In his State of the State address last week, Gov. Phil Murphy promised that New Jersey will reform the way it teaches reading. “We will be introducing new initiatives to teach our kids the fundamentals of reading — like sounding out letters and combining them into words. It is simple: an emphasis on phonics in reading instruction is essential to the lifelong success of our children.”

Simple to say, harder to do. According to a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality called “State of the States: Five Policy Actions to Strengthen Implementation of the Science of Reading,” NJ ranks as “weak” and “significantly below” the national average in implementing policies that ensure effective reading instruction. We are particularly bad in three areas of the five assessed areas. Here are our three failing grades (taken from the NJ profile):

• Unacceptable: Setting reading standards for teacher preparation programs, one of the most important components for reforming how we teach reading
• Unacceptable: Adopting  strong reading licensure tests that ensure teachers know how to teach reading
• Unacceptable: Requiring districts to select high-quality reading curriculum.  

(We are strong in “reviewing teacher prep programs” to ensure they include science of reading and “moderate” in providing teachers with ongoing professional development in teaching reading.)

Only Maine, Montana, and South Dakota rank lower.

From the state profile:

“According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 33% of 4th grade students in New Jersey cannot read at a basic level. That number rises sharply for Hispanic students (46% cannot read at a basic level), Black students (50%), and students from low-income communities (53%). This dismal data has nothing to do with the students and everything to do with inequities in access to effective literacy instruction.“

NCTQ’s ratings aren’t an outlier. In JerseyCAN’s response to Murphy’s speech, it cited data from several other non-profits, including the gold-standard National Assessment of Educational Progress, which concluded “New Jersey has failed to move the needle in closing socioeconomic or racial gaps in 4th-grade reading proficiency for the past twenty years.”

Need more numbers? Only 12% of Asbury Park’s fourth-graders meet proficiency standards in reading. It’s 22% in Newark, 11% in Trenton, and 8% in Camden, even with piles of COVID emergency aid that will run out in November.

What needs to change for Murphy to keep his State of the State promise? NCTQ gives us two big items: First, we have to adopt policies that enforce those five action items in teacher preparation, teacher quality, and student literacy. This would require the DOE drill down on specific and detailed standards for teacher prep programs that go beyond simply listing the five core components of the science of reading. From the profile: 

 “[The DOE] should require teacher prep programs to include training on how to teach English Learners and struggling readers, and then review programs’ alignment to the implementation of the new standards.”  

Second, the State Legislature must pass a law requiring school districts to use a high-quality reading curriculum, one vetted by the DOE. (Many state education agencies have a list of acceptable curricula that adhere to the science of reading and districts have to choose from that list.)

In other words, this isn’t about updating a policy and declaring victory. It’s follow-through and accountability. In some states, districts that don’t implement science of reading curricula actually lose funding. In several states, if students can’t read by the end of third-grade, even with lots of intervention, they repeat the grade. (Hey, if the State can go to the mat for gender-identity support, why can’t it do it for literacy?)

Some examples:

In Louisiana the state requires every K-3 teacher, elementary principal and assistant principal to take a 55-hour training course in the science of reading.

In Utah the state education agency provides very specific reading competencies for their teacher prep programs. 

Ohio passed a law to require the Department of Education to create a list for districts to use to purchase high-quality reading curricula and evidence-based reading intervention programs.

Mississippi provides a curriculum assessment tool that offers guidance on assessing curricula, including determining how well the curriculum supports teachers to teach English Language Learners.

Arkansas provides a list of approved dyslexia and intervention programs to help guide districts to select high-quality materials.

All these states have made strides in improving student proficiency in reading. People talk about the “Mississippi Miracle,” which the DOE there protests is overblown. Yet fourth-graders went from being ranked the second worst readers in the nation in 2013 to 21st in 2022. 

And that’s with a far needier population than NJ. From Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times:

“With an all-out effort over the past decade to get all children to read by the end of third grade and by extensive reliance on research and metrics, Mississippi has shown that it is possible to raise standards even in a state ranked dead last in the country in child poverty and hunger and second highest in teen births.”

Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of the State Board of Education, which sometimes devolves into holier-than-thou posturing about trendy social justice memes. If the Murphy Administration really cares about equity, it will start with ensuring—through policy and legislation—that our children learn to read.

[photo credit] Flickr: Phil Murphy

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