Ann Schoenthaler-Ervin, Ph.D., is a certified school psychologist from Smithfield.

Parents have long been a force in driving necessary educational change. Parents, grandparents and all those invested in the next generation must once again advocate for one of the strongest predictors of our children’s success: reading proficiency.

Students who do not read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, and failure to graduate significantly increases the likelihood of living in poverty. Current reading test scores make clear that Maine’s children are not on track.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called The Nation’s Report Card, assesses fourth graders’ reading comprehension, which depends on both accurate word reading and language comprehension.

Maine’s most recent NAEP results are alarming: we ranked 47th nationally, with only 26% of fourth-grade students reading competently. Seventy-four percent of Maine students are reading below grade level. (Although students score better on our Department of Education [DOE] assessments, this is because students are compared only to other Maine students.)

That 74% of our students are not proficient is especially troubling because the primary window developmentally for learning to read extends through approximately age 9. For students in fourth grade, the critical period for acquiring basic reading skills has passed.

In addition, instructional emphasis then shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. Why are so many Maine students falling short?

In part, the answer lies in a persistent gap between research and instructional practices. Over the past 25 years, a robust science of reading (SOR) has emerged, informed by advances in brain imaging and the convergent findings of roughly 400 researchers worldwide.

SOR includes several non-negotiables: systematic development of phonemic awareness (i.e., learning that words are made up of sounds that can be blended, segmented and manipulated); explicit, systematic phonics instruction; regular practice with decodable texts; and rapid response to reading difficulties with clear intervention protocols and frequent progress monitoring.

Maine unfortunately continues to rely heavily on balanced literacy approaches, including programs such as Fountas and Pinnell. In this balanced literacy approach, phonics instruction is inconsistent, leveled texts replace decodable texts and students are encouraged to guess words using context or pictures. States with strong reading outcomes have moved decisively away from these practices.

Now that the evidence is clear, we have a responsibility to change course. However, funding the change is also a problem.

Students have become proficient readers when their states enacted laws regarding reading proficiency; issued clear curriculum guidance with accountability systems and funded both science-based literacy instruction and professional development. These shifts required moving away from local control while honoring school districts’ input.

According to an Education Week analysis, 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policy regarding reading instruction since 2013. Change is underway in Maine, but it is uneven and challenging.

More schools must deepen their understanding of the science of reading and align their
reading/writing curricula accordingly. (For those seeking a deeper explanation, Emily Hanford’s podcast “Sold a Story” provides valuable context.)

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) has begun to provide a clear roadmap with its Literacy Action Plan. This plan includes early screening for phonological awareness and decoding difficulties, along with curriculum guidance aligned with SOR. However, there are no mandates.

Although schools want to do well by their students and make needed changes, a major barrier is funding. In states like Mississippi and Alabama, where change has been mandated and funding put in place, despite poverty levels, children are reaching reading proficiency in record numbers. Maine students deserve no less.

A fundamental shift in reading instruction is happening as balanced literacy and Reading Recovery (a remedial program unaligned with SOR) give way to settled science. We now know far more about how children learn to read, and that knowledge carries an obligation to act.

Maine’s children depend on informed, engaged adults to ensure that classroom instruction reflects what the evidence demands. In your local school district, ask how reading instruction aligns with the essential components of the science of reading. More importantly, contact your state legislators and urge them to advance and fund legislation that ensures every child receives effective, evidence-based reading instruction.

Providing the foundation for all other learning, literacy is a fundamental right. Parents, grandparents and community advocates have driven educational change before. That leadership is needed again — now.