Today’s Literacy Headlines

Many autistic girls mask their struggles, appearing cheerful and capable in class while quietly running on empty. Because autism has long been described through a “male lens,” girls’ needs are often overlooked, and calm can conceal significant struggle. Here are the strategies I’ve used in my own teaching practice that can help create a more welcoming classroom space for autistic girls to feel secure, confident, and ready to learn.

When it comes to reading, the nation’s third- through eighth-graders are still mired in a pandemic-era slump, according to new testing data. In math, the news is only a little more heartening: Student achievement in those grades either held steady or improved slightly, though all grades remain behind performance levels of same-grade students in 2019. The data comes from NWEA, a K-12 testing and research organization, and its Spring 2025 MAP Growth assessment, a suite of tests taken by millions of students in thousands of U.S. schools.

Social emotional learning — lessons in soft skills like listening to people you disagree with or calming yourself down before a test — has become a flashpoint in the culture wars. While the political battle rages on, academic researchers are marshalling evidence for what high-quality SEL programs actually deliver for students. The latest study, by researchers at Yale University, summarizes 12 years of evidence, from 2008 to 2020, and it finds that 30 different SEL programs, which put themselves through 40 rigorous evaluations involving almost 34,000 students, tended to produce “moderate” academic benefits.

Book deserts are not a problem that can solely be solved with access to free digital books. The need for physical books to give children the experience of flipping pages and interacting with real books is still crucial for most of the children we work with each day. As literacy professionals, it is imperative we review the literacy practices in our schools and districts for the students and families we serve to ensure equity. We must enact new ideas to ensure we serve children in the most creative fashion imaginable. We must create policies and procedures which consider fairness for children who are in underserved communities. Additionally, we must provide access to books for the most vulnerable children to ensure we pique the reading interests of children. Here are 10 suggestions for schools looking to address the pressing reality of book deserts. 

Sweeping layoffs announced Friday by the Trump administration landed another body blow to the U.S. Department of Education, this time gutting the office responsible for overseeing special education, according to multiple sources within the department. The reduction-in-force, or RIF, affects the dozens of staff members responsible for roughly $15 billion in special education funding and for making sure states provide special education services to the nation’s 7.5 million children with disabilities. According to sources, all staff in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), with the exception of a handful of top officials and support staff, were cut in Friday’s RIF. The office is the central nervous system for programs that support students with disabilities, not only offering guidance to families but providing monitoring and oversight of states to make sure they’re complying with the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

On Friday, October 10, 2025, the Trump administration laid off about 460 people at the Department of Education, part of mass layoffs across the government. The Department of Education layoffs included almost everybody in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). OSERS houses the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). OSEP makes sure states are following the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and offers support to families. It’s also responsible for nearly $15 billion in funding for special education. We still don’t have a lot of information about what the recent cuts to OSEP mean. We’ll do our best to answer some questions you may have, and we’ll keep updating this article as we learn new information.

While teachers are surrounded by colleagues who can share ideas and offer advice, many school librarians are often on their own. Every. Single. Day. What’s the solution? A Personal Learning Community (PLC). Imagine monthly online meetings with a group of librarians working with the same grade levels to discuss a specific topic, such as revitalizing a nonfiction collection. It’s a chance to learn and grow, build camaraderie, and commiserate. In early 2022, library and literacy researchers Mary Ann Cappiello, Xenia Hadjioannou, and Pam Harland had this vision and brought it to life for a group of 11 New Hampshire elementary school librarians.

An educator with 20-plus years of experience on crafting creative and energizing lessons. To simplify and energize instructional design, I’ve developed three powerful lenses that guide the process — (1) design a scenario, (2) seek partnerships, and (3) lead with the outcome These lenses are the result of 20-plus years of teaching experience at the K–8 level, and multiple collaborative opportunities with my colleagues as an elementary teacher librarian. They have consistently brought creativity and depth to my classroom and library projects. 

