How to stop the decline of students’ reading? Here’s a roadmap for Texas – The Dallas Morning News

Even when Texas legislators are focused on the passage of an expansion voucher program, they should not miss out on where our education priorities should be. Improving the reading and mathematics of our children must be our Northern Star in the light of the heartbreaking results for the state in the national assessment of educational progress.

NAEP is known as the Nation’s report card, and Texas numbers were deeply anxious. About 43% of fourth -graders and 39% of eighth -graders read below the main level and the national average. NAEP numbers show that Texas performed more than in 2022.

Some of the discussions in Austin have dealt with the increase in the salaries of teachers and the distribution of education to a student, which are very necessary. However, funding should be part of a broader conversation about the Texas educational policy and how to compensate for a disturbing trend in reading and mathematics results.

Literacy skills in the early years predict the success of the student and it may be too late to compensate for the lost place in the third grade when students begin to accept the Staar state assessment. Therefore, the state literacy policy at early childhood should focus on target teaching interventions, monitor progress and better coaching for teachers, from kindergarten to second grade.

“Only one in five students who have not passed the Staar grade Staar assessment is at grade -to -grade grade level,” says Amber Shields, Managing Director of Early Dallas questions in the partnership for engagement, a non -profit purpose for education. “We need to take immediate, decisive action to deal with the literacy crisis.”

Shields highlighted educational policies in Mississippi and Louisiana, which can be applied in Texas. Commission and several non -profit organizations, including Texas 2036 and Excelined in action, are behind a legislative impetus for a comprehensive early literacy strategy.

The good news is that Texas politicians have already made good movements. In 2019, legislators adopted legislation on the creation of reading academies, a teacher development program based on reading science.

What is missing is more support for some of these existing strategies.

For example, academies’ reading program is a great starting point, but teachers need continuous support with instructive coaches who can provide feedback. With continuing budget deficits, many school districts have not prioritized coaching.

And in Texas, where there are a large number of non -certified teachers and a large number of teachers with less than five years of experience, investing in teacher development and feedback is paramount.

Getting the right to policy is only the beginning. Once applied, it can take three to five years to start seeing the desired results.

Texas legislators should not wait any more. Early literacy does not belong to the back burner.

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