Introduction

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 35% of fourth graders in the United States read at a proficient level, and the gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds is stark.

This statistic underscores a critical issue in our education system: literacy disparities. Literacy equity is not just a goal; it is essential for ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed–not just in school–but in life. For school administrators and leaders, fostering literacy equity is a vital responsibility that can profoundly impact student outcomes and overall community well-being.

What Is Literacy Equity?

Literacy equity ensures that all students, regardless of their background, have access to the resources and support they need to become proficient readers.  Literacy equity requires a commitment to providing proactive, integrated, equitable literacy instruction to all students, addressing systemic inequities, and removing barriers that disproportionately affect historically marginalized and minoritized groups.

Current Disparities in Literacy Achievement

The current state of literacy in schools reveals significant disparities. Students who experience poverty, students of color, students who are multi-lingual, and those identified with disabilities often face systemic barriers that impede their literacy development. These disparities are not just academic concerns; they have profound social and economic implications.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), an access gap persists (often defined as an achievement gap) between students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds who are often removed from core instruction for literacy instruction in ability groups, separate classrooms, or separate academic tracks. Students who identify as Black and Hispanic and students whose families experience poverty, consistently score lower in reading proficiency compared to their peers who identify as White and are from families experiencing affluence.

However, the disparities in student literacy simply reflect disparities within all of education. Our entire education system has been designed around White, middle-class, ableist, English-only, cis-gendered norms, and thus the foundation of the education system as a whole responds to a narrow normative that does not exist nor represent the expansive intersectional identities defining America’s student population. Our education system continues to be complicit in creating disparities and educational harm, as documented and substantiated by decades of research and lived realities.

Literacy rates can also be a predictor of the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline,” particularly for students of color. The school-to-prison pipeline is a well-documented concept acknowledged by the Department of Justice, which states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” Over 70% of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth-grade level. Research shows that students who struggle with reading are more likely to disengage from school, leading to higher dropout rates and increased risk of incarceration.

These alarming statistics explain why achieving literacy equity as part of high-quality teaching and learning for every child is critical to broader equity in schools and in society.

So, the question remains: How do we improve literacy for all students? The answer may lie in the Science of Reading.

What is the Science of Reading?

The Science of Reading is a vast body of scientifically-based research that outlines the most effective methods for teaching reading. It synthesizes findings from psychology, neuroscience, and education to provide a comprehensive understanding of how students learn to read. As humans, our brains are not hard-wired to naturally read; therefore, brain-based research has shown that reading is a skill that has to be explicitly taught. This research emphasizes the importance of systematic, explicit instruction in the foundational skills of reading. The goal is to use evidence-based practices to ensure all students, across the spectrum of learning, are proactively taught and develop strong reading skills.

Key Components of the Science of Reading:

• Phonemic Awareness: Understanding and manipulating sounds in words. This skill is crucial for learning to decode words.
• Phonics: Linking sounds to letters and using this knowledge to read and spell. Systematic phonics instruction helps students understand the relationship between letters and sounds.
• Fluency: Reading with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Fluent readers can focus on comprehension because they do not need to decode words laboriously.
• Vocabulary: Knowing the meaning of a wide variety of words and how to use them. A robust vocabulary supports reading comprehension and overall language development.
• Comprehension: Understanding and interpreting what is read. Comprehension strategies help students make sense of texts and engage with reading material

The Science of Reading framework is designed to be inclusive of all students. For example:

• Students with Learning Disabilities: Structured literacy approaches, which are part of the Science of Reading, have been shown to be effective for students with dyslexia and other reading disabilities.
• Students who are bilingual or multi-lingual: Phonics instruction helps these students build foundational skills in English, while vocabulary and comprehension strategies support their language acquisition, development, and reading proficiency.

