The solution to California’s literacy problem needs to go beyond third grade

Third grade students in California’s lowest performing schools are doing better at reading, thanks to the Elementary Literacy Support Block Grant funding and a new focus on curriculum materials based on the science of reading.

That funding focused on improving education for students primarily in the youngest classrooms (K-2), with a stated goal of having all students reading by third grade.

While many California districts that received grants have been praised for providing student support such as tutoring or after-school programming, they are still focused on K-3. None of them have developed a comprehensive plan to address illiteracy among the older grades.

The most recent National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) stated that 68% of fourth graders lack key literacy skills. In California, the latest assessment of student performance shows fewer than half of eighth graders are proficient in English language arts. Many of these tweens and teens still have reading skills between a first and fourth grade level.

With literacy instruction traditionally focused in elementary school, middle and high school teachers are unequipped to support more than half of the students in their class who don’t yet have the literacy skills to access grade level text. The core problem is twofold: Educators are not trained to teach structured literacy in secondary school, and they do not have the right content for their older students reading far below grade level.

As one eighth grade teacher said, “I came here expecting to teach literature, but I soon realized I had to learn how to teach literacy first.”

Today’s middle and high school curricula assume that students beyond the fourth grade no longer need to learn how to read — instead, they should be able to read to learn. The reality is that many cannot.

Without the phonics and fluency skills, or background knowledge to make meaning from text, how can students analyze things like the author’s purpose and point of view, or use primary sources to write historical essays, or lab reports?

Students who struggle with reading end up falling behind across all subjects — from social studies to science to math — contributing to increased dropout rates.

The second problem is a deep lack of age-appropriate “learn-to-read” books for tweens and teens.

We cannot support and empower adolescent readers when their only choices for practice are stories like Dr. Seuss’s “Hop on Pop.” While these books are on their reading level, they are misaligned entirely with their interests. The content is boring and juvenile, even embarrassing, to a sixth or 10th grader, and the characters are not representative of students’ range of diverse backgrounds and identities. As a result, these students become disengaged and often stop reading altogether. For effective literacy instruction, we need to provide students with engaging opportunities for meaningful practice.

So how do we extend literacy instruction beyond the third grade, systematically? 

1. Equip teachers in higher grades with the skills and knowledge to support literacy growth. With additional training on literacy instruction, and access to resources to empower student reading practice, we can equip today’s middle and high school ELA teachers with the tools they need to drive growth for students, beginning wherever they are.
2. Rethink the choices students have for reading practice. Until just a few months ago, there were no suitable or effective “learn-to-read” books written for older students. As more age-appropriate content becomes available, we need to create a new shelf in the library filled with books that are culturally inclusive, intriguing and accessible for students at any intersection of age and reading level.

We can transform literacy and access if we apply the science of reading in a relevant way to older students. They can catch up, but to help them do so, we must meet them where they are: reengaging reluctant readers with texts they can read and want to read — books that reflect their identities and experiences — and help them discover the joy of reading.

Instead of holding students back in grade three, as some districts have proposed, let’s think about how to propel them forward, starting wherever they are.

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Louise Baigelman is a former literacy teacher and CEO of Storyshares, a literacy organization dedicated to inspiring a love of reading across the globe.

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