BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — California advocates push for a phonics-focused approach to literacy education.
As a bill in California aims to provide teachers with phonics training and resources to improve literacy among K-12 students, particularly those at risk.
10 year old Beau Roberts loves to read — but that wasn't always the case in the classroom.
"When I was in Kindergarten and TK, I just couldn’t read very well. And then my GG helped me be able to read,"Beau Roberts explained.
His grandmother, Sharon Dunn, president of California's Reading League and a former principal at London Elementary, says Beau's struggle is not uncommon.
Across Kern County, many Black, Hispanic, and low-income students are reading below grade level.
In the 2022–2023 school year, only 38.2% of students in Kern County met or exceeded standards in English Language Arts, according to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.
Dunn says, "We are in a reading crisis we only have four in ten 4th graders reading proficiently."
Dunn tells me the pandemic only deepened the literacy gap.
A new bill pupil literacy proposed in California could help turn things around.
The legislation would provide funding and mandate evidence-based reading instruction — including universal screening to assess reading levels and teaching tools like phonics, with an emphasis on writing and spelling with pen and paper.
Once we identify students who are at risk, this really helps teachers — because it provides the appropriate professional development to know how to teach reading effectively.
Beau's mother, Nicole Roberts, says the new approach worked for her son — and could work for others too.
"Once she did the assessments with him, he was able to quickly pick up reading — and since then, he reads above his grade level.
I asked Nicole Roberts," As a parent, what are some tools you think families need to help students keep excelling in the classroom? "I would say lean on their teachers, but also be a vocal advocate for your child if they are behind.
The public school system is there to help, but you need to have the confidence to know your child best."
This bill still has a few hurdles to clear, including the Senate Appropriations Committee, but those who are fighting for it believe it will pass.
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