Curriculum: Reading and Math

Younger elementary students are likely to need more reading and math support because they are either falling behind or consistently testing below historical trends, according to research released July 1 by Curriculum Associates, a company that provides instructional materials and assessments.

Using longitudinal data from fall 2016 to spring 2019 and post-COVID-19 student data from fall 2021 to spring 2024, researchers found that younger students — those who were ages 3 and 4 during the pandemic — are the furthest behind. 

Of the nation's 3.5 million 2nd graders, the data shows that 1.3 million are behind in reading, and 1.7 million are behind in math. Curriculum Associates researchers said there is urgency in addressing these setbacks, as learning gaps may expand over time.

In addition to younger learners, students who are low-income or from "minoritized communities" continue to perform below pre-COVID levels, researchers found. Specifically, schools serving majority Black or Hispanic students show, in some cases, widening disparities, with academic performances remaining far behind overall historical trends. 

Students whose families have a median annual household income either below $50,000 or between $50,000–$75,000 are also testing at lower levels compared to pre-pandemic patterns.

Mark Sullivan, superintendent of Birmingham City Schools in Alabama, said in a statement that even before the pandemic, many students in the district were testing at lower levels. To boost performances, the district trained teachers on the science of reading, set high expectations for educators and students, and involved families in student learning. 

"We were not pleased with the number of third graders reading on grade level, so we had to become intentional in everything we do.," Sullivan said.

This year, the district saw a 75% increase in the number of students reading at or above grade level.

The Curriculum Associates study said the national data also points to improved performances for some students. Specifically, students who were in 4th grade in 2021 are showing growth in reading and math, and those results are similar to pre-pandemic growth trends. 

Still, the disappointing scores of some student populations highlight the need for educators to question whether interventions are targeting the student populations most in need, the study said. 

Tequilla Brownie, CEO of TNTP, a nonprofit that provides resources to support students, said in a statement that schools can help students catch up by creating a sense of belonging and providing access to grade-level instruction. 

“While most young people who fall behind stay behind, there are diverse schools across the nation where students who started behind grade level are consistently catching up,” Brownie said.

Offering students a chance to select their own reading material, such as a favorite book, can deliver more than just reading gains — students can experience social-emotional benefits, too. Choice may be of particular help for older students, especially those in middle and high school grades.

When educators offer students in higher grades more choice, classes can gain some insight from reading about figures who may have handled challenges in their own lives, said Heather Schwartz, practice specialist for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Students may have a chance to see themselves reflected in the material and feel buoyed by the experience.

“When educators provide students at this age with choice, they are communicating their respect for the life experiences and knowledge that young people are bringing into class, which supports their identities as members of the learning community,” Schwartz said.

Reading choices are easily woven into English language arts courses. But, Schwartz said, any subject matter lends itself to this practice.

According to Schwartz, even math courses can widen their curriculum to allow students to select material that highlights a famous mathematician from a diverse list of options such as Katherine Johnson, who calculated orbital mechanics to help get John Glenn into space, and Mei Gu Guan, who suggested the concept for finding the shortest walk for a postman in a closed system or neighborhood.

“This will not take away from instruction. Students need to see themselves reflected in the scientists, mathematicians, musicians and writers they study in order to internalize that they are an important part of the learning community,” Schwartz said.

Empowering students to select their own reading material can also strengthen their interest in reading — even if it means a bit of upfront work from teachers. But by giving students a wider berth of options, they are likely to eventually stumble or gravitate toward genres and topics that they enjoy.

That not only gives educators a chance at exciting them about a subject matter, it also potentially fuels their love of reading now and into the future.

“On the front end, some strategies that lead to student independence do involve more work for teachers, because they require thoughtful planning and guidance. But this initial educator input yields enormous results as educators see their students engaged, motivated and joyful,” Schwartz said.

Weaving poetry, including spoken word performances, into literacy curricula can improve student engagement and bring positive results in reading fluency.

Poetry can fulfill all the primary requirements under the “science of reading” approach, including phonemic awareness, fluency and comprehension, said Timothy Rasinski, professor emeritus of literacy education at Kent State University in Ohio. For instance, nursery rhymes often help children begin to learn phonics before they start school, he said.

“When you come to a work you don’t know, you don’t sound it out letter for letter, but look for patterns, rhyming patterns. And poetry is filled with that,” Rasinski said. “It fits well into a phonics lesson.”

At Kent State University in Ohio, Rasinski launched and ran a reading clinic camp, Camp Read-a-lot, as part of the master’s degree program for teachers who wanted to become reading specialists. Students wrote and even performed their own poetry over several weeks, and he found they would walk away “finding joy” in reading, writing, and delivering their works — and being “successful at it,” Rasinski said.

