools and systems can run and how fast you know, actually I should say how slowly that moves, even though you think it鈥檚 moving so fast as a school or network leader. And then this outside world is just going at a different rate and pace. And the co-building obviously resonates. I think what I think we鈥檙e in this moment in time right now where it鈥檚 really, I appreciate school and network leaders who are trying to think about streamlining and focusing and only partnering with so many people and not having a million platforms and how does it all integrate and whatnot. And I think the truth is that鈥檚 just not the reality yet. I think we should be striving to get there, but if we don鈥檛 kind of open ourselves up to what Dacia鈥檚 doing in this one little space and what other people鈥� how do we actually ever pull together a model that has the best in class of everything versus just sort of this one generic, not good at anything approach? And so there鈥檚 a real tension there I鈥檓 feeling.

And on the tech founder side now, I鈥檓 like, how do I collaborate with, how do I build a community on our side that makes it more thoughtful and doable for the schools? And then on the school side, I would invite them to think about how do we, you know, sort of work more expansively right now while we collectively, you know, bring into the, our space all the possibility and then move to, I think, more coherent and elegant models over time. I鈥檓 not sure that was a-

Michael Horn: No it鈥檚 one of the hypotheses when we started Entangled Ventures back in 2015 or whatever it was, that and this was higher ed, but it was similar, which is like, you know, Arizona State University is getting pitches from like how many hundreds of companies every single day. They throw up their hands and they鈥檙e like, I won鈥檛 say the name of a textbook publisher, but we鈥檒l go with them. We know every product is sort of mediocre, but like they鈥檝e got everything. It鈥檚 just simpler. Right. And how do you bring forth a portfolio of, of best in class to an organization to simplify procurement and all that messiness?

Diane Tavenner: Yeah.

Michael Horn: But also give them confidence that they鈥檙e getting the best.

Dacia Toll: Well, I would say two things on that front. I don鈥檛 envy the tsunami of pitches that land in, I mean, I, it鈥檚 bad for me that the amount of AI-powered marketing now that lands in my inbox. And so this is, I think, a huge issue. And the more that others can step in and help school leaders make sense of all the different use cases, and again, what鈥檚 aligned to their vision and values. And then we haven鈥檛 talked yet about outcomes, but the North Star for us, as somebody who鈥檚 focused on ELA achievement, is, is ELA achievement improving? And we have actually a number of outcomes-based contracts aligned to that, which I know can be scary.

Michael Horn: So you鈥檝e put your money, but you鈥檝e put your money where your mouth is.

Dacia Toll: Yes.

Michael Horn: Yeah.

ELA Improvement with Mojo

Dacia Toll: And, and it鈥檚, and we have seen, thankfully, huge improvements. I mean, as somebody who spent my entire life trying to improve ELA achievement and, and actually somewhat and successfully improving, it was always like 3 percentage points a year as reflected on the imperfect but consequential state tests. And we鈥檝e seen across multiple partners, 6, 8, 10 percentage points on state tests in a single year. And, that鈥檚 not normal when it comes to鈥� and, I think on some level, maybe it鈥檚 not surprising because we鈥檙e getting every kid to do the cognitive thinking. Those results are based on using Mojo 2 to 3 times per week. And, in general, we have much higher uptake and usage because it鈥檚 a core tier 1 because it鈥檚 everything else. But, I think it鈥檚 only Amira and Coursemojo on the reading side that have multiple independent efficacy studies. So, that鈥檚 not even just us, that鈥檚 ESSA Tier 2 research studies now that show that.

And I think people say, maybe this is why Diane and I, coming from the seats we were in, they said sometimes ed tech folks like, it鈥檚 too soon to evaluate impact. And I鈥檓 like, I just鈥� kids are spending an entire year of their life in one of the most consequential classes of ELA, and we鈥檙e saying we can鈥檛 evaluate impact? Like, yes, the product is very different at the end of the year, thanks to all the feedback we鈥檝e gotten along the way, but we still had this precious time with kids. Did it or did it not improve the core thing we鈥檙e trying to go after together? So, yeah.

Michael Horn: No, I think that鈥檚 very well said. All right.

Diane Tavenner: Yeah.

Michael Horn: Let鈥檚 wrap the conversation. We could clearly talk to you for a long time, but we鈥檝e got one more segment before we do that.

Michael Horn: And before we let you go, Dacia, the fun segment we always have is something we鈥檝e been reading, watching, listening to.

We try to get outside of education, but as Diane and I often note, we fail probably about half the time. So we鈥檒l let you go wherever, wherever you go on this.

Dacia Toll: I am reading and thinking and listening to a lot of education-focused stuff. I would say one quick on the work thing, Lenny鈥檚 podcast has taught a tremendous amount about鈥� I, as somebody who was making a transition into product and tech, I feel like it鈥檚 my weekly tutorial. But I also, we mentioned my teenage boys, so I try to spend some of that time with them and they鈥檙e getting me into anime. And so I just finished Death Note.

Michael Horn: That I didn鈥檛 have that on my checklist for you. OK.

Dacia Toll: No. Well, I, I have never watched anime before, but if it鈥檚 an opportunity for me to hang out with teenagers and then and you know, they鈥檙e pretty great stories of like heroes and even more, they鈥檙e kind of into the anti-hero, which then leads to a whole bunch of good conversations.

Diane Tavenner: That鈥檚 awesome. I love that. Anything that I can connect with my kiddos on is definitely something I will do. In this particular case today, I鈥檓 going to recommend a documentary film which is nominated for an Oscar, and this was my husband鈥檚 pitch to me, which was, I will say, not very compelling, which is there鈥檚 this new film out and it鈥檚 about death, and I really want to watch it. And then I think you鈥檒l like it because apparently you also laugh at it. And I was like, wow, that鈥檚 not compelling at all. But it turns out that Come See Me in the Good Light is actually an extraordinary film.

Diane Tavenner: And it is the relationship of two poets who have these really interesting backstories and, and one of them is diagnosed with cancer. And I think he was wrong. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 about death. I think it鈥檚 about living and it鈥檚 a really beautiful film for this moment in time. So I recommend it.

Michael Horn: I was gonna say it sounded like a Shelly Kagan Yale, sort of course, the way you started to pitch it and then you changed that up on us. But I鈥檓 going to go a totally different direction because you鈥檙e outpacing me at the moment, Diane. But as I said in our last episode, it鈥檚 America鈥檚 250th. And I鈥檓 going to give my brother a shameless plug on this one. I know we both read a lot on, you know, outside of our day jobs, but this one鈥檚 a little bit more personal because it鈥檚 my brother, Jonathan Horn. He鈥檚 been writing This Week in American History for the Free Press. It鈥檚 a weekly column, comes out on Wednesdays. It鈥檚 a fresh look at history that 

I鈥檝e really enjoyed.

He names events happening around the country to commemorate, celebrate the 250th, including an event in Dorchester near me, which has helped us plan some outings with my kids, which has been super fun. But it was actually his piece on Thomas Jefferson a few weeks back that I highly recommend to all of our friends for its bigger messages and perspectives on the state of our union then, but also the state of our union now. And so highly recommend.

And I鈥檒l just say, Dacia, huge thank you again. This was a fantastic conversation. We鈥檙e lucky you鈥檙e working on this. And for all of you, our listeners, keep the feedback coming both publicly and privately, and we鈥檒l see you next time on Class Disrupted.

This episode is sponsored by LearnerStudio.