Today’s Literacy Headlines

The Evanston Public Library has named The Great Lakes: our Freshwater Treasure, written by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Jamey Christoph, published by Penguin Random House as the winner of the fourth annual Blueberry Awards. The Blueberry Awards honor children’s literature that strengthens kids’ connections with nature and fosters action for the planet.

Student academic performance remains below pre-pandemic levels. Inequality has grown, with students in more affluent school districts largely back to normal — academically at least — and those in high-poverty communities still struggling. With the pivot to remote learning, technology is now everywhere in American schools, but a new digital divide has opened up between those filling out worksheets on Chromebooks and those learning how to use generative AI. Divisions over school closures and COVID safety protocols turned schools into political war zones and fueled the rise of the conservative parents’ rights movement. Here are 10 ways schools have changed in the last five years.

There are many engaging and effective strategies to develop interpersonal skills, and most are easy to incorporate into daily classroom routines. This teacher uses these strategies to directly teach, model, and practice these essential communication skills at a developmentally appropriate level: turn-taking, small group speaking and listening, whole group speaking and listening, and accountable talk.

The program is a unique example of a school that moved quickly to keep children from missing out on their first year of school — a critical transition period in which they typically start developing academic and social skills. At a time when hundreds of thousands of parents struggled to balance work and Zoom, or held their children out of school until first grade, KIPP’s after-hours program offered families some consistency in the midst of turmoil. 

The executive orders (EO) and slashing of federal services have come for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The elimination of the agency would not only be a devastating and possibly fatal blow to state and local public libraries, the loss of the IMLS would negatively impact school libraries. School librarians use IMLS grant programs, such as the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, to provide better services and support for their students, in addition to other efforts. An IMLS grant is currently the funding source of an effort to return school librarians to Philadelphia’s public schools. 

Dr. Amy Murdoch, assistant dean of reading science in the School of Education at Mount St. Joseph University, talks about creating prominent graduate and doctoral programs in the Science of Reading, and the responsibility of training the next generation of early literacy educators. She discusses how she has seen Science of Reading interest escalate, shares her hopes for the future of reading science in schools, and offers advice for those who are new to the Science of Reading and/or exploring an advanced degree rooted in reading science.

The Trump administration has all but axed the U.S. Department of Education’s statistical research arm — the National Center for Education Statistics — sparing only a handful of employees who are left without department staff needed to analyze education data. Now, those caught in the latest wave of the administration’s cuts are warning that their haphazard nature will lead to a decline in the quality of assessments and data overseen by NCES.

A new paper finds “substantial gap persists” between reading comprehension research and practice, calls for greater efforts to prioritize effective instruction methods. Reading comprehension support should be available throughout the school day and across the curriculum, according to assistant professor and study lead Phil Capin. “The Common Core state standards specify that reading comprehension is an important goal in English language arts instruction, but it’s also an important goal in social studies, in science and in math, particularly as it relates to word problems,” he said.

Reading and writing are so intertwined that instruction in one is bound to benefit the other. HIn this video, Dana Robertson, an associate professor of reading and literacy education at Virginia Tech, offers actionable tips for teachers on ways to intentionally incorporate both disciplines into their lessons.

On March 13, Education Week hosted a panel of middle and high school educators who are focused on supporting students who struggle. They discussed how to find the students who need support, what works to catch them up, and how to make time for this instruction during the school day. Read on for four highlights from the conversation, and insights from other upper elementary and middle school educators who spoke with Education Week.

In January and February, New America’s Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) program and Early and Elementary Education policy program partnered to host a two-part webinar series, helping educators, policymakers, and parents navigate the latest guidance. Researchers, pediatricians, media specialists, and early childhood educators gathered to discuss the evidence and everyday decisions around how technology should be used with children between pre-K and third grade, which types and amounts are appropriate, and whether various forms should be used at all.