This approach, he said, was especially useful in helping strengthen reading fluency — the ability to not just decode words, but to read with continuity, accuracy and even some expression. And poems provided a successful vehicle.

“I find poetry is a good gateway into fluency,” Rasinski said. “The last thing a student may want to do is read a 180-page novel. But they can learn how to recite a poem.”

Giving students a sense of purpose — why they are learning a particular piece, for example — can also help to encourage them not just to learn a poem, but to have the motivation to know it well.

For example, he suggested, educators can assign students a poem by Amanda Gorman, Robert Frost, Rita Dove, Shel Silverstein or Langston Hughes. Students can then learn the poem, rehearse it aloud, and then perform it for their classmates — or even take it home and read it to their parents or grandparents.

“We’ve used [this approach] a lot and been successful with it,” said Rasinksi. “Kids not only grow as readers, but they feel they’ve achieved success, because they can learn to read something well.”

The traditional approach to teaching reading comprehension in elementary schools may not be fully helping young readers learn the essential themes of a text. Rather, students need broader cross-disciplinary knowledge to better understand what they are reading, according to a new brief by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Typically, once young students have learned to decode words, reading comprehension is taught through generalized skills like story mapping and question asking. But overemphasizing instruction in comprehension skills can be counterproductive, the brief said.

To maximize instruction in reading comprehension, Fordham recommends schools expose students to knowledge-rich curricula, and that teacher preparation programs should emphasize the importance of knowledge building.

The Fordham report, released May 22, includes a review of studies on reading comprehension in schools dating back to the 1970s. It was written by Daniel Buck, an editorial and policy associate at the education reform research and analysis organization.

One paper, known as the "Baseball Study" and printed in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 1988, found that a junior high schooler's knowledge of baseball — not their reading ability — predicted their comprehension and recall of a story they read about a half-inning of a baseball game. Both struggling readers and good readers with high knowledge of the game performed equally, as did both sets of readers who had little knowledge of baseball.

Fordham notes that since the Baseball Study came out, other studies have confirmed that topical knowledge has a "huge effect" on a reader's ability to comprehend a text.

Students do benefit from some reading comprehension skill-based instruction, the report said. However, those skills are strengthened by access to carefully sequenced and paced, teacher-directed instruction across multiple subjects, including social studies, science and literature.

The content students learn from books can be more important than a book's level of difficulty, the report said. To be sure, connecting textual difficulty to a student’s competency makes sense, as high schoolers would not read Dr. Seuss books and early elementary students would not be assigned Chaucer’s "Canterbury Tales."

But having a coherent instructional sequence that exposes students to a variety of genres and related topics can matter more for reading comprehension. "Leveling shouldn’t be taken too literally, especially if reading comprehension mostly depends on knowledge of specific topics as opposed to some generalizable and measurable 'skill,'” the report said.

As states ramp up science of reading instructional practices, education leaders should also consider approving knowledge-rich curricula, adding essential content in state standards in a coordinated way across multiple subjects, and providing a list of specific texts from which teachers or districts can choose for particular grade levels, Fordham recommends.

In determining if students are ready to take an Algebra I class, schools should use assessment outcomes data and have updated guidance for staff in understanding benchmarks for course readiness, according to new guidance from NWEA, a research and assessment company.

Deciding if a student is prepared for Algebra I can be complex, particularly if that judgment is based on subjective methods like teacher recommendations or enrollment in a certain grade, NWEA said.

Algebra I is required in most states and is often seen as a gateway course for higher level math classes. Additionally, passing the course is often viewed as a predictor of future college success and career readiness.

Some school districts have struggled in determining when to offer Algebra I, weighing the pros and cons of allowing 8th grade students to enroll or holding off until 9th grade. 

The concerns are that if students are unprepared for the course, they will struggle and be less likely to enroll in higher-level math in high school. Supporters of Algebra I in 8th grade say the earlier access allows for students to take more advanced math and pre-college math while still in high school.

“Students turning 13 or 14 years old is not an automatic marker that they are ready to take Algebra 1," said Scott Peters, the author of the guide and director of research consulting partnerships at NWEA, in a statement.

"We know that in any given classroom, the academic variances present can range multiple grades,” Peters said.

Long-term trends from the National Assessment of Education Progress show that the peak of Algebra I enrollment for 13-year-olds — when many students are in 8th grade — was at 34% in 2012. That dropped to 24% in 2023, likely due to changes in math policy and learning loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NWEA said. The average math score for 13-year-olds was 9 points lower in 2023 compared to scores in 2020, NAEP data shows.

Civil Rights Data Collection statistics from the 2020-21 school year show that White 8th graders had the highest enrollment in Algebra I at 52%, followed by Hispanic or Latino students at 25%, Black or African American students at 10%, and Asian students at 8%. Students of two or more races made up 4% of those enrolled.