More than 1 in 4 U.S. public school teachers are missing the basic materials or staffing support needed to effectively do their jobs, significantly impacting workplace satisfaction, according to a new Gallup-Walton Family Foundation report. Teachers are most likely to report a shortage of “people resources,” with two-thirds saying they don’t have enough teaching assistants, aides or paraprofessionals. This “has a huge impact in the classroom in what teachers are able to do,” said Andrea Malek Ash, a senior research consultant at Gallup who led the survey. Even as teachers struggle to access fundamental resources, they still expressed a desire to improve their practices through professional growth opportunities.

April Wilson is a teacher of the visually impaired who works at schools across rural Illinois. A Braille training program Wilson enrolled in this fall was among dozens of special education-related programs for which the U.S. Department of Education has ended grant funding, , along with more than 30 other ongoing grants related to special education totaling nearly $30 million over the next three years. Nearly a third of those grants were promoting efforts to support K-12 students who have both vision and hearing impairments—among the most complex and rare of all the learning disabilities.

One of my daily challenges as a parent is getting my fourth grader to read for 30 minutes as part of her homework. It’s not because she struggles with her reading skills; she actually reads well-above grade level. Like many kids of her generation, though, my daughter has zero interest in picking up a book. Why would she, when she’s got an iPad offering her nonstop entertainment via videos expertly designed for her short attention span?  It’s not just my daughter who is exhibiting reading apathy; there has been a steady decline over the past 40 years. So, how did this happen? Was it the COVID-19 pandemic that forced students into virtual classrooms? Is it the screens? The shifts in education methods? Yes, yes and yes.

The National Book Foundation today announced the five finalists for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The list includes three novels in verse and three authors who were previously finalists for Young People’s Literature: Ibi Zoboi (2017), Kyle Lukoff (2021), and Amber McBride (2021). This year’s finalists are: Kyle Lukoff, A World Worth Saving; Amber McBride, The Leaving Room; Daniel Nayeri, The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story; Hannah V. Sawyerr, Truth Is; and Ibi Zoboi, (S)Kin.

A groundbreaking children’s television show is set to introduce a new character who is largely non-speaking and communicates with the help of a special speech tablet. “Carl the Collector,” which made history when it premiered last year with its focus on a cast of neurodiverse characters, will add Paulo, a new friend with autism who loves outer space. The character will be the first on a PBS Kids show to use an augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, device.

Every year, Hispanic Heritage Month offers the United States a chance to honor the profound and varied contributions of Latino communities. We celebrate scientists like Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina woman in space, and activists like Dolores Huerta, who fought tirelessly for workers’ rights. We use this month to recognize the cultural richness that Spanish-speaking families bring to our communities, including everything from vibrant festivals to innovative businesses that strengthen our local economies. But there’s a paradox at play. While we spotlight Hispanic heritage in public spaces, many classrooms across the country require Spanish-speaking students to set aside the very heart of their cultural identity: their language.

A $4 billion-a-year initiative created to combat pandemic-related learning loss and expand the regular school day in California is also addressing another issue — recruiting teachers. The Expanded Learning Opportunities Program championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom supports an array of summer enrichment programs and after-school programs. They are typically run by nonprofit organizations on school sites in partnership with local school districts. Education leaders interviewed by EdSource say it is helping to address one of the most critical challenges facing California’s public schools: a persistent shortage of fully credentialed teachers, especially in high-demand areas such as math, special education and bilingual education.

Some people text, some e-mail, but there’s almost nothing better than getting an actual letter in the mail, especially if it’s a letter poem. “A letter poem is when you’re addressing someone else,” explains poet Joyce Sidman. “The way I write them, you’re starting out saying, ‘This is why I’m writing to you. This is why I’m intrigued by you. And these are the things I want to know about you.’” In the title poem of Sidman’s new children’s book, Dear Acorn, (Love, Oak), an oak tree writes a letter poem to an acorn: “I feel you there. A tickle at my twig tips. A plump promise against my rough bark.”

According to a new report from PEN America, public schools across the U.S. saw more than 6,800 book bans in the 2024-25 school year. A new documentary, “The Librarians,” examines the experiences of school librarians who’ve found themselves on the front lines of a battle against censorship. Film director Kim Snyder and librarian Audrey Wilson-Youngblood join John Yang to discuss.