Teachers can use these simple strategies to encourage a lifelong love of reading in students: sharing about reading and scheduling reading time and “book shopping” time. As an educator who loves creating a spark in my students’ reading time, I know the importance of building positive reading habits by connecting students to meaningful book choices. Exploring new genres will help build enthusiasm and increase reading engagement for our students, helping to ensure that reading becomes a lifelong habit.

In his new book, “Shift: Managing Your Emotions – So They Don’t Manage You,” neuroscientist Ethan Kross shares the most current research on emotional regulation. He also offers a perspective on the functions of emotion and advises us against suppressing challenging emotions. Instead, he says to notice when their intensity or duration are doing you or your child more harm than good, and continue to gather an array of tools for shifting emotions out of high gear.

In her children’s stories, Clarice Lispector disguised philosophical questions in cheerful, kooky fables about exuberant animals with places to be.

Five years after the pandemic first closed the nation’s schools, national test scores show students backsliding in reading all over the United States. There was one exception: Louisiana. In 2019, Louisiana’s fourth graders ranked 50th in the country for reading. Now, they’ve risen to 16th. According to an even more granular analysis, Louisiana is the only state that has not only made a “full recovery” from the pandemic in both math and reading, but has improved upon its reading scores since 2019. So what’s in Louisiana’s secret sauce? We went to Natchitoches Parish School District to find out: It’s one of Louisiana’s poorest school districts, up against some of the biggest hurdles to student achievement, yet it has managed to quickly grow its reading scores.

The seismic dismissal of employees at the U.S. Department of Education this week represents a “first step” toward abolishing the federal agency, Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed. The slashes further diminish the department’s capacity to carry out its key functions of funding and disseminating research, enforcing the nation’s school accountability laws, investigating discrimination claims and bringing schools into compliance with anti-discrimination statutes, and more. Some of the heaviest cuts will hit the department’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences—which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress and statistics-gathering and dissemination through the National Center for Education Statistics.

Teaching literacy—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—was long thought of as the job of the English department, and if students weren’t considered proficient, it was that department’s fault. Thankfully, that mindset has changed. It is our responsibility, whether you’re a classroom teacher, a paraprofessional, or an educational assistant, to give all of our students literacy opportunities in every discipline. To begin that process, determine a set of guidelines that outline what you want your students to know and be able to do in terms of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

The U.S. Department of Education is firing almost 1,400 employees raising questions about how the federal government will uphold its obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has outlined plans to return control over education to the states. She has proposed moving oversight of IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services and sending the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which handles complaints of disability discrimination in schools, to the Department of Justice. Disability advocates have been warning that efforts to dismantle the Education Department could have an outsized impact on the nation’s 7.5 million special education students.

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) fosters curiosity, problem-solving, and creativity. While integrating STEAM into your classroom can seem challenging due to tight schedules and budgets, simple hands-on projects can significantly enhance learning. These elementary activities easily integrate into your existing curriculum, boosting students’ creativity and critical thinking without taking up all of your time.

The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it was firing more than 1,300 workers, effectively gutting the agency that manages federal loans for college, tracks student achievement and enforces civil rights laws in schools. The cuts could portend an additional move by Mr. Trump to essentially dismantle the department, as he has said he wants to do, even though it cannot be closed without the approval of Congress.

In an age where screens dominate classrooms and workplaces, handwriting might seem like a relic of the past. But research shows that putting pen to paper plays a crucial role in literacy development. “I can’t talk about handwriting without talking about reading and spelling—they’re integrated. In our brains, the networks are connected,” said Dr. Nancy Cushen White, a language therapist and educator who has worked with students of all ages, including adults, to develop writing skills. Handwriting is more than just a motor skill, White explained. Research shows writing by hand leads to better recognition and understanding of letters. It also improves memory and recall of words.

On March 7, the Swedish residence in New York City opened its doors to librarians and other members of the children’s book community for a gathering in honor of International Women’s Day and the 80th book birthday of the strongest girl in the world: Pippi Longstocking. The event was held in partnership with the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and Astrid Lindgren Company, PEN America, and the Swedish Institute. Children’s literature historian Leonard S. Marcus led a panel on the enduring relevance and resonance of the Pippi Longstocking books.

