School districts assessing reading programs as students test scores fall

Students across America are struggling to read as test scores show some reading programs have been failing kids. School districts are now assessing the issues and changing course. NBC News’ Rehema Ellis visited one district in rural Mississippi working to narrow the reading gap.

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[lozu]

So basically going back in time to use a process that was never broken and didn’t need to be fixed. Now need to do the same with mathematics.

[stacyg]

My daughter is 5 and a half and reads fluently. We started actively teaching her when was 4, but had always read to her since she was a baby. Teaching a kid to read is ultimately the parents' job. And she struggled at first, and reading felt hard and she wanted to give up, but we just kept going, every day. Now she loves books, reads on her own, can read anything, including difficult words. My heart is at peace knowing she has mastered this critical part of learning.

[stevemadrid]

When I started teaching high school 16 years ago, it was plain to see there was a problem. I was mentored by a teacher who was pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership and she opened my eyes to a whole new way of teaching. She always told me, "First you have to teach them to read." We got a great deal of push back from our district because our philosophy was, less quantity, more depth. I still believe that today. I see students who have been forced to learn through screens and students equate screens with entertainment, not work. The pandemic has nothing to do with the reading crisis. It was happening long before 2020.

[asheharris]

I started reading around age 4-5. That was 1994-95. I never struggled and reading instruction honestly started for me in pre-k. We had phonics type instruction. It was a great system and never should have been dropped.

[abcmoonsweeti]

What a wonderful principal! I will never forget talking to the principal about my second grader's struggles and asking if they were using systematic and comprehensive phonics instruction. He responded that the "pendulum had swung" and the district believed in a whole language approach. Her older sister was reading way beyond her grade level, but she had a different and much older kindergarten teacher who used phonics. My struggling reader was taught the letter sounds, but nothing after that. On top of that, they were actively discouraging parents from teaching kiddos on their own! I had already started supplementing my kids' math at home anyway (the math instruction was great at teaching them how numbers work, but they were not following it up with subitizing or memorizing multiplication facts.) Homeschooling was not popular at all at that time, but when you see the school system failing your children to this degree you have to do something.

[jsijret]

I graduated in 2014, there’s way too many screens, tablets and gadgets being introduced in the classrooms. Every few years the school districts waste money on some new tech that will go unused. They need to have good old fashioned books and paper and pencils and cut out the bs. I was reading at a 7th or 8th grade level when is was in 4th grade

[hirotatsufujinami]

It's wonderful you can read something today that you couldn't read yesterday and the more you can read, the more you can express yourself which leads to more accurate understanding of each other that will ultimately end up in global peace.

[randys]

I saw an interview recently with a teacher who had to teach the "Balanced Literacy" curriculum. No joke, she said that some lessons were just showing students pictures, alongside a written word associated with that picture (for example, the word "barn" or "cow" next to a farm scene) and expecting students to simply memorize the word based on image association.

The "parental responsibility" argument only goes so far, when schools are taking up 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, of kids' learning time and attention, sometimes just to sabotage their learning with crap like this.

[NaomiTCOOKIES]

It's not just kids but also teens and young adults. I've noticed since pandemic that there's been a scarily sharp decline in reading comprehension.

[DesertPrimrose]

Kids need more reading *at home* and less TikTok.

[YoshiTheOreo]

You mean traditional teaching methods had better results? Imagine my shock.

[annat]

As a parents, a child education start from home and then school teach on. My kindergarten son start reading at age 3. He can count to 200 at age 3. He listen and enjoy instrumental music because I listen to them. Be a role model for your kids. You provide a foundation for them to grow.

Yes, he have smart devices. I think it need a balanced. Parents also people too who work for financial stability, have health issue and worries or struggles, and daily choirs. You cannot expect parents to serve a child 24/7. Life need a balanced.

[regulahdegulah]

Schools are reinventing the wheel, from triangle, to square, to pentagon, only to finally realize that only a circle makes the car move🤦🏽‍♂️

[kev]

I taught Chinese students (1st grade) who spoke little to no English how to read English books at level (or above level) using Phonics. The set up I had didn't have the time to allow for small reading groups or other processes that American schools have, but with perseverance and using time management, I was able to have kids read individually with me to test their skills. We continued with Phonics and Word Study through 6th grade. Because of this, most students were able to master Science, math word problems, and more due to their ability to read. I hope that all American schools will bring back or continue to work with their students using Phonics.

[YouThr]

This issue started years ago, when they introduced tablets and laptops. Also, Kindergartners dont need a laptop to learn. High school teacher had to help their students with hand writing an essay for college applications because they can't spell. They were so used to type it out and rely on auto correct.

Country like Australia had to revert back to use pen and paper because kids are falling behind in education

[ValentinoBentley]

What went wrong? During the pandemic parents were stuck attempting to teach their children at home while also still working to bring in money to feed and house those kids.

Being stuck in front of an iPad or Xbox all day also doesn’t do much good.

[B]

What happens when you more worried w their gender & wokie nonsense

[Angel]

Thats what happend when your lenguage pronunuciation sometimes doest match exactly with the word like wednesday

[freetobe]

Wow! Respect to the former principal for making the change! If a curriculum is proven to not work, get rid of it! So happy for those kiddos who will now have the lifelong gift of proficient reading.

[maylammarie]

Omg I am so glad I actually got taught how to read. Didn’t realize you could learn how to read without phonics.