The Science of Reading Legislation

This article from Education Week outlines the rise of “Science of Reading” laws across the United States. Since 2013, 38 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation mandating evidence-based reading instruction. These laws were inspired by Mississippi’s success, where significant improvements in reading scores were observed after implementing structured, phonics-based teaching methods. Mississippi was not the first state to implement such policies. In fact, Mississippi’s legislation was based on a 2002 law in Florida that saw the Sunshine State achieve some of the country’s highest reading scores. However, educators on both sides of the aisle are hopeful that similar legislation will improve reading scores across the country.

Science of Reading legislation–which varies from state to state–typically includes provisions for teacher training, certification requirements, professional development, specific evidence-based curricula, and early intervention strategies. Though this legislation can be promising, successful implementation is complex and requires more than legislative changes alone.

Wisconsin Act 20

One recent example of Science of Reading legislation is Wisconsin’s Act 20, which mandates evidence-based reading instruction in schools. This legislation requires that reading instruction be grounded in the Science of Reading.

Wisconsin’s new reading legislation, signed into law by Governor Tony Evers in 2023, marks a significant shift towards phonics-based reading instruction in the state’s education system. The law, which includes a $50 million investment, mandates the establishment of an Office of Literacy to provide support through 64 full-time literacy coaches. These coaches will aid teachers in implementing the new phonics-centered curriculum, which focuses on phonemic awareness, vocabulary building, reading fluency, and oral language development. The aim is to replace previous methods that relied on pictures, word cues, and memorization, which have been less effective. The legislation also requires individualized reading plans for students who are below grade level and prohibits the use of the “three-cueing” method of literacy instruction beginning in the 2024-25 school year, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, WisPolitics.

The law has garnered bipartisan support, with proponents highlighting its potential to address Wisconsin’s reading proficiency crisis, particularly among students who identify as Black in Wisconsin who have historically faced the largest opportunity gaps in the nation.

Our Take: Leverage Literacy Legislation to Advance Literacy Equity

At ICS, we embrace the new Science of Reading legislation–and specifically, WI Act 20–as a means to advance equity and high-quality teaching and learning for all students–depending on how we interpret and in turn, implement this legislation.

Regardless of policy intentions, policy alone does not create, accelerate, or sustain student growth and success. Often, policies are compliance-driven and not quality-driven, resulting in meeting the letter of reading regulations but in doing so, maybe in opposition to what research suggests works best and never reaching the spirit in which the reading regulations were written.

We usually interpret the implementation of any policy, including reading policy, through our own beliefs and assumptions about students and learning. If we believe that students learn best when ability-grouped, tracked, or pulled out, we will then interpret and implement the reading policy in practice to ability-group, track, or pull students out for reading instruction–even if the policy does not explicitly require this.

Prior to the most recent reading legislation, when students struggled with reading, districts typically attempted to fix the student rather than examining the district reading system as a whole to determine systemic issues contributing to reading inequities.

When attempting to fix the student in reading, districts typically would ability group students in classrooms based on their reading levels or pull students out of classrooms for reading instruction. We can see from the previously cited national reading data which was the genesis for the new reading legislation, that these approaches did not work for most students.

Separate reading groups, reading programs, and pull-out instruction or special reading courses offer quick fixes for adults but are not focused on long-term solutions for students, which inevitably results in higher costs and diminished equity in the long run.

Reading practices that separate students into ability groups or pull-out reading instruction, by default, do not develop the collective reading capacity of educators to competently teach reading to a range of students and the spectrum of learning needs.

To illustrate, if the second-grade teacher sends students out of the room for reading help, then the next year, when students need reading help, they will send students out again. Sending students out of the room this year will not increase their capacity to teach students reading next year. Thus, the way that separate programs and classrooms de-skill teachers and limit their growth is yet another hidden cost of reading instruction that segregates students.

But If We Don’t Ability-Group Students for Reading Instruction, How Do We Teach Reading and Meet the Legislation Requirements?

Seven Steps to Leverage the Science of Reading Legislation for Equity

We identify 7 steps for districts to ensure that they implement reading legislation proactively to eliminate rather than perpetuate inequities.