The solution to low reading scores is a complicated one, requiring focused attention and action. There are still many levers that need to be pulled before we are ALL rowing in the same direction. There are institutions of higher education in which teachers are not learning instructional practices aligned with the research. There are balanced literacy and whole-language instructional resources that dominate the market. While there is legislation, it may be too new, too vague, or lacking accountability to really measure the impact. Leadership, community, targeted funding are all areas which need our attention.

Why are teachers still hunched over laptops, crafting lessons from scratch or scouring Share My Lesson and Teachers Pay Teachers for curriculum materials? The work of Oregon professor Siegfried Engelmann (co-creator of Direct Instruction) illustrates why DIY lesson planning and worshiping to excess at the altar of “student engagement” doesn’t cut it. There are three good reasons that teachers shouldn’t be stuck doing it: they aren’t trained for it, they don’t have time for it, and the task itself—complex and interdependent—demands far more than a single teacher can reasonably deliver, or be expected to:

Theater games and activities make great brain breaks for preschool and elementary students—short tasks or activities that redirect their focus and can help with transitions in the classroom. Theater games and activities use movement, creative expression, and pretend and are perfect for preschool and early elementary students.  

Nearly a half century ago, a landmark study showed that teachers weren’t explicitly teaching reading comprehension. Once children learned how to read words, no one taught them how to make sense of the sentences and paragraphs. Some kids naturally got it. Some didn’t. Since then, reading researchers have come up with many ideas to foster comprehension. Although the research on reading comprehension continues, there’s relatively good evidence for a collection of teaching approaches, from building vocabulary and background knowledge to leading classroom discussions and encouraging children to check for understanding as they read. That should mean substantial progress toward fixing a problem identified decades ago. But a paper published in a 2025 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Studies of Reading shows that hardly any of these evidence-based practices have filtered into the classroom.

Although Arlington, like school districts across the map, saw attendance improve since COVID-19’s early aftermath, it hasn’t achieved full recovery. School libraries and their services play a key role in keeping students engaged and willing to come to school, says Darrell Sampson, executive director of student services for Arlington (VA) Public Schools. For many students, the school library may be their only way to explore new worlds and lives, he adds. Arlington’s libraries continue to allow a space for students to connect with literature and one another. He says the school library provides resources and a safe space that incentivizes some children to make it to class with frequency.

As California considers how best to support literacy improvement, one area we need to get right is approving curriculum materials based on evidence, not convenience. Unfortunately, one of the main resources states rely on for this is EdReports, an independent nonprofit whose evaluations many states and districts turn to when choosing a commercial curriculum. We urge California’s education leaders to do the necessary work: Vet curriculum materials based on the established scientific research on reading instruction. The future of our students’ literacy — and their lifelong learning — depends on it.

Are you an early childhood teacher in search of relationship-building resources to help unify your classroom? Have I got a book list for you! Each story [here] suggests activities as possible road maps to assist early childhood teachers and students with considering collaborative projects in the school, and many of the projects also benefit the greater community outside of the school.

Across Arkansas, countless students urgently need targeted literacy support. According to recent data from the Arkansas Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (ATLAS) platform, 64 percent of 5th graders are not proficient in reading. This literacy crisis demands immediate action. Educators like me need access to teaching toolkits of phonemic awareness activities and differentiated small-group instruction ideas so that we can support students at every stage of reading development. One-time training is not enough; teachers need ongoing support so these interventions are implemented effectively and continuously.

In December 2024, two Massachusetts parents sued Calkins, Fountas and Pinnell, their publishers HMH (formerly Houghton Mifflin) and Greenwood, and the Teachers College Board of Trustees. Unlike previous literacy-related lawsuits that claimed inferior literacy instruction violated students’ state constitutional rights, this lawsuit, Conley v. Calkins, contends that the defendants violated state consumer-protection statutes by fraudulently claiming their programs were supported by research.

