Gov. Phil Murphy is finally listening to NJ Education Report!

That’s a joke. Yet at his State of the State address. scheduled for 3 pm today, Murphy will speak about the need for New Jersey public schools to improve literacy instruction, a necessary correction after results from last spring’s state standardized tests show just 42% of third-graders are proficient in reading, a statistic that hasn’t budged since 2022. According to an advance copy of his speech, secured by NJ Spotlight, 

“The approach will be centered on phonics, which emphasize the connection between how words are written and how they sound when spoken aloud. The Murphy administration said the state’s current approach to literacy instruction has not led to the desired results, especially following the pandemic. The new program will also focus on teachers, many of whom are not trained in phonics-based instruction.

“It is simple: an emphasis on phonics in reading instruction is essential to the lifelong success of our children,” Murphy says in an advance copy of the speech.”

That’s terrific: In NJ, phonics has been a long-neglected essential component for student learning. This new focus will require legislation already passed by 46 other states (Sen. Teresa Ruiz has a proposal ready to go), a pilot program that will offer teachers “literacy screeners,” and “a landscape analysis to make sure districts are using best practices and relevant phonics-based material when teaching kids how to read.”

Yet, according to gobs of research, phonics alone won’t raise the reading levels of NJ students and I worry that such an intense focus on phonemic awareness could neglect the other essential component of what Natalie Wexler calls “academic knowledge and vocabulary in general.” Sure, kids need to have explicit instruction in decoding words but they also need to have background knowledge (especially in science and social studies) to comprehend whatever they’re reading.  Successful efforts to raise reading proficiency emphasize this, as well as matching letters to sounds. (According to recent national NAEP scores, a staggering 87% of eighth-graders are not proficient in history.)

“I am worried that people are getting so focused on phonics instruction that they’re overlooking equally serious problems with comprehension instruction,” says Wexler,  warning that phonics alone won’t boost test scores. “If we don’t build foundational skills and knowledge simultaneously, then the pendulum may swing away from phonics once again.” 

“Background knowledge is not just an incidental aspect of reading instruction,” one recent review of research concluded. “Instead, explicitly teaching background knowledge should be considered foundational to increasing competency in reading.”

New Jersey schoolchildren won’t improve their reading skills without both the push for science-based reading instruction and renewed emphasis on core knowledge essential for reading comprehension. This will require the State Department of Education to muster the will to hold districts accountable for adhering to new policies and laws. (Murphy has yet to announce a replacement for Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan, who is leaving at the end of the month.)

And then there’s NJEA. In an interview on how to address COVID learning loss, NJEA president Sean Spiller had little use for reform. “You talk to any educator,” he said, “and what they’ll say is the amount of paperwork vs. before this all started, it’s unbelievable how much more there is now. [There’s so much] loss of freedom and flexibility in terms of you being able to teach as an art.”

Yet would Murphy be pushing this initiative without the approval of New Jersey’s teacher union leaders? Unlikely. Perhaps this bodes well although, like any reform, it all comes down to implementation and oversight from those whom we rely on to educate our kids.

[photo credit] Flickr: Phil Murphy