Interim State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright introduced a resolution Tuesday requiring all Maryland students to learn how to read using “the science of reading,” a form of instruction based on neuroscience and phonics.
Wright, the former Mississippi state superintendent, credits the science of reading as a big part of her success in Mississippi, where she spearheaded a stunning rise in the state’s historically low literacy rates. The improvement earned the shorthand of the “Mississippi Miracle,” though Wright said it took years of hard work.
“It hit everybody in a very powerful and positive way,” Wright said of Mississippi students’ improved literacy scores, including children living in poverty, minority students and students with disabilities.
Gov. Wes Moore offered support for the initiative Tuesday. The policy goes into effect next academic year.
“We wanted to create a sense of urgency around this,” Wright said in a news conference Tuesday. “It’s not acceptable that we have more than half of our children not reading proficient by the end of third grade.”
The science of reading emphasizes the importance of phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension in developing strong reading skills.
Maryland’s literacy rates have increased in recent years but are still low. Just 48% of third graders scored proficient in reading on last year’s Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, a key indicator for educational development in Maryland. The proficiency rate for third through eighth grades is 47%.
Just 31% of fourth graders and 32% of eighth graders scored proficient in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, another statewide metric. Nationally, Maryland ranked 40th on the fourth grade exam and ranked 25th on the eighth grade exam.
“We know that there’s a better way to teach reading,” Wright said at the news conference.
Wright and the state board set a steep goal as part of the literacy initiative — boosting Maryland’s ranking to the top 10 states in reading on fourth and eighth grade NAEP exams by 2027.
“We have to show strong progress in literacy,” Joshua Michael, vice president of the state board, said of the goal. “That’s how the public is going to measure whether this is working or not.”
Tuesday’s resolution is Wright’s first major policy since she stepped into the role of interim superintendent in October. It’s the third resolution the Maryland State Board of Education has adopted in four years.
Maryland used a patchwork of reading instruction across its 24 school districts until all but one district adopted some science of reading policies to receive a federal grant offered during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There are pieces and parts of different programs,” Michael said at the news conference. “We’re pulling those pieces together, and we’re saying this is the direction that all schools in the state of Maryland are going to take forward.”
Differences between phonics instruction and an approach called “balanced literacy” that teaches recognition of whole words using context clues, or “cueing,” are sometimes seen as political. The debate over the approaches is known as the “Reading Wars.”
Balanced literacy doesn’t work, Wright said. She added that the improvements in Mississippi prove the benefits of the science of reading, which is based on decades of neurological, psychological and linguistic research into how the brain learns.
Teams of literacy teachers have visited school districts to review and help develop their reading instruction. Wright is also working with colleges and universities to improve teacher preparation and professional development with the science of reading, the education department said in a statement. The state’s licensure renewal process will also incorporate the instruction.
Tenette Smith, who led elementary reading for the Mississippi Department of Education, joined the education department this month to lead literacy instruction, the department said in a statement. She will implement teacher coaching and professional development.
In addition, at its Tuesday meeting, the state board unanimously approved a new standard to determine a high school student’s ability to succeed in college or a career after graduation.
Maryland is moving away from its reliance on standardized tests to determine readiness. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s education reform plan, requires the state to update its standard for college and career readiness. The education department and state board have spent months considering a new standard and the results of an empirical research study.
The study found that offering multiple ways to demonstrate readiness is a better predictor of a student’s success after high school and is also more inclusive.
Now, there are two options for students to be considered ready for success. One is having both a GPA of at least 3.0, plus either earning an A, B or C in Algebra 1 or scoring at least proficient in Algebra I on the MCAP. The second option is to have a GPA of at least 3.0 and score at least proficient in both Algebra I and English 10 on the MCAP.
The goal is for all students to meet the standard by the end of their junior years and no later than graduation.
The education department emphasized that students need to start preparing to meet these standards in elementary school.