While some schools are grouping readers by ability, our district has had success teaching students in their classroom cohorts. As reading scores remain a top concern for schools nationwide, many districts are experimenting with ability-based grouping in the early grades. The idea is to group students in multiple grade levels by their current reading level — not their grade level. While this may work for some schools, in our district, Rockwood School District in Missouri, we’ve chosen a different path. We keep students together in their class during whole-class instruction — regardless of ability level — and provide support or enrichment by creating flexible groups based on instructional needs within their grade level. We’re building skilled, confident readers not by separating them, but by growing them together.

Teachers can guide students to recognize and understand their emotions by grounding conversations in engaging books. Stories create a comfortable space where kids can see their own experiences reflected, talk about tricky topics, and practice empathy in a natural way. Over the years, I’ve gathered a handful of favorite titles that work well for elementary learners of all ages and reading abilities. I use these books to help children talk openly about feelings, friendships, and the small and big challenges they face every day.

We need not abandon small-group instruction but should employ it sparingly—and strategically. By doing so, we would increase the amount of instruction at least threefold, overnight. It would allow every child to spend much more time reading with purpose and building reading stamina; acquiring knowledge and vocabulary; writing and learning to write and participating in meaningful discussions—every day, all year. Joined with serious teacher training in effective whole-class instruction, we could reasonably expect to see unprecedented improvements in early-grade literacy acquisition, with tremendous subsequent benefits across all courses and grade levels. Best of all, research demonstrates that mostly whole-class instruction of purposeful reading, dialogue, and discussion would have its greatest impact on poor and minority students—the students who have demonstrated the greatest need for large infusions of the core elements of literacy.

Day-to-day operations for most schools will not be impacted by a short-term shutdown. That’s because most of K-12 education is funded through state and local budgets. Federal funding, while critical, only covers about 14% of elementary and secondary education. Grant-making activities and OCR investigations will cease during the shutdown, but school systems will still be able to draw down most funds.

After nearly two decades, the classic kids’ show Reading Rainbow is back — with a new host and a new digital format, but with the same mission of encouraging children to “take a look, it’s in a book.” The original show, which ran for 26 years on PBS with host LeVar Burton, won more than 250 awards, including 26 Emmys and a Peabody Award. It spurred a love of reading for generations of kids. The new host is library evangelist Mychal Threets, who became a social media star while working as a librarian in Solano County, Calif. 

n his first two months in office, President Donald Trump ordered the closing of the Education Department and fired half of its staff. The department’s research and statistics division, called the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), was particularly hard hit. About 90 percent of its staff lost their jobs and more than 100 federal contracts to conduct its primary activities were canceled. But now there are signs that the Trump administration is partially reversing course and wants the federal government to retain a role in generating education statistics and evidence for what works in classrooms — at least to some extent. 

IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) and UNESCO have launched a global call for books to be included in their Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages. The aim of the Collection is to “protect linguistic diversity in the field of children’s literature”. The Collection will be presented at the 40th IBBY World Congress, which will take place August 6-9, 2026 in Ottawa, Canada. 

Across Westminster’s 24 kindergarten classrooms, paras give students more small group instruction and one-on-one attention than they would get with only a classroom teacher. The new literacy effort won’t generate quick results on state tests, district leaders say. That’s partly because today’s kindergartners won’t be in third grade — the year state testing starts — for three more years.

As Kate DiCamillo’s “Because of Winn-Dixie” celebrates a big milestone, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s “Finding Lost” echoes its themes.

Focusing on gross motor skills, spatial awareness, and curiosity can lay the foundation for joyful early writing.

A focus on reading fluency can help to bridge the gap between decoding and comprehension. What does good reading-fluency instruction look like? Research suggests that expert, overt instruction is often required. That doesn’t mean that teachers need to add dedicated reading-fluency lessons to the timetable. Little and often is sufficient for most children, either as part of whole-class practice or in one-to-one or small group interventions. Because reading fluency relies on children becoming accomplished across all three fluency components (accuracy, automaticity and prosody), a mix of strategies is required.

