Regents briefed on work to improve reading instruction

On Board Online • July 1, 2024

By Sara Foss
Special Correspondent

The State Education Department (SED) is developing a plan to improve literacy instruction in public schools by infusing curriculum, educator preparation programs and certification requirements with evidence-based teaching practices collectively referred to as "the science of reading."

A steering committee spearheading this effort detailed their progress and outlined potential action areas at the June meeting of the Board of Regents meeting. An action plan will be developed over the summer.

The state budget approved by New York lawmakers this spring directs SED to provide school districts with instructional best practices for the teaching of reading in grades pre-K-3 by Jan. 1, 2025. The legislation specifies that the methods must be based on the science of reading.

Efforts to fulfill that requirement are underway. In the fall, the agency announced that it is developing a literacy initiative for grades pre-K through college that draws upon the science of reading. Officials noted that many New York students are not proficient readers. And in 2023, SED announced that it was one of six states selected to participate in the Duke University-affiliated Hunt Institute's Path Forward initiative, which aims to integrate science of reading principles, such as rigorous phonics instruction, into teacher training programs.

The Path Forward workgroup is focusing on aligning educator preparation program requirements with the science of reading and securing funding to encourage partnerships between educator preparation programs and school districts.

In October, SED tapped the New York City-based Literacy Academy Collective to facilitate New York's 55-member Path Forward team. The Literacy Academy Collective is a non-profit founded five years ago to support struggling readers; the organization successfully pushed New York City to open a school for struggling readers, South Bronx Literacy Academy, in 2023.

"We are teaching some of the most struggling readers in the most marginalized neighborhoods in New York City," Ruth Genn, the LAC's executive director, told the Board of Regents. "Our students are experiencing academic success, sometimes for the first time in their school career, because we're using the science of reading."

Genn said one of her school's biggest challenges "has been finding teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach the most struggling readers." She said the Literacy Academy Collective has developed its own teacher training institute to ensure that the school has a sufficient number of qualified teachers.

"We have seen first-hand the difference this training makes," Genn said.

Lester Young, chancellor of the state Board of Regents, said he has met with deans at the State University of New York to discuss SED's work on literacy instruction.

"We recognize that we have to be more engaging with our higher ed partners about where we're going," Young said. "We have to go together. '"

He added: "What this is really about is: How do we reach all young people in the state of New York? Because it is unconscionable that children are not learning to read."

Regent Wade Norwood said the process of developing young readers "needs to start before children hit the school door."

Young agreed. "If we're serious about reaching all young people, districts will have to partner with whoever's working with [ages] 0-3, meaning we have to do a better job with parents and local community-based organizations," he said. "We have to be focused on 0-3. That's what all the research says."