The NWEA guide recommends that if Algebra I is a jumping off point for further math study and STEM-related careers, school systems should design an effective and equitable algebra policy that:

• Is accessible to all students.
• Has a placement process based on readiness.
• Is supported through an elementary grade curriculum that promotes algebra readiness by 8th grade.

Transforming math learning into a fun activity can help create more active learning experiences in curriculum for students of any age, from elementary students learning foundational skills and fluency to secondary learners in algebra or advanced math courses.

Incorporating games in lessons can bring about particular benefits that include making the subject more engaging, encouraging collaboration and boosting self-esteem, particularly as students advance, said Enrique Galindo, president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators.

Educators should "make sure that they are not using games just for the sake of engaging their students in fun activities,” Galindo said. “They need to carefully analyze what the students will be gaining in terms of either cognitive or effective benefits.”

Galindo, an associate professor of mathematics education at the Indiana University School of Education, said that before educators bring games into their classrooms, they need to do a bit of work themselves.

First, they should assess the quality of the game they’re considering, become fluent with how the game works, and understand how the game — and playing it — will dovetail with what they want to teach. While some educators may consider creating their own games, Galindo cautions against this.

“Creating games and planning for the use of games is time-consuming, so it may be better not to add this as another demand on teacher’s time, and instead use already existing games,” Galindo said.

He also suggests educators should not adopt games to embed basic math facts or formulas, but to help students learn “procedural fluency” in mathematics.

“Procedural fluency includes being able to use procedures in a flexible and accurate way, knowing when using a procedure is appropriate, and building procedures from other procedures,” Galindo said.

He also noted that there is still a “misconception” around math learning, that it’s about students having stronger recall of facts. Instead, he said, mathematical understanding begins when students can bring learning from one area to another, so they discover when and how to apply an approach to a specific problem.

He also encourages teachers to assess whether the game they're considering allows this kind of learning or not.

“When selecting games, it is important that teachers vet them to make sure the games can develop procedural fluency and conceptual understanding of mathematics, and not just recalling facts without meaning.”

Book ban attempts continued to soar in 2023, with a 65% increase in the number of titles disputed compared to the year prior, according to an American Library Association report released last month. The efforts to censor 4,240 unique titles in schools and libraries marks the highest level ever documented by the organization.

Groups pushing for book bans focused their attention on public libraries, where the number of titles targeted rose by 92%, in addition to school libraries, which saw an 11% increase. 

Seventeen states saw attempts to ban more than 100 titles: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The spike in censorship requests was driven by groups and individuals pushing for dozens or hundreds of bans at a time, according to the report. The use of this tactic has grown more popular in curriculum content disputes in recent years.

"The reports from librarians and educators in the field make it clear that the organized campaigns to ban books aren’t over," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, in a statement.

To curb this trend, Florida lawmakers in January proposed charging a $100-per-item fee to parents and residents who challenge six or more books or curricular materials a year. The bill was among the first of its kind seeking to curb challenges to instructional material, and passed the state legislature in March.

Florida, one of the states leading curriculum restrictions and parental rights laws and proposals, saw 1,218 objections resulting in the removal of 386 books, according to a Jan. 18 analysis by the state House. 

The increase in book bans in 2023 confirms steady increases recorded in other reports.

In spring 2023, there were 1,477 instances of individual book bans in just the first half of the year, up from 1,149 books banned in spring 2022, according to a count by PEN America, a free speech advocacy nonprofit.

In the 2022-23 school year overall, there were a total of 3,362 books banned, a 33% increase since the prior school year, according to PEN America. 

Both PEN America and ALA found that censorship attempts were predominantly aimed at the voices of LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color. According to ALA, titles representing these voices made up almost 50% of censorship attempts.

As school boards navigate book ban demands, lawsuits on the issue have also emerged. 

Last year, two lawsuits were filed just weeks apart challenging Florida school districts' decisions to ban books. One of those lawsuits was joined by Penguin Random House, a major publishing company that also joined a lawsuit last year against curriculum restrictions in Iowa. Such lawsuits are often filed under the First and 14th Amendments.

Assessment data shows some progress since 2021 in the percentage of K-2 students on track for reading, but that rate of progress has slowed more recently, according to an analysis by Amplify. 

The percentage of K-2 students ready for core instruction in early literacy skills is still tracking below pre-pandemic levels. For example, while 58% of 1st graders were on track in 2019-20, that figure dipped to 52% in 2022-23 and then inched up to 54% in 2023-24, according to data from recent the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, or DIBELS, assessments.

Only about half of students across grades K-2 are on track for learning to read and 3 in 10 students are far behind, data collected from the middle of this school year shows. In recent years, many states and districts have invested in science of reading initiatives to improve literacy rates.