This month teacher Megan Singh will stand at the front of a small class at Enlace Academy. But her students won’t be children — they’ll be parents, grandparents and relatives of Enlace students, learning English together to better support their kids at home. Singh’s family literacy class is one way teachers at the west side Indianapolis charter school work to strengthen reading skills. “It’s systematic phonics instruction that is aligned to what we do here at Enlace in our program, so that parents can transfer those skills and teach them to their kids at home,” Singh said.

To make this guide, we surveyed more than a hundred authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, academics, and publishing pros. We ended up reading more than 200 books, for which we must fulsomely thank our local libraries. Our goal: to find the books that represent the best of these transformations, and to tell the story of an art form that responded to a front-page crisis with a new wave of inventive stories that respect the intelligence, playfulness, and widely differing experiences of young readers. With each entry, we’re suggesting a few other, similar picture books also admired by our nominators—as well as a collection of similar books for older kids, read-alikes suggested by the children’s lit experts at the public library in Arlington, Virginia. 

For preschool students, writing doesn’t begin with neat sentences or perfect spelling. It starts much earlier in moments that hold great meaning, deserve celebration, and set the stage for future success. Teachers can create a writing-rich environment that encourages young learners’ playful marks and inventive spelling.

Recent findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, found that one-third of American high school seniors lack basic reading skills. These rates, the lowest in more than three decades, continue with younger students, with about 40 percent of fourth graders, and a third of eighth graders, reading below the NAEP’s Basic Level. “These literacy rates are a real threat to the functioning of society,” said Catherine Snow, Harvard University’s John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education. “We have a science of reading,” Snow said. “But now, we need a science of teaching reading that is equally well-developed if we want to support teachers optimally to do what they are trying to do in first- through sixth-grade classrooms.”

New research shows that the skills needed for reading begin developing before a child is born, and that signs of reading challenges can emerge as early as 18 months old. “… children don’t start kindergarten with a clean slate,” said Nadine Gaab, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Education involved in the research. Learning to read “is a long process with many milestones that unfold over many years, and it starts primarily with oral language. Years of brain development lead up to the point where formal instruction puts it all together and enables them to read. The study, “Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Development from Infancy to School Age and Their Relationship with Literacy Development,” is the first to track brain development from infancy to childhood focused literacy skills — a window into later academic attainment.     

When Yellowstone was designated the world’s first national park in 1872, early promoters and protectors of our national parks understood that education and public support would be key to ensuring their protection. As I wrote in my book The National Park Classroom, learning was so central to the success of the national park idea that they were considered to be “the single greatest university in the world” and focused on connecting with teachers and students almost immediately upon their establishment. Today, with more than 430 units in a system that encompasses every state and territory of the United States, this century-long effort has resulted in an immense repository of learning resources, created by knowledgeable experts and available free of charge to educators across the world—provided you know where to find them.

We know that Covid (and school closures) hurt achievement significantly between the time that our recent high school graduates were in eighth grade (2019) and in 12th grade (2023–24). But we also know that reading achievement for this cohort sputtered between the fourth and eighth grades between 2015 and 2019. What explains that? The obvious culprit is the rise of smartphones and social media during this period and its impact on motivation, sleep, and the time spent reading for fun. While others, including Harvard’s (and NAGB’s) Marty West, have come to the same conclusion, none of us can prove it.

Children’s picturebooks share the tales, narratives, and experiences of friends, families, and familiar places. They feature various genres and themes that invite exploration, wonder, and the circumspect to solve complex, challenging problems. Children’s picturebooks unlock both fictional settings and informational ecosystems and habitats. When quality children’s picturebooks—like those selected from the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Medal, or ILA’s Children’s Book Awards List—are coupled with powerful literacy practices such as think-turn-talk, asking questions, and written a-ha moments on sticky notes, we can capture inquisitiveness and shoulder-to-shoulder student conversations and use that to weave an awe-inspiring learning environment. 

A statewide survey conducted by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz finds that while most New York educators enthusiastically support the Science of Reading, few report using it as their primary approach to literacy instruction. “What we’ve learned is that their enthusiasm far outpaces the support structures in place to help them implement it effectively. If we want to turn that enthusiasm into improved outcomes for students, we need to invest in deeper, sustained professional learning and provide school and district leaders with the tools to guide change,” said Rosamund Else-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz.

