AS IT STANDS TODAY
- Reportedly, 75% of our elementary schools currently use basals, filled with short stories that DON’T gradually get harder, thus making pacing difficult.
- To date, at least 8 states have introduced or passed bills that aim to end the teaching of cues, pictures, context clues, and syntax to figure out a word.
- 5 states have outright banned 3-cueing or say it can’t be used in “state literacy guidance covering methods and materials. (In 1975, 75% of K-2 teachers used 3-cuing to teach reading.)
- In a recent RAND Corporation study, teachers in grades 3 to 8 say 44% of their students always/almost always face reading challenges in their content-area courses, and…
- 20% of middle school teachers must teach basic reading skills like phonics three or more times a week.
- In 2013, Mississippi changed course, opted for explicit, systematic phonics instruction, and did away with 3-cueing—the result: improved reading achievement.
OF NOTE:
- Since opening in 1980, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion.
- K-12 public schools cost U.S. taxpayers some $857 billion annually.
- Our schools spend $26 to $41 billion on ed tech annually; by 2030, the price tag is expected to hit $170 billion.
- A new Gallup poll finds that 73% of adults are dissatisfied with public schools, up from 62% in 2010.
- As for the recent 2024 NAEP, the National Assessment Governing Board reports that:
- Reading scores are down nationally in both 4th and 8th grades, with no state seeing reading gains in either grade, compared to 2022.
- 33% of our 8th graders are NOT reading at the NAEP Basic Level—a greater percentage than ever, meaning they likely can’t identify such basics as the chronological order of events, character traits, and main ideas.
- Just 31% of our 4th graders scored at or above the Proficient Level, 2 percentage points lower than in 2022 and 4 points lower than in 2019.
Just remember: Noah Webster touted phonics instruction some 242 years ago…
~ With thanks, Carol
