Inside the Shocking Literacy Crisis: Why US Teachers Are Sounding the Alarm Like Never Before
In 2024, most students failed to meet or exceed reading standards in most states. In Illinois, Washington, D.C., and 40 other states, only one in three 4th graders met or exceeded these standards. Some schools in Illinois can’t even be proud about that, as none of their students managed to reach these stakes.
It’s very important that kids at these ages reach their reading and writing milestones, as it’s a critical time after which they won’t be able to absorb the curriculum during the remainder of their school years if they are illiterate. Later on, other subjects like social studies, math, and science can become incomprehensible.
This is very troubling, as literacy supports many aspects of our lives, including our earning abilities, social and physical well-being, self-esteem, and even influences crime rates and hospital admissions. It also plays a big part in race and gender equality and can impact a person’s lifetime earning potential by 30-42%.
Fewer and fewer students are reading for pleasure
Image credits: Julia M Cameron (not the actual photo)
The literacy situation that is currently unfolding is attributed by some to the pandemic and lost classroom time. “The news is not good,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.”
However, the literacy crisis didn’t start with COVID-19. Even before 2019, the results on national and international exams were declining. Many experts put the blame on the system itself, saying that schools with shortages of educators lack teachers trained in phonics and phonemic awareness, which are foundational skills for reading. The pandemic that caught us off guard merely worsened this situation.
Some experts also point out that due to smartphones and increasing screen time, fewer and fewer students are reading for pleasure. In fact, 2023 findings show that only 14% of students pick up a book in their free time, which means the majority of them don’t read in a way that prepares them for learning tasks and critical thinking.
“When a student reads for fun and enjoys reading outside of school, there are so many benefits that they might not even realize, like the background knowledge needed to approach different academic areas in school,” said Christina Cover, a special education teacher.
All these moving parts combined result in the literacy crisis that the US is facing. However, “I would not say that hope is lost, and I would not say that we cannot turn this around,” Carr said. “It’s been demonstrated that we can.”
All hope is not lost
Image credits: Antoni Shkraba Studio (not the actual photo)
To address the staggering rates of illiteracy, many states are establishing laws based on the science of reading. This encompasses five essential components for reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. However, this is just the initial step. Much more needs to be done in school besides implementing the science of reading guidelines.
Hannah Schmid, a policy analyst at the Illinois Policy Institute, suggests, “More explicit action is needed to address the low rates of reading in Illinois public schools, such as more frequent assessments of early grade literacy, notice to parents when their students are identified as falling behind and interventions aligned with evidence-based literacy instruction.”
She explains that by implementing these practices, some states have already had positive results. “States such as Mississippi, Florida and Colorado have already paved the way in implementing these reforms, and all ranked above the national average in 2024.”
Parents should also get involved to help the literacy crisis. By instilling the skill and value of reading in their kids, they lay a strong foundation for their future learning that hopefully helps to combat rising levels of illiteracy.
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