Daily Herald opinion: State's literacy drive is important to prepare students for a changing world
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
A new law signed last month by Gov. J.B. Pritzker requires the state Board of Education to develop a "comprehensive literacy plan" for students by Jan. 31, 2024. How thoroughly the ISBE can meet that goal in five months may be open to question. That it needs to is not.
We can reasonably debate the impact on reading demand of a burgeoning social media environment that emphasizes interaction through compressed messages of only handfuls of words. But there is no question that such an environment increases the pressure on reading proficiency.
Readers of the future may find themselves confronted by shorter messages, but the need to quickly and capably process those messages will be stronger than ever.
Yet, educators see troubling signs that schools and students are not keeping up. As our Madhu Krishnamurthy reported Monday, only a third of Illinois 4th graders read at a basic level of proficiency, according to a study by the nonprofit National Council on Teacher Quality.
Some teachers are pushing to begin addressing such shortcomings at the earliest stages and on the front lines. Citing the NCTQ study and armed with their own deep and diverse levels of education experience, teachers with the nonprofit Illinois Early Literacy Coalition are pushing the state board to develop more programs to prepare teachers, especially in the early grades, to teach students to read effectively.
It's interesting to note that the teachers are not disappointed with the quality standards for reading proficiency set by the state. Their concern is whether teachers are being properly prepared to achieve them.
"(The NCTQ) report shows that there is a deep disconnect between ISBE's standards and the course content in many accredited Illinois programs," states a petition the coalition is delivering to the state school board calling for improved programs in teacher preparedness.
A central feature of the coalition's message is an insistence on what it describes as "scientifically based reading instruction." To the extent that that means instruction that has been shown to be successful in teaching young people how to understand reading material they encounter, that is surely an appropriate standard. But it's important to emphasize that the ultimate standard - the ability to both read material and fully comprehend its meaning - must be built on a broad consensus of experts in the field.
In its description of its work so far, the state school board emphasizes that "literacy experts from throughout the state have contributed to this initial draft." Such broad, inclusive outreach demonstrates the level of commitment to comprehensive research and analysis that any comprehensive literacy plan must build from.
With that kind of approach and a commitment to helping teachers implement the methods it develops, Illinois students will have the kind of preparation they need to live in a world in which reading is the foundation for social interactions, technical and professional growth and, yes, purely personal enjoyment.