1. Alignment with Equity Non-Negotiables

The implementation of the Science of Reading should align with a district’s equity goals and equity non-negotiables, which in turn align with reading research and evidence-based practices that benefit all students. Doing so will ensure that the Science of Reading implementation will support the diverse needs of all learners.

2. All Teachers as Proficient Reading Teachers via Co-Plan to Co-Serve to Co-Learn (™) (C3) Teams

The Science of Reading legislation expects all teachers, especially at the elementary and middle school levels to become proficient reading teachers. Providing comprehensive professional learning, development and coaching for teachers in the Science of Reading is crucial for successful implementation to obtain the skills necessary to deliver effective reading instruction. However, such professional development will not be enough.

In addition, it will be important for districts to realign staff to function in Co-Plan to Co-Serve to Co-Learn (C3) Teams to proactively co-design reading instruction such that students are provided reading practice throughout the entire school day. Within these teams, staff share their reading expertise and resources, continually building each other’s capacity to teach reading.

3. Reading Curriculum That is Identity Affirmative

The curriculum to implement the Science of Reading should be inclusive and culturally responsive, ensuring that all students see themselves reflected in their learning materials. Identity safety is essential to maximize learning and develop proficient readers; thus, districts must ensure that educators operate within an Identity-Relevant Teaching and Learning framework. An identity-affirmative curriculum incorporates diverse texts and materials that resonate with students’ experiences and backgrounds, ensuring identity safety and asset-based learning environments.

4. Evidence-Based Practices That Celebrate Student Differences

Science of Reading implementation toward equity begins with the understanding that all students have reading gifts and talents regardless of their varying skills within the phonics scope and sequence. These student differences should be celebrated, affirmed, and supported instead of focusing on what students cannot do and their deficits and trying to only fix these deficits.

5. Personalized Whole Class Instruction

Most teachers rely on ability grouping to try to meet different students’ reading needs. Instead, the literature on the Science of Reading includes a model of instruction in which “all students do all things” approach in whole-class instruction. With this approach, all students are working on the same skill in pairs or small heterogeneous groups with a variety of materials that address their unique gifts and challenges.

6. Assessment and Data-Driven Instruction Focused on the System

Using data to identify and address literacy gaps is vital. Tools and methods for effective assessment, such as formative assessments and progress monitoring, help tailor instruction to meet the needs of each student. Regular assessments provide valuable insights into student progress. Such data and assessment practices should be used to interrogate the coherence and effectiveness of the instructional literacy system and not as a lens on inaccurate and misplaced perceived deficits within students. Likewise, assessments should not be used to group students by ability in certain groups or pull students out for instruction

7. Literacy equity reflects just one aspect of the district’s education system focused on high-quality teaching and learning for all.

Literacy equity should be viewed as one aspect of a district’s high-quality teaching and learning system. To successfully implement the previous six steps, policy and funding should be leveraged to rethink and restructure high-quality teaching and learning from the ground up using a comprehensive and systems-wide equity framework.

Even with the financial inequities between schools and districts, and even with the pressures of underfunded or unfunded federal and state mandates, school leaders have no excuse for not fully implementing a proactive education system for all learners. This requires rethinking educational structures, services, and instruction for all students in ways that will maximize staff and student achievement and growth, especially in reading and literacy. As leaders, we can no longer ethically continue to develop and sustain segregated programs, classrooms, and practices of grouping students by perceived ability when we have the research, knowledge, and skills to intentionally interrupt such deficit-based practices.

A comprehensive system redesign for equity involves re-evaluating and restructuring every aspect of the educational system to ensure that it promotes equity and supports every child. This includes revisiting policies, practices, curricula, and assessments to ensure they are aligned with a district’s equity goals and the Science of Reading methods.

Conclusion

In summary, literacy equity is a critical component of student success, and the Science of Reading provides a robust framework for achieving it. School administrators play a pivotal role in this process in ensuring new curricula, professional development and implementation are operationalized with an equity-first approach. By committing to this, districts can lead their schools towards a future where every student has the opportunity to become a proficient reader and confident life-long learner.

Together, we can improve literacy rates and create a more equitable education system where every student thrives.