Special Report
Reading & Literacy

Editors Note: Building Literacy Skills

By The Editors — May 11, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Early-grades reading instruction has long been a central point of emphasis—and concern—for educators and policymakers.

That’s in large part owing to a provocative body of research showing that students who don’t read with proficiency by the end of 3rd grade are far more likely to experience poor academic outcomes, including leaving school without a diploma. Early-grades reading skills, in other words, are often seen as a key indicator of educational achievement.

By that standard, many U.S. schools have struggled to give students adequate pathways. On the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, only 35 percent of 4th graders scored at or above “proficient” in reading. The rate was considerably lower for minority students—18 percent for blacks and 20 percent for Hispanics. Meanwhile, the average NAEP reading score for 4th graders has increased only minimally over the past decade.

This Education Week special report takes a wide-ranging look at new efforts to address the challenges of early-grades reading instruction, particularly in light of the waning influence of the federal Reading First program. While that initiative, launched in 2002, drew praise for providing some $1 billion annually to expand reading instruction and professional development and support for teachers, it was criticized by many teachers and reading experts for focusing too narrowly on basic skills. A number of the stories highlight the growing impact of the Common Core State Standards, whose early-grades reading expectations often diverge from previous instructional systems.

Scanning the changing landscape of literacy instruction, the report explores new thinking on time-honored practices such as read-alouds, teaching vocabulary, and developing reading fluency; details school-community efforts to boost early-reading skills; dives into recent research on the potentially negative effects of focusing too rigidly on 3rd graders’ reading proficiency; and looks at an Alabama professional-development program that has shown promise in boosting achievement across racial categories, in part through a combination of consistency and responsiveness to change.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the May 13, 2015 edition of Education Week as A Note From the Editors

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.
Student Achievement K-12 Essentials Forum How to Build and Scale Effective K-12 State & District Tutoring Programs
Join this free virtual summit to learn from education leaders, policymakers, and industry experts on the topic of high-impact tutoring.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Reading & Literacy What the Research Says Want to Improve Early Reading Comprehension? Start With Sentence Structure
We speak differently than we write. For comprehension development, children need exposure to syntax common to both.
2 min read
Hispanic schoolteacher reading aloud to her young students
E+ / Getty
Reading & Literacy Opinion If Literacy Is a Priority, Why Do We Cling to the Wrong Practices?
There have been two huge developments this year related to how we teach reading.
Mike Schmoker
4 min read
A figure stands above pool in form of book, ready to jump in fantastic world of imagination and inspiration. Concept of knowledge, literature, education, literacy, reading, writing, phonics.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Anton Vierietin/iStock + Getty Images
Reading & Literacy Reading Comprehension Teaching Has Improved—But Not Nearly Enough
A review paper of research from the past 50 years shows that many teachers still aren't deploying evidence-based methods.
6 min read
Young girl reading in class.
E+