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There were three My small group of students were practicing reading a paragraph. Neil, a second-grader, came to the sentence, “We can all pick up trash.” He was confused by the word trash. He looked up at me pleadingly. Can you tell me what it is? When I asked Neil to read it aloud himself, tears began to well up in his eyes. He couldn’t.
Matching letters to sounds is a phonics skill, itself one of the five pillars of the science of reading and effectively teaching children to read. The other five pillars are phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
I’m a second grade teacher and teaching literacy is at the core of my job. However, I have never had any formal training in the science of reading or how to teach children to read. To help Neil and other students, I have taught myself as much as I can about how to manipulate letter sounds and match them to print. Based on this research and learning, I have adapted my teaching approach to ensure my students receive the most effective instruction.
To date, 37 states have enacted some form of reading science law. Massachusetts is not among them.
Here, there is no reading science provision in the law to help teachers like me teach students like Neil. For a state that prides itself on being top of the class when it comes to education, we are falling far behind and failing our kids. Mississippi was ranked the second worst state in 4th grade reading in 2013, but by 2022, we are 21st. We did this by training thousands of teachers in reading science and having literacy coaches to help them.
Now dozens of states are rushing to replicate Mississippi’s success. Here in Massachusetts, we can’t say we’ve failed because we haven’t picked up the ball yet.
Research shows that the science of reading, with its focus on the five pillars of reading, helps young readers learn to read more quickly. A bill being introduced in the state legislature, H.4423, would require school districts to use reading science research in selecting curriculum and assessing students’ literacy skills, ensuring high-quality, comprehensive literacy instruction in all Massachusetts schools. This bill would go a long way to helping students like Neal learn to read, no matter which classroom he attends.
Additionally, Governor Healey’s Literacy Start proposal, which would invest $30 million per year over five years, would similarly address the use of research and evidence-based curriculum, as well as necessary teacher training and support.
I appreciate your recent articles Commonwealth Beacon Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Michael Moriarty recognizes the literacy crisis in Massachusetts and supports the Governor’s proposal and H. 4423.
The increasing popularity of reading science approaches across the country and proposed legislation across the country are changing the conversation around literacy.
I have seen school staff participate in reading clubs run by literacy coaches to learn more. The books we read are: Changing the balanceencourages teachers to learn how to incorporate the science of reading into their classrooms in manageable ways. The book calls out ineffective strategies, but doesn’t blame or marginalize teachers who use them. Our kindergarten teachers are already seeing improvements in their students’ phonological awareness skills by adding research-backed programs to their daily lives. Without legislation, this change would not spread across the state.
The passage of new laws is just the beginning. We need instructional materials that support phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Legislators and the administration should ensure that time and resources are provided to train educators across the state on the best practices outlined in reading science research. Any professional development time provided by school districts should be used as time for teachers and support staff to consider the research and learn how to incorporate instructional practices supported by the research.
We are not succeeding in teaching all of our students how to read, and it is time for all of us to follow the science and the research and do the right thing for each and every student.
My own research and learning has helped me to incorporate scientifically-backed reading habits into my classroom. Not all teachers have the time and means to do this.
The time and energy I spent learning about and implementing research-based teaching methods paid off when Neil left my classroom at the end of second grade and was able to read grade-level texts with ease. He had grown to enjoy reading, and his mother recently told me that he loved being in the library and was now reading. Hatchet.
Every student in Massachusetts deserves to have the same success as Neal. Every student deserves to know how to read.
Jennifer Ament is a second-grade teacher at Kenneth C. Coombs Elementary School in Mashpee and a Teach Plus Massachusetts Policy Fellow for the 2023-24 school year.
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