Dive Brief:
- A year and a half into its implementation, a New York City literacy initiative is showing promise as teachers report a positive experience with the new curriculum’s rollout, according to a survey report released by nonprofit teacher advocacy group Educators for Excellence-New York.
- NYC Reads requires each local district within the city to choose one of three phonics- and evidence-based K-5 English language arts curricula. The previous curriculum selection process left the decision to each principal, leading to inconsistencies in quality and cultural relevance while also impeding superintendents from aligning professional learning with content, the report found.
- As teachers continue to implement the new curriculum, Educators for Excellence-New York recommends additional guidance for teachers working with diverse populations, maintaining and improving professional learning support, and continuing to gather feedback from educators.
Dive Insight:
In New York’s 2022 statewide assessments, only half of 3rd to 8th graders scored “proficient” in reading, according to data from the state education department. Results were worse for students of color, with just 31% of Black 4th graders and 30% of Latino 4th graders achieving proficiency.
NYC Reads was launched to combat these low scores by shifting the reading instruction curriculum from the balanced literacy model, which prioritizes guessing and contextual clues, toward the science of reading, which emphasizes phonetic memorization and text-based comprehension.
The initiative had two rollout phases: The first educator group began using the new curriculum in fall 2023 and the second in fall 2024.
Survey data found that Phase 1 educators showed more positive results, with 55% of Phase 1 teachers reporting feeling confident teaching the curriculum to students performing on grade level, compared to 38% of Phase 2 teachers. The report notes that while this finding was not surprising, it exemplifies the need for patience as the program continues to roll out.
The report also highlights that strong professional learning is crucial to success in rolling out the new curriculum. It found that teachers who participated in more effective professional learning experiences have more positive perceptions of the materials, more confidence in implementing them, and less need for supplementary materials.
According to the report, this trend persists across virtually every question, including a lowered need to supplement the curriculum among teachers who report effective professional learning.
Because of these findings, the report recommends that New York City Public Schools continue to maintain and improve professional learning support for teachers in all phases of the initiatives for at least the first three years of implementation. It also suggests building internal capacity among teachers to shift training in-house.
The overall curriculum rollout has been a positive experience for most teachers, with less than 20% of reporting negative perceptions. The survey found that 85% of respondents said their practices had changed moderately or very much due to the new materials, and 76% of those who had shifted practices report it being a positive change.
This demonstrates a high degree of teacher buy-in, the report suggests.
But the results still show areas needing improvement. Over two-thirds of respondents report needing supplementary materials or resources to meet their students’ needs. Focus group input and survey responses also showed implementation is more challenging when teaching students who struggle to understand content expected for their grade level.
To address these challenges, the report recommends that resources and guidance focus on scaffolding and adapting materials for diverse learners. Teacher engagement throughout the implementation process is recommended to not only update educators but to collect their feedback.
The report also suggests expanding the initiative to middle school within the next two to three years to ensure every New York City Public Schools student has access to high-quality literacy materials.
