Dive Brief:
- Despite increased education funding and incremental improvement in Maryland’s 4th grade literacy scores, a new report finds the state still needs to make strides to conquer its literacy crisis.
- At its current pace, it would take Maryland 40 years to reach its goal of 95% proficiency for 4th graders, according to the 2025 report from Maryland READS, a nonprofit focused on improving literacy rates through the science of reading initiatives.
- The organization is advocating for state and education leaders to improve instruction, build strong reading ecosystems across communities, and invest in tools and resources to help families understand technology’s impact on literacy.
Dive Insight:
Maryland READS used reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program as a temperature and pulse check on how well Maryland schools are teaching reading. According to MCAP data, 66,619 Maryland students in grades 4 and 8 cannot read proficiently.
“Our state is dealing with a budget crisis, including unexpected federal education cuts. Equally concerning, our report shows far too many students are not able to read proficiently — we are still facing a reading crisis,” said Trish Brennan-Gac, executive director of Maryland READS, in a press release.
To address the problem, the Maryland State Department of Education used community feedback to develop and adopt a PreK-3 Literacy Policy in October 2024. The statewide plan aims to boost literacy through evidence-based instruction aligned with the science of reading. It also includes a requirement that 3rd grade students demonstrate adequate reading proficiency to be promoted to 4th grade — with provisions for good-cause exemptions and parent consent — starting in the 2027-28 school year.
In 2024, Maryland READS also launched the READ Strong Network, a statewide effort to unite communities around a common goal of improving reading proficiency for all students. Maryland READS provides data tools and coaching to help organizations in the network and collaborates with them to define pilot projects and secure resources to support the work. According to the report, the goal is for every county in the state to establish a READ Strong Network by the end of 2028.
“Last year, we sounded the alarm about the growing reading crisis in our state. Today, while we recognize the strides being made to build stronger systems of support, we must be blunt: we are far from where we need to be. A crisis a decade in the making cannot be solved in a single year,” the report says.
One of the main ways to improve instruction, the report says, is through teacher training programs. Maryland READS urges educators to use free programs — like AIM Institute for Learning & Research Pathways programs and the evidence-based reading instruction micro-credential at the State University of New York New Paltz — to equip teachers to follow approaches based in the science of reading.
Maryland READS also argues that reading proficiency is being hindered by too much screen time, and wants this issue brought to the forefront of conversations around improving literacy. Likewise, the organization cautioned against incorporating AI reading bots in literacy education.
Print materials, the report says, tend to slow students down — in a good way — so they can reflect on what is on the page, whereas scrolling and skimming on digital screens diminishes the brain’s capacity for immersive reading.
The report recommends that educators and parents limit children’s use of electronic devices in and out of school. It also urges state and education leaders to create education programs to help families understand what the research reveals about the impact of screen time.
“We cannot allow these difficult times to derail our progress. We challenge all Marylanders to unite behind solutions proven to build strong readers,” said Brennan-Gac. “This report reminds us that despite the current obstacles, we must keep reading at the forefront of our priorities because the future of our children depends on it."
