We are excited to announce the Teacher Leader Institute Keynote Speakers Alice Yee and Allison Briceño! Explore your role as a literacy educator in diversity, equity, and inclusion at Palm Springs. With three days of in-depth professional development, the theme of this year is Inclusion through Literacy: Stories for All Voices.

The Teacher Leader Institute is required professional development for active teacher leaders and teacher leaders-in-training in the United States. Reading Recovery trainers, trainers-in-training, and site coordinators are also encouraged to attend.

Soak up the sun at this family-friendly oasis in the desert! Join your friends and colleagues to learn and recharge by saving your spot today.

The Science of Language and Anti-Blackness: Accounting for Black Language in Reading Instruction, Interventions, and Assessments with Dr. Alice Lee

Linguistic science has determined Black Language to be a recognized language for over half a century. Black Language consists of all the systematic patterns and dimensions that linguists use to determine legitimacy of a language. Yet schools continue to ignore and devalue the language in classroom instruction, assessment, and curricula. This reality is another example of the ways anti-Blackness shapes the many facets of our society, including how and what we think about language. Since language is a crucial vehicle for learning, we must pay close attention to how we approach and count it, particularly for readers who have been denied their rights to Black Language in learning. This talk encourages teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators to explore how to bring Black Language into the various contours of their pedagogies and policies.

Another day and another dubious report is making headlines. This time, it’s U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) stirring the pot with some suspiciously biased findings on literacy rates among American students. Too bad his report is about as reliable as a soggy paperback left out in the rain.

Let’s dive in: Cassidy kicks things off with the bold claim that “Two-thirds of America’s fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading.” Sounds alarming, right? Yes – it’s as alarming as it is misleading. In classic “Fake News” fashion, Sen. Cassidy repeats this overblown talking point despite it having been debunked repeatedly by scholars and news outlets alike. To take it a step further, Sen. Cassidy wrote an entire diatribe based on this fallacy and dressed it up for pearl-clutching, teacher-blaming, and union-demonizing.

A quick glance at the report’s footnotes reveals a veritable who’s who of questionable sources. Because nothing says “reliable data” like a headline from your favorite biased news outlet, Cassidy cites PR-spun news articles from the Washington Times and conservative think tanks ExcelinEd and Fordham.

But where’s the science, Senator? This report offers a glaring lack of credible research on reading or reputable analyses of NAEP data. It’s not as though the need for comprehensive balanced literacy instruction hasn’t been heavily researched by Evidence for ESSA, the What Works Clearinghouse, and any number of qualitative and quantitative research studies. Not only that, but there is also the obvious dearth of research supporting Sen. Cassidy’s reform recommendations to align with the heavily politicized SOR narrative. As Dr. Maren Aukerman stated in a recent presentation: “There is no evidence that balanced literacy created a big crisis, nor that more phonics is changing things at a national level. …The pink line shows when Science of Reading legislation takes off. That’s actually when things stopped improving – even before COVID.” (As an aside, I highly recommend Sen. Cassidy and all concerned with literacy listen to Aukerman’s webinar for Real Talk about what the science actually says!)

So why the lack of research-based citations? Could it be that the real research doesn’t match the suspiciously for-profit narrative that’s been the hallmark of the latest “Science of Reading” movement? Yes. Exactly that.

Also tucked neatly within this ill-informed condemnation of literacy best practices is a pointed dig at RRCNA for its Ohio lawsuit against his fellow education-bashing republican Gov. DeWine’s Literacy Curriculum Statute. Here’s my hot take: when junk science is used to justify legislative action that harms schools, teachers, and students, it is our obligation to take action. As I’ve said before, RRCNA will fight for evidence-based reading instruction as defined by educators and research — not politicians and corporate interests. I encourage all educators who know what’s best for kids to stand with us.

By insinuating that teachers can’t or won’t teach kids to read, Sen. Cassidy misses a golden opportunity to back real solutions that would have a meaningful impact on the nation’s literacy rates. He could have used his platform to champion reforms with known impact: smaller class sizes, improved learning conditions, addressing socioeconomic factors, and teacher professional development. Alas, he prioritized the same tried-and-failed methods that noneducators often suggest: more government oversight, mandated testing, and scripted one-size-fits-all curriculum. Have those ever worked? Nope.

