“Literacy Launch” aims to grows ranks of early readers

BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)–Kids in Massachusetts, and nationwide, are behind on reading.

In her State of the Commonwealth address at the beginning of this year, Gov. Maura Healey proposed a $30 million investment over five years to boost early literacy efforts.

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"Every child in this state needs to be able to read and read well — and we're going to work together to give them the tools to do just that," she said to thundering applause in the crowded House of Representatives chamber in January.

On Thursday, Healey, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler and K-12 and early education Commissioners Russell Johnston and Amy Kershaw took a victory lap for the launch of the program at Clinton Elementary School, celebrating that they secured funding in the state budget (though at only $20 million), and also received a $38 million federal literacy grant to help kids read.

On last year's state testing, just 41 percent of third through eighth graders scored in the "meeting or exceeding expectations" range for English Language Arts. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that grades three through five showed sharper declines than grades six through eight, "indicating challenges in early literacy."

The literacy decline has been partially attributed to learning losses from pandemic-related school closures. But former DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley said earlier this year, "We have not been effectively teaching reading, as a country, for a long time."

The ability to read has long-term economic and social consequences, and not being a proficient reader could drastically hurt an individual's future opportunities, research shows .

Healey's $20 million "Literacy Launch" program is focused on getting higher-quality literacy materials into dozens of districts, which they're hoping will translate into improved reading scores and an improvement in the foundational skill that all other learning is dependent on.

Emily Brunelle, a fourth grader at Clinton Elementary School, used a step stool to reach the microphone at Thursday's press conference.

"Sometimes it can be hard to read. But Appleseeds really helped me learn all of the sounds so I could read fluidly," Brunelle said, referring to a DESE-developed package of instructional materials for reading foundational skills in kindergarten through grade 2. "I didn't know that 'ph' could sound like 'f' but Appleseeds helped me learn that. And then I could decode so many words. And now I love reading, and enjoy reading in my spare time and it helped me learn a lot in school."

Tutwiler nodded along as Brunelle spoke, and Healey gave the fourth grader a small handshake when she stepped down from the stool.

"We had a generation of students that lived through a pandemic, were in school during a pandemic. Many kids were at home. Especially for the youngest, virtual school was a challenge, it was a challenge for their parents as well, and the educators. So this is a major opportunity to address what we need to address and to make sure that everyone has what they need in terms of best materials, the best instruction, that educators have the best support," Healey said Thursday.

Healey said 45 districts will be able to receive grants in the first year of the five-year program for new "high quality instructional materials."

Though educators at Thursday's event hosted by the administration celebrated the funding for new reading materials, other educators have warned that the conversation around teaching reading in schools is nuanced, and there's no "one-size-fits all" solution.

In a letter to Healey and lawmakers in February , over 300 educators from around the state said they applauded the governor's commitment to literacy and supported closing opportunity gaps for struggling readers — with caveats.

The signatories, who ranged from superintendents and principals to reading specialists and classroom teachers, said they were concerned about DESE approving what, exactly, "high quality" materials are, as opposed to leaving it up to teachers to find a path best suited for specific students.

"Teachers need various strategies to do what is best for the students in front of them, and there is no proven curriculum that addresses the needs of every child," the letter read.

It continues, "Teaching a child to read is a complex endeavor not widely understood by the press or the general public. There will always be students who need help with reading, and there are no quick fixes. A customized repertoire of instructional strategies and systemic shifts that require time, patience, training, and resources will be needed to close opportunity gaps. To that end, we look forward to a productive collaboration with our State partners and any others who remain dedicated to teaching all children to read and thrive in Massachusetts."

Among educators and experts, a battle over how to teach reading has raged for decades.

Some educators over the past few years have pushed "science of reading curriculum" — a school of thought that relies on research related to brain development to teach effective strategies for kids to read.

Science of reading is not one specific curriculum program that districts can buy, but a collection of research based on phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. This approach to teaching reading differs from past approaches partially by emphasizing phonics instruction — teaching students to understand how letters and groups of letters link to sounds and spelling patterns — though it is not wholly based on phonics.

The term science of reading has been around for over a century, but has recently become shorthand to discuss using cognitive research on how children's brains work while reading, and using more classroom time on learning to sound out words and work on comprehension.

One historical approach to teaching reading was known as "whole language," focused on identifying words using literary context. The philosophy behind this instruction was that children naturally learned phonics, and didn't need to be walked through "decoding" words, but rather words should be learned in context with the rest of the language.

In the conflict of the so-called "reading wars" between these two approaches, a compromise arose often called "balanced literacy."

This instructional method meant to borrow from both teaching models, with the main goal to get as many books into students' hands as quickly as possible. If children enjoyed reading, they would read more, it assumed.

Catherine Snow, an expert on language and literacy development in children and professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, was one of the signatories on the letter sent in February.

She said she supports promoting literacy in schools, and government funding to do so, but also warned against the state having a say on what is and is not "high quality." She said she's done research on science of reading, balanced literacy, and other types of reading strategies, and different learning styles work for different kids.

"I'm very worried when the state sort of says, okay, we're investing in you, and we're giving you curricula, what's wrong? Why isn't your score getting better? It sort of presupposes there's going to be one simple solution," Snow said. "If there's 25 kids in a classroom, the ones who aren't making progress may be struggling for very different reasons."

Tutwiler responded to a question at Thursday's press conference about the letter and concerns about a "one-size-fits-all" approach by saying that Literacy Launch is an opt-in program, not a mandate, for districts.

"But I'll also say that this is stemming from very compelling evidence-based research over a period of decades that shows very clearly that the evidence-based strategies that we're lifting up in this program support meeting the needs of all learners, right?" he said. "And it's our duty to really bring this forth and offer the opportunities around professional development, purchase of high-quality instructional materials and supporting aspiring teachers in schools of education with learning the most effective way to reach all learners."

He added, "That's not something we're going to apologize for, and we're really going head on into this making this opportunity available for as many districts as we can."

Snow said "it's great to have extra resources and attention on the problem" but there's potential for "unintended consequences that can really harm a school and undermine teacher autonomy."

Asked during Thursday's press conference to respond to critics of the grant program, Healey said it is her responsibility as governor to provide resources for students and teachers.

"This program is not a mandate. It's meant to be an option. And it's meant to build on the skills, the experience of educators, people who have been engaged in literacy work for a long time. It's meant to support, not supplant," she said. "I have a lot of respect and regard as a general matter, for people who are proficient in their fields, and I have confidence that our districts and administrations and our educators can all work together, supported by us in government to deliver what is the best."