Calls for Turning Recent Legislative Progress into Immediate Action and Results  for ALL New Jersey’s Public Classrooms

As Trenton elected officials continue to define their budget priorities for the next fiscal year and newly established political candidates debate policy priorities for this Fall’s election, JerseyCAN continues to lead the charge in addressing student literacy in the Garden State with the release of its latest report, Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Leveraging Literacy from Policy to Practice in New Jersey.  During this hectic period in New Jersey for politics and policy, the report reignites and showcases the desperate need to address the literacy crisis in the state, outlines a series of specific proposals needed to ensure the literacy crisis is addressed statewide, and serves as a required call to action in turning recent legislative progress into classroom results.

Three years ago, in response to reporting from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) that less than half of the state’s third graders were proficient in grade-level reading, JerseyCAN launched a broad grassroots campaign advocating for adopting a high-quality statewide plan that addresses literacy in every public school in the state. Leading these efforts were four core tactics: 

• Creating the New Jersey Legacy of Literacy Coalition (NJLL), which united a series of diverse New Jersey education advocacy organizations to address the literacy crisis in New Jersey;
• Defining the NJLL Coalition’s Declaration of Principles, which included investment in teacher training, student literacy screeners, parent engagement, and deep engagement with local universities and colleges;
• Releasing a fully defined framework to create needed change, entitled, Leveraging Literacy — The Path to Education Recovery in New Jersey; and
• Leading an aggressive engagement campaign throughout the state to ensure local and state elected officials remained focused on the issue of literacy.  

On the heels of that campaign, Governor Phil Murphy signed the Literacy Bill Package, which was spearheaded by Senator Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and includes Bill A2288 Acs (ACS) and Bills S2644/2645/2646 Scs (SCS).  Anchoring the legislation was the establishment of “The New Jersey Working Group on Student Literacy” to research and recommend a series of best practices to improve literacy in the state.  The findings and recommendations were published in late March of this year and reviewed by JerseyCAN.

Drawing from the Working Group’s recommendations and national models of comprehensive literacy policy, Where the Rubber Meets the Road reflects JerseyCAN’s second round of policy proposals to substantially increase New Jersey’s proficient readers and to turbocharge the recently passed literacy laws, ensuring that each aspect is seamlessly integrated and executed across all areas of the state.

“Over the last three years, progress has been made to address the literacy crisis in the Garden State.  New Jersey’s advocacy and professional education organizations have mobilized and unified to campaign for change.  Elected leaders, most of all Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, have found practical ways to move the ball forward.  The New Jersey Working Group on Student Literacy has completed its work and provided the state with a thorough report.  New Jersey’s commitment to literacy must now remain constant and consistent until the job is done,” stated JerseyCAN Executive Director Paula White.  “Where the Rubber Meets the Road is a challenge to all of us to keep moving forward with unrelenting resolve, on our children’s behalf.  As the conclusion of the school year approaches, we must carefully chart the course ahead.  A host of proposals from the Working Group on Student Literacy must be addressed with action.  We must ensure that our candidates for Governor let us know their intentions regarding our literacy crisis.  And as detailed in our report, there are crucial policy additions that, if implemented, will strengthen recent legislative progress and bring stronger classroom results.  JerseyCAN pledges to work with our NJLL Coalition partners and all interested parties across the state until every child in New Jersey can read at their grade level.”

Specifically, Where the Rubber Meets the Road, focuses on translating recent legislative wins and developments into actionable steps in the classroom.  JerseyCAN’s four key recommendations in the report include:

• Providing ongoing, job-embedded literacy coaching for teachers.
• Eliminating the practice of word-guessing from meaning, syntax, or visual cues, also known as the “three-cueing” reading strategy, or MSV strategy.
• Requiring the development and implementation of customized reading plans for students with a reading deficiency.
• Requiring districts to provide families with data-informed read-at-home plans to support students identified with a reading deficiency.

These recommendations, outlined in the report, along with a detailed summary of developments over the last three years, aim to create a finished literacy product that students and educators need and that New Jersey’s families deserve.   To read the full report, please click HERE.