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A district improvement specialist explains how her district successfully implemented a new approach in response to Arkansas’ literacy legislation.

Throughout Marion School District, we have kindergarteners who have been to preschool and have story time every night, and then we have students who come into kindergarten tragically unprepared to learn how to read. Our data tells us that the unprepared kids can be two or sometimes three years behind their peers. Educators try so hard to do what’s best for every young learner, but we’ve found that achieving this balancing act using traditional teaching methods is unrealistic.

Two years ago, when Arkansas ranked in the lower third of states for reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), state legislators decided that a phonics-based approach to teaching reading would be the most effective for young learners. The state passed a law that requires educators to be certified teachers of phonics-based literacy by the year 2021. After two years of earning teacher buy-in with hands-on activities and an enriched curriculum, our district has seen typical low-scoring students reach the higher scores usually achieved by their advanced peers.

To get to this point, we had to choose a streamlined program and then educate our community of teachers and parents. Making sure we were all in it for the long haul, implementing the program with fidelity, and showing a dash of patience have gotten us this far.

To read the entire article, visit The Edvocate.