How can teachers best use research to help their students? Today’s post is the first in a three-part series designed to walk educators through the process of interpreting research to help us all “sift the wheat from the chaff.” Key takeaways: (1) start with your goals and an assessment of whether current programs are meeting those goals; (2) if the current program is aligned with evidence, consider whether it can be modified or supplemented to achieve goals; and (3) if adopting a new program, ask whether a program would be well-situated in your context.

The responsibility of testing falls on students, school staff, and administration. However, it is important to include parents who can bolster student confidence and increase performance. This can also alleviate stress for students and schools. Here are four ways that schools can ask parents for help during testing season.

In my job as an instructional coach at a K–6 elementary school, it seemed like people would run away when the conversation turned to data. Creating systemic schoolwide systems for collecting and analyzing data to benefit teachers has become one of my primary tasks. These systems are now at the heart of some of the meaningful changes happening in our school for teachers and students. Data can bring hope, especially when it shows we are on the right path to achieving student growth.

Pop quiz: How many times has the federal government fulfilled its original commitment to supply 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure to pay for the costs of special education? Answer: Never. In fact, only once—in 2009—has federal funding even exceeded 20 percent, despite a promise in the first version of what is now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to reach 40 percent by 1982.

Contrary to the claim that there’s never been a study, Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking synthesizes a wealth of evidence supporting the role of knowledge in learning. The book argues for a coherent curriculum that systematically builds students’ background knowledge to facilitate deeper understanding and better reading comprehension. This aligns with decades of research in cognitive science demonstrating that comprehension is not a transferable skill but is largely dependent on prior knowledge.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the most famous dyslexic political official in the country, even authoring a children’s book to raise awareness about the learning disability. And yet, California is one of 10 states that doesn’t require dyslexia screening for all children. Education experts agree that early screening and intervention is critical for making sure students can read at grade level. But so far, state officials have done almost everything to combat dyslexia except mandate assessments for all students.

Leonard S. Marcus brings the wonder of a 1968 snapshot to a new generation. “Earthrise” captures the fast-paced drama of America’s competition with the Soviets to reach the moon, as it recounts the hold-your-breath excitement of those pioneering missions. For young people who love engines and technical detail, it maps how rockets, boosters and stages were crafted for each type of flight. For history buffs, it glides, like a Ken Burns documentary, from a specific topic to the temper of the time. 

‘Upon That Isle in Maine’ opened this month at the Maine Maritime Museum, focusing on the maritime-themed books by the Camden author and illustrator. The museum’s staff wanted to build an exhibit focusing on Van Dusen’s maritime-themed books as a way to help highlight how the Maine coast is viewed and how it’s portrayed in books and popular culture, said Chris Timm, the executive director. Van Dusen is among the Maine artists who have helped bring the wonder and beauty of the Maine coast to children all over the world, along with Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney and others, Timm said.

Art and music provide powerful tools to enhance literacy skills by bridging abstract concepts with tangible experiences. By integrating these creative disciplines, teachers can help students build stronger connections to story elements, understand narrative structures, and foster imaginative expression.

Amid a deepening national literacy crisis, awareness is growing that far too many California children do not know how to read. The problem is not that our children can’t learn, experts say, but that they are not being taught properly. That’s why California State Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio (D-48) has introduced a new early literacy bill, AB 1121, to bring evidence-based practices into every classroom in the state. Co-sponsored by EdVoice, Decoding Dyslexia CA and Families In Schools, this bill would ensure that curriculum is aligned with exhaustive scientific research on how the brain learns to read.

Even as “science of reading” mandates sweep across the country, requiring schools to use evidence-based methods for teaching young students how to read, spelling rarely is mentioned in the conversation. Some skeptics of spelling instruction cite the advent of spellcheck technologies, including artificial intelligence, as proof that students no longer need to know how to spell. But literacy experts ardently disagree. “Spelling is a highly accurate window into children’s understanding of language and literacy,” said Molly Ness, a reading researcher and teacher-educator at City University of New York, Brooklyn College. “It’s so predictive of their understanding of how words work and the synchrony of spelling, vocabulary, and word knowledge.”