There are many sounds in English that don’t exist in Spanish, and vice versa. Take the sound the letter “z” makes in English, or the rolled “r” in Spanish. In the Southside independent school district in San Antonio, teachers highlight these differences for their Spanish-speaking students. It’s a key part of the school system’s approach to the “science of reading.” Teachers in the district—where about 30% of students are multilingual learners—give early elementary schoolers systematic phonics instruction, a foundational piece of early reading lessons. They teach beginning readers which letters represent which sounds and how to blend them together into words, whether they’re teaching in English, or in Spanish in the district’s dual-language program. Teachers also use their knowledge of language structure to help students make connections between English and Spanish—and to identify where children might need more help. “There’s no need to reteach the whole alphabet,” said Alejandra Ramirez, the district’s elementary reading and language arts coordinator. “If the first language of instruction is Spanish, then we [only] want to teach what doesn’t transfer.”

Some children’s books reach a level of popularity that transcends age. I saw it with Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, when suddenly I had first graders wanting to read about the hysterical exploits of a middle school slacker. And it has definitely happened with Dav Pilkey’s books. Kindergartners want Dog Man, Captain Underpants, Cat Kid Comic Club — and lots of tweens are right there with them. Here are twelve recommendations for fans of the Dog Man, Captain Underpants and Cat Kid Comic Club series.

What if improving children’s mental health — and life outcomes — could be done by teaching kids how their brains work? That’s a key idea behind the approach of teachers at Momentous School in Dallas, a private elementary school that serves 225 students, most of whom come from low-income families. Each day, educators present lessons on neuroscience and mindfulness, from the youngest learners all the way up to fifth graders.

Around the world, many teachers still believe longstanding—but long-debunked—myths about learning and cognition. Misunderstanding how students learn can lead teachers to misdiagnose learning problems and adopt less effective practices. The misconceptions often prove sticky because they stem from a misunderstanding of real research or seem to explain why some instructional practices work, but for the wrong reason.

By rethinking what a good day in the classroom looks and sounds like, new teachers can better support their students. If your classroom hums with the energy of students asking questions, debating ideas, and working together, you haven’t failed. You’ve succeeded in building a space where learning isn’t about being compliant, but about being alive and present.

Raised in a family of storytellers, Augusta Baker continued that tradition, imparting a love of books to readers of all ages. Baker told the story of Brer Rabbit and so many others that reflected the Black cultural experience to countless thousands of children during her thirty-seven-year tenure with the New York Public Library and inspired new generations after her retirement as the storyteller-in-residence at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. The university is now home to Baker’s books and papers, including a collection of writings, photographs, and children’s drawings that she collected during her path-breaking career.

A literacy-first mindset can turn around reading scores — and school culture, write two Indiana school administrators. Two years ago, a significant portion of our middle school students were reading well below grade level. Today, the number of 6th and 7th-graders reading on or above grade level has nearly doubled, and our 8th-grade scores are rising as well. Here’s how we did it — and why it matters for every school in the country.

A dyslexic professor at MIT and an incarcerated dyslexic high school drop out illustrate the importance of identifying why a child cannot read.

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time for preschool and primary grade educators to get in the habit of taking the class outside for experiential learning in nature. While you are establishing routines for yearlong learning, start a simple one that increases engagement, supports academic achievement, and reduces your prep time. Opportunities for outdoor learning don’t require special materials, and you can get started by dedicating just 10 minutes to the experience.

Approximately 1 in 5 children in the United States are estimated to be neurodivergent, representing a spectrum of learning and thinking differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more. Research indicates that early intervention, initiated within the first three years of life, can significantly enhance outcomes for neurodivergent children. Children who receive individualized support are more likely to develop stronger language, problem-solving, and social skills. These gains not only help in the classroom but can also lead to higher self-confidence, better relationships and improved well-being into adulthood.

Free child care is coming to the Land of Enchantment this November. Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department announced that New Mexico will become the first state in the nation to offer universal child care to families as of Nov. 1. Over the past six years, New Mexico has become a trailblazer in child care infrastructure. In 2019, the state created its first Early Childhood Education and Care Department with a Cabinet-level secretary, showing a commitment to improving care and support for young children. 

