THERE WERE THREE students in my small group practicing reading a paragraph. Neil, one of my 2nd grade students, came up with the phrase “We can all pick up the trash.” The word trash left him perplexed. He looked at me pleadingly. Could I tell him what it was? When I asked Neil to probe himself, tears started to well up in his eyes. He did not make it.
Matching letters with sounds is a phonics skill, which itself is one of the five pillars of the science of reading and effectively teaching literacy to children. The others are phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
I am a second grade teacher and literacy is fundamental to my practice. However, I had no formal training in the science of reading and teaching children to read. To help Neil and my other students, I taught myself as much as I could about manipulating letter sounds and matching them to print. Based on this research and learning, I have altered my teaching to ensure my students receive stronger instruction.
To date, 37 states have adopted some form of reading science legislation. Massachusetts is not one of them.
Here, there is no science of reading legal legislation to help teachers like me teach students like Neil. For a state that prides itself on being on top when it comes to education, we are falling woefully behind and failing our children. Mississippi went from being ranked the second-worst state in 2013 in fourth-grade reading to 21st in 2022; They did this by training thousands of teachers in the science of reading and employing literacy coaches to help them.
Now, dozens of states are racing to replicate Mississippi’s success. Here in Massachusetts, we can’t say we dropped the ball because we didn’t even catch it.
Research shows that the science of reading, with an emphasis on the five pillars of reading, helps young readers become literate more quickly. A bill before our Legislature, H.4423, would ensure high-quality, comprehensive literacy instruction in all Massachusetts schools by requiring districts to use the science of reading research when choosing curriculum as well as assessing skills students’ literacy skills. This legislation would greatly help students like Neil learn to read, no matter what classroom they are in.
Additionally, Governor Healey’s literacy launch proposal, with an annual investment of $30 million over five years, would similarly address the use of research and evidence-based curricula, as well as the necessary training and support of teachers.
Thank you for the recent article on Commonwealth Lighthouse by Michael Moriarty, member of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, recognizing Massachusetts’ literacy crisis and praising the governor’s proposal and H.4423.
The growing popularity of the scientific approach to reading across the country and the proposed bill here at home are changing the conversation about literacy.
I have witnessed staff at my school participating in book clubs run by our literacy coach to learn more. The book we are reading, Changing the balance, encouraged teachers to learn how to incorporate the science of reading into their classrooms in a manageable way. Although the book points out strategies that are not effective, it does so without shaming and alienating teachers who used these strategies. Our preschool teachers have already seen an improvement in their students’ phonemic awareness skills by adding a research-backed program to their days. Without legislation, this change will not extend to the entire state.
The approval of the new legislation is just a start. We need instructional materials that support phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Legislators and the administration must ensure that time and resources are made available to train educators across the state in the best practices outlined in the science of reading inquiry. Professional development time provided by the district should be used as time for teachers and support staff to review the research and learn how to incorporate the teaching practices that the research supports.
We have not been successful in teaching all of our students to read. It’s time for us all to follow science and research to do what’s right for every student.
Because of the research and learning I did on my own, I was able to implement science-backed reading practices to help my classroom. Not all teachers have the time and means to do this.
The time and energy invested in learning and implementing research-based instructional practices paid off when Neil left my classroom at the end of second grade, able to read grade-level texts with ease. He started to enjoy reading and his mother recently told me that he loves being in the library and is currently reading Hatchet.
Every student in Massachusetts deserves to have the same success that Neil did. Every student deserves to know how to read.
Jennifer Amento is a second grade teacher at Kenneth C Coombs Elementary in Mashpee and a 2023-24 Teach Plus Massachusetts Policy Fellow.