The data shows that too many students are at risk of failing to read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade and that literacy rates in the U.S. remain a concern, according to Amplify, a curriculum and assessment company that uses its mCLASS platform to help teachers administer DIBELS.

Changing this trajectory "requires schools and districts to act now and review their approaches in all grades,” said Susan Lambert, chief academic officer of elementary humanities at Amplify, in a statement. “Schools that deliver strong outcomes focus on building a solid foundation at the start and intervening quickly when students need extra support, rather than trying to play catch up later, when it can be more difficult.”

A bright spot in the assessment results, Amplify noted, is a narrowing of disparity gaps, with Black and Hispanic students having achieved greater gains in the past two years than their Asian and White peers. 

For example, mid-year 2023-24 data for kindergartners found that 55% of Black and 47% of Hispanic students to be on track, compared with 61% of White and 73% of Asian students. Although Black and Hispanic students' assessment results still lag behind, this most recent testing data shows improvements of 13 percentage points for Black students and 8 percentage points for Hispanic students compared to two years prior.

In the same period, White kindergartners saw a 4 percentage point improvement and Asian students a 3 percentage point increase. 

But when comparing 2019-20 to 2023-24 assessment results, only Asian kindergartners have returned to their pre-pandemic performance levels. Black kindergartners are 1 percentage point below, White students are 2 percentage points behind, and Hispanic students are 3 percentage points below their 2019-20 averages.

Data for the analysis includes assessment results from 300,000 students at 1,400 schools in 43 states.

Amplify recommends grade-level core instruction focused on both language development and foundational skills during the school day for all students. Students at risk of falling behind should receive additional foundational skill instruction, the company said.

Last month, the White House and U.S. Department of Education held a event promoting summer learning interventions and experiences as ways to improve academic and emotional well-being for students still recovering from pandemic-related setbacks.

High-dosage tutoring conducted during the school day had a "large and positive" impact on student learning, according to a study released March 27 by the University of Chicago Education Lab and MDRC, a nonprofit research and policy organization.

Students participating in personalized, consistent tutoring in Chicago Public Schools and Fulton County Schools in Georgia gained two-thirds of a school year of learning in math during the 2022-23 school year, the analysis found.

The report builds upon previous research showing the effectiveness of high-dosage tutoring. Meanwhile, school and district administrators continue to be challenged by the logistics of providing tutoring during the school day and are concerned about sustaining tutoring investments as federal COVID-19 emergency funding for K-12 tapers off this year.

Many school districts invested Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to address pandemic-related learning loss.

More than 80% of public schools reported offering some type of tutoring support this school year, according to findings from the National Center for Education Statistics' School Pulse Panel. And of those schools providing high-dosage tutoring, about 75% said it was moderately, very or extremely effective, the NCES report found.

For the Chicago-Georgia study, lead author Monica Bhatt said a key takeaway is that tutoring is an effective approach to accelerate student learning. The tutoring should be conducted during school hours at consistent and dedicated times and by trained tutors who provide instructional supports aligned with students' classroom learning goals, said Bhatt, senior research director of the University of Chicago Education Lab.

If schools, districts and states can continue to deliver this kind of instruction, Bhatt said, there's a "fighting chance" of addressing not just pandemic learning loss but also "long-standing disparities along race and class lines that have plagued the U.S. school system for many decades." 

Specifically, the study followed 548 students from Chicago Public Schools and 1,506 students from Fulton County Schools. About half of the group from each school system got high-dosage tutoring in math or reading in addition to classroom instruction, while the other half received classroom instruction only.

Across math and reading tutoring programs in the two school districts, the average 5th grader getting tutoring gained a quarter of a school year of learning.

Researchers also partnered with two entities — a mid-sized urban California school district and the New Mexico Public Education Department — but their out-of-school day tutoring programs did not achieve high levels of student participation last school year.

For the California district, the timing of the after-school tutoring program's launch might have factored into low participation. The launch came after the school year began, and families may have already found other after-school programs, the report said.

In New Mexico, only 1.5% of eligible students out of an estimated 34,262 signed up for evening and weekend virtual tutoring sessions. For this school year, however, the state has implemented virtual high-dosage tutoring in a monitored classroom during the school day and is reaching hundreds of students more consistently, according to the study.

Bhatt said the Education Lab will continue studying the impacts of tutoring and specifically how schools are fitting it effectively into the school day. High-dosage tutoring is "by far one of the most promising interventions to accelerate student learning that we have ever studied in education."

"I think now the question is, how can you scale it so that more students benefit and in that scaling, districts [and] states are having to make all kinds of decisions," Bhatt said.

Several organizations have offered resources to help school systems scale up tutoring initiatives. In fact, on March 26, Accelerate, an organization that conducts research and provides grants for learning recovery efforts, released a field guide for states that are designing and implementing statewide tutoring programs.