Studying the lives of mathematicians can help elementary students discover a positive math identity for themselves. Providing students with the opportunity to explore the lives of other mathematicians sparks curiosity, develops perspective, and increases student motivation. When students can see themselves as mathematicians and connect math learning to the real world, their engagement and sense of purpose grow. Linking classroom math with real-world experiences, we help students grasp why their learning matters.

Louisiana has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in the U.S. Yet, in the latest NAEP results, the state performed better than it had in 2019, making it one of the rare places to see academic recovery. Louisiana rose in the national rankings of student performance, most notably in fourth-grade reading, where it moved from 42nd in the nation to 16th. Cade Brumley, state superintendent of education, proclaimed that the improved ranking was a reflection of the state’s back-to-basics approach to literacy: Louisiana has undertaken significant literacy reform in recent years, including a 2021 law that requires teacher training in literacy instruction, though a high percentage of teachers have reportedly not received the training. The state has also poured money into tutoring corp programs.

This weekend (Feb. 22 to be exact) marks the centenary of the birth of Edward Gorey, an artist whose work has wielded a ridiculous amount of power over my own art, and even my worldview. He made the uncanny cool for a kid like me, whose dollhouse contained a miniature Ouija board in the child’s room and a ghost made of Kleenex and cotton balls in the attic.

Last week was a big one for the editorial staff of this newsletter. Our very own Mac Barnett was officially appointed to a two year term as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. The roster of past ambassadors is a list of truly great writers for children, and I dare say Mac fits very nicely on it. I spoke to Mac via text, on what I assume is still a secure line, about his thoughts on the appointment and what the position entails. 

The nation needs more education research, not an end to it. Here are five ideas for a more strategic, agile, relevant and impact-driven federal agency: better implementation, adherence to evidence-based practices, tackling the hard questions, better data collection and usage, and focusing on the most urgent educational challenges — such as “eliminate the early literacy gap by 2035.”

The students of MagTV at Magnolia Elementary School know all about podcasts: Last year, they made their own. It told the story of their classmate who had a sudden and life-changing accident, and it was chosen as one of the fourth grade winners of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge. Now, a year later, MagTV students are gathered to brainstorm ideas for their next podcast. Much of MagTV’s work is centered around community. When they aren’t podcasting, the students practice their reporting and production skills by working on their news show. They put together a 30-minute episode each month, watch it with their class and upload it to their YouTube channel.

Much has been written about the “Mississippi miracle.” Many other states have learned from Mississippi’s 2013 Literacy Based Promotion Act and mimicked Mississippi’s policies and teacher trainings. However, there is one move that Mississippi leaders made that I have not seen any other state implement. Given Mississippi’s outsized gains, I think it is a move worth lifting. Mississippi leaders wanted to improve teacher coaching. Rather than sending money to schools or districts so they could hire coaches, the state hired eighty-five full-time teacher coaches and sent them to schools. They managed the coaches at the state level.

When Mississippi lawmakers in 2013 approved legislation to improve students’ basic reading skills, it fell to State Superintendent Carey Wright to make it happen. She ensured that all K-3 teachers were trained in the “Science of Reading” and hired literacy coaches at schools that had the highest percentage of low-achievers. To guide the effort, Wright turned to the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast, based at Florida State University, one of 10 federally funded labs nationwide. Little-known even among many educators, the labs, created by Congress in 1965, work with states and school districts to implement research-based practices.​

Debi Ryan has worked in a public school setting for about two decades, following a stint in the medical track of speech language pathology. Over the years, she says, public awareness of her role has improved. When she started out, few people knew what her work entailed. Today, though, many know not only what a speech language pathologist does, but often, they know a loved one who has been helped by one too. Ryan is part of a team of 26 speech language pathologists at Huntley Community School District 158 in Algonquin, Illinois, which serves around 8,000 students. “We’re everywhere now,” she says of those in the profession. “You can’t separate what we do from a student’s academic success.”

