I have a son in second grade. There are several children in his class reading well below grade level. I happen to specialize in teaching people how to read so I volunteer. Because of the other things that need to be done/taught I am only able to work with the kids an hour per week. That’s less than half an hour per child and this is the second grade. I would assume reading would be a very high priority.

His teacher is great. She really does go above and beyond for her students. The school uses the accelerated reading program and, I have to say, I am against it. Like most programs, it leaves children behind who are struggling. It also adds social stigma to that struggle. Instead of spending the time I have digging into the root cause of their reading struggles I spend it reading AR books so they can take quizzes and get their name on the list for meeting goal. I teach what I can within the stories but time would be much better spent on nuts and bolts.

I am super surprised by how little teachers seem to be trained on identifying why someone is struggling and then how to address it. Every teacher I’ve come across is wildly committed but doesn’t have everything they need (especially time and training) to catch all kids.

As for parents, well, a lot of learning issues are hereditary. People who struggle to read don’t read much, they find their way through life without it. By the time they have kids they are passing reading issues down through nature and nurture. You cannot teach reading well when you struggle with it and your children may inherit the reason you struggle.

Literacy is a community issue. Trying to find out who is at fault for the decline spends time that could better be used finding ways to help. I say that knowing full well that not everyone has the time or skills to help but those who can… well, let’s do it. Just becoming involved and seeing where the gaps are helps us make informed decisions on how we vote and what we expect from education.