Op-ed: DC should invest in training teachers how to effectively teach reading
Knowing how to read does not mean you know how to teach reading. Pedagogy matters. How you teach reading is both a science and an art, and DC must do more to equip reading instructors with proven methods.
Only a fraction of reading instructors in the District have structured literacy training. Like many other school districts, DC does not require teachers to have taken coursework in reading methods informed by the science of reading. Nor are teachers necessarily given opportunities to do so, since many teacher preparation programs do not offer this coursework. Reading instructors are consequently left to figure things out on their own, compelling some frustrated teachers to pay for their own structured literacy training, such as the Orton-Gillingham training, which can cost up to $1,275.
A limited number of DC teachers now have access to city-funded structured literacy training through DC Public Schools’ DC Reading Clinic, which has a long waitlist of teachers seeking to enroll. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) recently launched a program to award about 80 educators with a $1,200 stipend to complete the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training. This is a great start, but it falls significantly short of what states like Mississippi and Tennessee have done to address a known problem with a known solution.
About 1% of reading instructors in DC gained access to LETRS training this past year, while 100% of reading instructors in Mississippi have been funded to receive LETRS training. Since making such investments in 2013, Mississippi have significantly improved its score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This training works.
DC continues to lag behind, with only 30% of fourth graders testing proficient or better on the 2019 NAEP reading assessment. DC can and must offer 100% of our reading instructors with opportunities to gain structured literacy training. Such an investment should not be done piecemeal. It should be done efficiently and equitably.
DC does not have a centralized database of the reading-related professional development offered by various schools. We also do not know which educators have already completed structured literacy training. This means that we do not yet know the cost, or the best ways to roll out a program to equip all reading instructors with structured literacy training. Other unanswered questions include: How do we ensure that curriculum and assessments are updated and aligned accordingly? What credentials should we require from reading instructors? How can we offer teachers on-the-job support to improve their instruction? How can we make trainings accessible for all educators, including those who are single parents? These questions must be answered collaboratively across education stakeholders in order to implement structured literacy methods effectively.
Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto has proposed a subtitle to the city’s fiscal year 2023 budget that would help mightily. It would provide OSSE with funding to lead a cross-agency task force that would develop an action plan, budget and timeline to effectively equip all DC teachers serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade with structured literacy training over the next three to four years. This is a necessary first step to ensure that students in DC learn how to read by third grade. Those who don’t achieve this milestone are more likely to drop out of high school and to have a lower future earning potential.
I urge the council to adopt and fund this subtitle. District teachers and students should not have to wait for a solution that we know will help them succeed.
Read my op-ed via The DC Line