EDITORIAL: Oregon needs to step up and invest in literacy
Apr. 18—Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and state Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, have found a good answer to a knotty riddle: How can we get more Oregon children reading at grade level?
They want to lift how Oregon teaches reading and hope to invest $120 million in a child literacy program over the next two years.
Only about a third of Oregon students read at grade level in the fourth grade. Other states struggle, too. That shouldn't make Oregonians feel better.
The answer is not more Mozart in the crib or in utero. It's not just having lots of books in the home or reading more to children, though that can help. The answer may not be how your child's school teaches reading now.
It's using the science of reading in the classroom. It's starting with phonics in school to help kids sound out words. Then there's building fluency and vocabulary, specialized tutoring to help students that struggle. And more.
"It is driven by the science," Gov. Kotek said. "We have districts that have started some of this work. The state is here to be a strong partner to ensure every child in every part of the state has what they need to be able to read."
Debate over how to best teach reading in the United States was long unsettled. Some pushed that students should learn to first recognize whole words. There's been those such as Noah Webster — yes the dictionary guy — who pushed for beginning with phonics. And while not everybody agrees, it's what a growing group of reading specialists believe in.
"We have national and local experts telling us this is the best way to teach reading," Kropf said. "We know that 95% of our kids have the cognitive ability to learn how to read and write if given the right type of instruction. We are not seeing those types of outcomes for our kids."
The vehicle for Kotek's and Kropf's change is Kropf's House Bill 3198. It's been moving forward with bipartisan support. It sets up the initiative, providing grants for schools to get where they need to be. The bill requires updates on progress to the Legislature.
The biggest concern about the bill seems to be it may not go far enough. It may not be enough money. It may not provide enough control over what materials are used in schools. It does not change the way teachers are taught to teach reading.
It is a start.
We should be unsatisfied that so many Oregon children aren't reading at grade level. We should be looking to make changes based on the best available science of reading. We should be passing HB 3198. If you want to fix education in Oregon, there's no better starting place than literacy.
"When we look at student success, we worry about kids not being able to read at the right grade level or even graduate," Kotek said. "We've got to take that one piece and really go after it. I think the problem has been: The problem is so large that we can't solve anything. We can solve this. We know what works for students. Some of our districts are already going down this path. The state has to step up."