[We] cannot let reading become another bygone practice. In their more than eight hours of screen time a day, on average, students navigate a galaxy of mediated experiences; schools need to be a bastion of the analog experience of the physical book. The study of English involves more than reading. It includes written expression and the cultivation of an authentic voice. But the comprehension of literature, on which the study of English is based, is rooted in the pleasure of reading.

How do we build foundational literacy skills in preschool? We turn to the research. Cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene’s research supports integrating authentic language and literacy skills in children’s everyday experiences before kindergarten. Children learn many important skills in preschool that will build literacy skills, but none as critical as the following three: print awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics. In this article, I’ll share activities implemented in my classroom when I was a teacher, as well as activities that my teachers have implemented over the years.

The third graders in Steubenville, Ohio, are among the best young readers in the nation. For nearly 20 years, 93% or more of them have scored proficient on state reading tests. In fact, the elementary schools in this economically depressed area are producing better readers than some of the wealthiest places in the country.

A virtual wrecking ball took aim last Monday at the relatively small, wonky corner of the Department of Education: evaluation studies and data collection. Researchers described the canceled projects as rigorous evaluations of how the federal government spends education dollars, efforts to improve the reading and math skills of U.S. students and guides for teachers on evidence-based methods of instruction. Many of the projects were near completion and had mostly been paid out, which means that the implied savings are likely much less than $881 million touted by DOGE. DOGE also terminated masses of census-like data collections that are used to track student trends and help schools make informed decisions. U.S. participation in international assessments was also canceled. Without those data points and results, it may be impossible to tell how well students are doing.

Free, high-quality pre-K community programs are huge for families, who otherwise would be spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on day care. They can be wonderful for kids, who are better prepared for kindergarten and more likely to go to college one day. And they’re a surprising bright spot in an otherwise bleak child care landscape. In 2022–2023, enrollment in publicly funded preschool hit an all-time high, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

From metaphors for elementary school kids to mindset shifts and graphic organizers for teens, here are teacher-tested tips for normalizing learning accommodations across grade levels. The ability to frame accommodations in a positive way—both for the children who need them and for classmates who are curious or even judgmental about learning supports—is a critical part of creating a classroom where kids respect each other and advocate for their own needs.

Khan’s chief learning officer says AI isn’t education’s ‘golden ticket,’ but can be ‘an important tool in the toolbox’ in improving student outcomes. Khan Academy founder Sal Khan and chief learning officer Kristen DiCerbo negotiated a partnership with Open AI, and just five months later, their AI-powered Khanmigo tutoring bot debuted. Last summer, Khan Academy launched an AI writing coach. Nearly two years in, DiCerbo remains bullish on the possibilities of AI tutoring, cheerfully engaging critics about the limitations of the technology, even as by all measures it evolves and improves. 

We’re all influenced by how we see the world. Sometimes that view is clear and sometimes it’s a bit fuzzy. Adjusting our “lens” can help us better understand one another, and ourselves. How appropriate to find three recent picture books that look at eyeglasses from different perspectives. A forgetful bear, a lovesick boy and, yes, George Washington share their views from the bridge.

It’s not often that a journalist prompts sweeping change in America’s schools. But Emily Hanford, the creator of the “Sold a Story” podcast, has probably done more than any educator, official, or researcher to drive the contemporary reading revolution in America’s classrooms. A senior correspondent for American Public Media, Hanford has been an education reporter since 2008. In 2017, she got interested in how kids learn to read. Five years later, in 2022, the product was “Sold a Story,” a series of podcasts that won an Edward R. Murrow award, was the year’s second most-shared show on Apple podcasts, and was named one of 2023’s 10 Best Podcasts by Time. I recently had the chance to chat with Hanford about “Sold a Story,” reading instruction, and education journalism.