For decades, schools across the country taught reading using a program, bought from vendors, that relied on pictures and other cues rather than words. The districts were promised improved outcomes. In fact, it worsened them. Some states, heeding years of advocacy by education experts, are going back to basics, using what’s called the science of reading to teach phonics. In New Jersey, though, with almost 600 school districts, home rule is making reform difficult. NJ Spotlight News’ urban education writer, Julie O’Connor, explains why, and what’s at stake. This interview has been lightly edited.
Joanna Gagis: What is home rule and why is it impacting the reform that the Department of Education has tried to roll out?
Julie O’Connor: Home rule is the idea that individual towns and school districts should have the power to manage themselves with minimal interference from the state. The districts should make their own decisions on things like budget, hiring and curriculum. So in practice, the state does not force districts to use the specific reading method shown to be more effective. Instead, it describes the qualities that a good program should have, and then it lets the locals decide.
JG: Is there specific guidance from the state in terms of what that ideal model should contain?
JO: The state really doesn’t. It doesn’t have a list of high-quality programs like other states do. By contrast, Republican-controlled states are doing it very differently. They are mandating that districts choose from an approved list of high-caliber programs. In New Jersey, it’s really left mostly to the locals. Some of them are presumably using really high-quality programs and others may not be.
And critics say that it’s confusing because districts are now being swamped by curriculum vendors, all claiming that their program is science-based. And this local control carries a cost for kids, critics say. It means that children’s literacy will be determined by zip code lottery.
JG: Yeah, there’s so much behind that science of reading. We’ve covered this issue for a long time, but the data shows that really students who don’t learn phonics, and really a phonics-based type of reading, end up having much decreased scores and performance levels as they go. How many districts in New Jersey have not yet made that change? Is that information clear?
JO: We don’t know. It’s a great question. And I believe that I’ve been told that the state board has, you know, told districts to make public their programs. But I’m not sure if that’s happening across the board in a standard way. So I believe that’s something that advocates are looking into right now.
JG: We just touched on the science behind reading, but what does it show? Your reporting really touched on what it shows in terms of how a child’s brain is actually activated when they’re learning the right way.
JO: Yes, the science of reading includes a new emphasis on sounding out words. And it’s not just about phonics. Kids also need the vocabulary and background knowledge to really understand what they’re reading. And a cognitive scientist who I spoke with says that this is showing success not just in higher test scores, but in before-and-after brain scans that show that when kids learn to decode words, it causes a physical change in their brain that allows them to read more fluidly. And he called the evidence very compelling.
JG: What can you tell us, Julie, about the importance of learning to read by the age of third grade?
JO: Third grade is really a critical year because the kids go from learning to read to reading to learn, meaning that they’re using their reading skills to acquire knowledge in all different subject areas. Unfortunately, this is a big problem in New Jersey because we’ve seen as many as 60% of third-graders can’t read at grade level.
And in some districts, it’s 90%. And that’s a real concerning marker for experts, because that is a critical year where you need to make that transition from learning to read to reading to learn.
JG: In your talking with education experts, did you hear any advice, any guidance for how districts one, can know which curriculum is actually meeting the criteria? And two, how to get everyone on board with this new idea a lot faster?
JO: A method that some other states have used is to require local districts to either adopt a proven strategy or show that their own method works just as well. I spoke to a prominent advocate for reading reform, Paula White, who describes New Jersey’s system today as everyone choosing their own adventure when all options are not created equal.
There’s a lot of confusion about which programs are evidence-based and which aren’t. And it’s very challenging for districts to have to sort that out on their own.
JG: Paula White, of course, with JerseyCan, they’ve been a longtime advocate for this. We do have a new commissioner of the Department of Education. What have you heard from her and have you heard her address this issue in particular?
JO: Gov. Mikie Sherrill’ new education chief, Lily Laux, led this reform effort in Texas to get districts more in line with the science. And while these reforms in other states have not been perfect, the scientist I spoke with says the biggest hurdle is that people will stick with what they know — what he called methods contradicted by a large body of research and not even face the challenge.
JG: In other words, status quo is good enough.
JO: Yes.
JG: But that’s where the guidance comes in. Is there any enforcement behind the guidance for districts that aren’t making those changes?
JO: That is an open question. What will the Sherrill administration do if certain districts do not choose programs that are considered evidence-based? Will the Sherrill administration penalize those districts by withholding funding? That’s something that we saw in Texas, which used carrots and sticks to ensure that districts were in line with the latest research.
We don’t yet know what the approach will be. But advocates are looking to the Sherrill administration for a sign of how much the state will be involved.
JG: And, of course, Lily Laux did come from Texas. Do you have a sense that that that she was behind that carrot-and-stick approach?
JO: She certainly led the effort there — overseeing many, many districts, getting them in line with the latest science. A lot of advocates are hoping that she will bring more of a forceful approach to New Jersey in order to ensure that children’s literacy isn’t determined by zip code lottery.