Andrea Cáceres’ new children’s book, Hello, Tobi! is a celebration of Tobi’s walks in the parks when he first arrived in New York. In the book, Tobi encounters all kinds of families on his walk: tall families, short families. There are families that are quiet and others that like to talk or sing together. Some families look alike, and some families look different from one another. They all say hello to Tobi. Cáceres said it’s a simple idea, but for her, it’s deeply personal.

The National Assessment for Educational Progress, called NAEP or the Nation’s Report Card, has long been considered the gold standard for understanding how American students are doing. So bad headlines were inevitable last week when the long-delayed 2024 results for 12th graders in math and reading and for eighth graders in science were finally released. It is tempting to blame the long tail of the pandemic for the dismal scores. But folks who keep a close eye on NAEP had some provocative analysis. 

Given the muddled state of education research, policy, and practice, what can ambitious education leaders do to better support teachers and to deliver for today’s students? I recommend intentionally playing both the short and the long games. The short game is to embrace opportunities for quick and meaningful wins. These are the common-sense education initiatives that share three critical features: evidentiary support, low financial costs, and scalability. At the same time, identifying and embracing quick wins should not detract from the long game, which requires deeper, structural efforts to build the coherent system of research, policy, and practice our children deserve. When hiring and promoting faculty, universities should prioritize credible research that solves real problems in the field and teacher training that reflects these insights.

We polled our editors and writers about the best board, fabric and interactive books for the littlest ones in your life. These are our favorites.

The award-winning documentary explores contemporary book bans and attacks on librarians. In a room filled to the brim, attendees at the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference in Philadelphia this summer watched Kim A. Snyder’s documentary The Librarians. ALA attendees watching the show gasped and shouted numerous times throughout, as they saw fellow librarians whose lives have been turned upside down, thanks to the nearly five-year fight over books and education in America’s public schools and libraries.

Global illiteracy rates have increased by an average of 2.2% in 2024 and 2025, with 773 million people worldwide unable to read at all, according to a new report released by the World Literacy Foundation yesterday on International Literacy Day. The report revealed that 61% of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds do not own a single book, while two billion people globally struggle to read a simple sentence. The economic impact of illiteracy now costs the global economy an estimated $1.4 trillion annually, according to the report.

High school seniors had the worst reading scores since 1992 on a national test, a loss probably related to increases in screen time and the pandemic. Their math scores fell as well. It was a sign that, among other skills, they may not be able to determine the purpose of a political speech. In math, nearly half of the test takers scored below the basic level, meaning they may not have mastered skills like using percentages to solve real-world problems. Over the last decade, both adults and children began to replace reading time with screen time, social media and, increasingly, streaming video. And over the same period, the federal government and many states relaxed policies that were intended to hold schools and teachers accountable for student learning.

Different literacy tests evaluate different things. It may not be a question of gains vs. declines, but of decoding vs. comprehension. Both skills matter. And yet, many states have a disconnect between the policies they’re pursuing to improve reading outcomes and the tests they’re relying on to tell them if those policies are working.

From science to history to math, try these creative writing activities to help students process content and think deeply.

Most children see and talk about the world around them before they can read words, which makes their visual literacy—their ability to “read” pictures—an immediate, powerful, important tool. Early elementary school activities designed to improve visual literacy skills can easily be woven into existing academic blocks.  A kindergarten teacher runs through her favorite wordless picture books and other fun strategies for guiding students to ‘read’ images.

When we expand our understanding of research, we begin to see how young children already engage in research every day—through their questions, observations, play, and investigations. In this definition of research, a teacher is a facilitator of learning experiences who honors the inquiry process, rather than just a provider of facts. For children in pre-K through second grade, research can take the form of investigation, experimentation, or exploration. 

Memphis students with dyslexia will start receiving targeted reading support this school year through the district’s first universal intervention program in an effort to increase state test scores. Under a nearly $540,000 contract approved by the Memphis-Shelby County school board last month, an outside literacy company will boost support for nearly 5,000 students who show characteristics of dyslexia. But one local reading expert noted that many students struggle with comprehension, which needs intervention beyond foundational skills.