Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A new study by the WNY Education Alliance finds just 30 percent of students in economically disadvantaged areas are proficient in reading. And while the alliance calls it a reading crisis, some leading local superintendents call the report inaccurate and misleading.
Tarja Parssinen, founder of the WNY Education Alliance, says in presenting the report: “With less than 30% of economically disadvantaged students in Western New York reading proficiently, the data shows that we have a reading crisis in our region which impacts children in urban, suburban, and rural districts alike. Part of the problem lies in the way in which reading is being taught in many schools. The current approach does not work well for economically disadvantaged students, English Language learners (ELLs), minorities, and children with dyslexia. The good news is that there is a lot of research which explains how children learn to read and plenty of examples that show what can be done in schools to improve reading proficiency. This report is intended to continue the important conversation about what the various stakeholders can do to improve reading instruction in schools and literacy rates in Western New York. Many schools in the region are in various stages of changing from ‘balanced’ literacy to structured literacy and this report will track the impact of those changes over time.”
Hamburg Schools Superintendent Michael Cornell, also President of the Erie Niagara School Superintendents Association, says he looked at it, but didn't want to respond to the report directly. "Here's a fact, the New York State assessments that they're using as their data points are, the cut scores on those assessments do not equate to a student reading at grade level," says Cornell. He says the premise that we're using data from New York State assessments to make some analysis about whether or not students are ready for a grade level is completely faulty. He adds districts across western New York, for years, have been working to incorporate more phonics, more phonemic awareness, and more high interest nonfiction into reading programs.
Cornell says there's also, in the study, a binary choice between scientific reading and other kind of more balanced literacy programs. "It's done best when it's customized to the individual needs of the child in that moment. Our job as leaders is to put as many tools in the toolbox as we can for teachers and give them access to great resources," explains Cornell.
Niagara Falls Schools Superintendent Mark Laurrie says while the numbers are correct, coming from the New York state report card, he says there's a caution in looking at the report. "The caution I would give is in saying that you're using one data point at one point in time with those numbers," says Laurrie. He says when his district is trying to address a student's progress, it uses multiple data points over multiple measures, meaning it tests frequently and we test on a student's growth.
Laurrie agrees with Cornell the report has a misnomer that schools are not teaching phonics. "In Niagara Falls specifically, we have a very, very specific phonics skills program that we teach daily, in grades kindergarten through 2, we monitor it closely. We've provided materials for the teaching of it. And we need to be responsive, responsive literacy in our teaching, meaning that we need to use whatever tool is best to teach that individual child and that one size will never fit all," explains Laurrie.
Laurrie compares the report to measuring your weight once a year and saying that's your progress.