Report: Literacy effort making strides

Tennessee’s early literacy initiative has spurred significant improvements in its two years, but barriers persist in teaching students to read.

That’s the overall takeaway from an executive summary report released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Education focused on its Read to be Ready initiative, which aims to get 75 percent of all third-grade students reading proficiently by 2025.

The report says that while many changes through Read to be Ready — launched in 2016 — have worked for teachers, the focus on literacy has uncovered other problems that must be addressed.

“We know that systematic change takes time, but we also recognize the urgency of this work,” the two-page report says. It adds later: “Though we are still in the initial phases of this work, we are encouraged by the progress we have seen, especially the ‘aha moments’ from our educators.”

THE SUMMARY REPORT’S FINDINGS

The accomplishments in the first two years of the initiative are numerous, the report says. Those include:

› A recognition that students perform relatively well in the areas of listening comprehension, vocabulary and language.

› State-funded summer reading camps are seeing improved student reading skills and overall motivation to pick up a book.

› Teachers are teaching to a higher standard and are excited about the work.

But there are still issues:

› Students across the state still struggle with reading comprehension, skills, fluency and writing.

› Teachers need more access to quality classroom materials.

› While teaching standards are higher, many educators still need help in meeting the demands of the standards in their classroom instruction.

FOCUS ON LOW THIRD-GRADE READING SCORES

The department launched Read to be Ready to place a spotlight on the need to improve third-grade literacy rates. Only about a third of all Tennessee third-grade students read on grade level, according to statewide assessments.

Research shows low reading scores at a young age can affect a student’s education and life in later years.

During its launch, the state initially earmarked about $9 million for the initiative. That money has helped the Tennessee education department pump time and money into statewide literacy camps, reports and training. One such resource is a guide on how educators can best teach students with dyslexia.

MORE ANALYSIS TO COME

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said the state is making progress in setting new expectations and supporting literacy by providing training, resources and support to educators.

“The hard work needed to make these changes in practice will take time, but we are committed to doing all we can to promote strong literacy practices across Tennessee,” McQueen said

In March, the department plans to provide a more detailed analysis of its progress and will include findings from both the 2016-17 state assessment and classroom observations.

Contact Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.