Op-ed: Why DC students continue to struggle with literacy

For our last public meeting, I worked with my colleagues on the DC State Board of Education to convene a panel on literacy. During this meeting, representatives from Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee discussed how they have been offering teachers structured literacy training and the tremendous results this has generated for students.

I wrote an opinion piece in The DC Line sharing my recommendation for DC to adopt similar practices. I’d appreciate your feedback.

As new federal money comes to DC to reverse pandemic-related learning losses and to improve literacy outcomes, the District has a unique opportunity to fix a structural problem that has plagued us for decades: insufficient teacher training to support student literacy. 

DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education is currently developing a new literacy plan, which will include how to spend $16 million in federal funds to improve literacy outcomes. The 2013 literacy plan was not successful in reaching its goals. The 2021 plan offers a new opportunity. We should learn from our mistakes, adapt promising practices from other states, and invest in our schools’ greatest assets: teachers.