From the lack of credible research to the decidedly anti-teacher rhetoric, Sen. Cassidy seems to bank on the assumption that America will swallow his word salad without looking at the ingredient list – and that’s where you come in.

As literacy educators, experts, and advocates, we have the power and the obligation to call out this tomfoolery. So, grab your keyboards and help bombard the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions with the facts about literacy education. Visit RRCNA’s Act Now page and use our simple advocacy tools to share our prewritten letter or your own story by the April 5th deadline.

In the meantime, let’s all agree to stick to the facts, shall we? After all, when it comes to the critical importance of literacy rates, U.S. children, teachers, and schools deserve more than just a tall tale spun by a politician with an agenda.

Dr. Billy Molasso is the Executive Director of the not-for-profit Reading Recovery Council of North America.

Citations:

Aukerman, M. (2024, February 22). Toward comprehensive, research-informed literacy instruction: Thinking with, against, and beyond the science of reading. [Webinar]. Ithaca College Department of Education 2024 Educational Freedom Lecture and Community Read. https://media.ithaca.edu/media/Maren+Aukerman+2024+Ithaca+College+Educational+Freed

Cassidy, B. (2024). “Preventing a Lost Generation: Facing a Critical Moment in Students’ Literacy [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/literacy_report.pdf.

Evidence for ESSA. Reading Programs. Retrieved from https://www.evidenceforessa.org/programs/reading/.

Greene, Peter. “The Most Misused Statistics in Education.” Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2023/03/16/the-most-misused-statistics-in-education/?sh=c00c20b57926.

Institute of Education Sciences. What Works Clearinghouse. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

Loveless, T. (2019, September 26). The NAEP proficiency myth. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-naep-proficiency-myth/.

Reading Recovery Council of North America. Research Article Database. Retrieved from https://readingrecovery.org/resources/research-article-database/.

Thomas, Paul. (2024, February 23). Big lies of education: Reading proficiency and NAEP. Radical Scholarship. https://radicalscholarship.com/2024/02/23/big-lies-of-education-reading-proficiency-and-naep/.

Cambridge University defines the word pressure, in its simplest of terms, as the force you produce when you press on something. Of course, Cambridge provides several other uses for the word, and some are more appropriate than this one for speaking about the pressures of training to be a teacher leader. This definition, however, is perfect for describing my thoughts right now. I am being pressed with a significant amount of mental and physical force. In other words, I’m under a lot of pressure.

The good news is that I understand the purpose of the pressure, and I am embracing it on most days anyway. I avoided pressure-filled opportunities for years because pressure can be scary and uncomfortable. I was satisfied with being a bench warmer. It felt like a safe place to be. Then, one day, someone I cared about told me they were surprised I had applied to be on a special literacy committee for the district because “it didn’t seem like something I would do.” I realized then that I had placed myself on that bench, and it had begun to define me. I had become so comfortable on that bench that I was stagnant, and others would never expect me to want a chance to play in the game again. 

Although it stung a little then, I am so thankful for my friend calling it as she saw it. It was a wake-up call to get in the game, so I did, and I never looked back. If I said that I don’t have days when I feel overwhelmed and defeated, I would be lying. I had one of those days this week. 

I had just returned home from LitCon, where I learned so much, spent time with excellent Reading Recovery teachers, and even met Peter Johnston (one of my absolute favorites). It was time to jump back into all there is to do at school and for training, along with several additional demands. My mind was reeling with all I needed to remember, plan for, and accomplish. Suddenly overcome with fear, I worried that I was not going to be able to do it all and I was going to let a lot of people down. I was feeling the pressure again, and a part of me was missing the warmth of that bench.

After some deep breaths and encouragement from those who love me, I embraced the pressure. I know that I can’t control the demands of life, especially this training year, but I can control my response to it. I don’t have to be overcome by stress. I can embrace the pressure because I understand its purpose. Forming a diamond takes around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and 825,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. I imagine it will take something similar to form me into a Reading Recovery teacher leader, but here I am. Put me in, coach!