As a pediatric speech-language pathologist and a mother of a child in San Diego public schools, I’ve seen California’s early literacy crisis firsthand. Many of the kids I serve have phonological disorders, language disorders or autism. These diagnoses can often contribute to difficulties with learning to read in elementary school. Still, it seemed that far too many of the older children were also really struggling to read. Most of their parents believed their neighborhood public school was going to teach their child to read. After all, what other primary purpose is there of public education if not to teach our children such a fundamental skill as reading?
I didn’t understand why so many of my older patients were struggling to read until I heard Emily Hanford’s “Sold a Story” podcast. I was shocked and horrified by how many schools across the nation, including schools in California, were teaching children to read by guessing at words (part of an approach often referred to as “balanced literacy”) rather than learning basic reading skills including oral language, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension (an approach often referred to as “structured literacy”). No wonder so many of my language-disordered kids with poor vocabularies and English learners were struggling to read!
I decided to proactively support my son in learning to read based on the scientific research of how the brain learns to read. Both my son’s grandmother and I spent hours tutoring him using evidence-based materials prior to him entering kindergarten, and I’m so grateful that I did.
When my son entered kindergarten, he received “leveled readers” in a bag. These books feature repetitive text and rely heavily on picture clues to aid comprehension, rather than utilizing phonics. One of his books included the word “foal” with a picture of a horse. Do kids learning English as a second language know that a foal is a baby horse? Do most 5-year-olds even know that? He hadn’t received explicit instruction on the vowel sounds needed to decode this unfamiliar word, nor could he guess.
Unfortunately, our story is not unique. Classrooms across California are still using the balanced literacy approach to teaching reading, which is only effective for around half of students. This approach is not explicit enough for most children to learn to read well, including children with dyslexia, who are estimated to be nearly 1 in 5 children in California. Only 4 in 10 third-grade students are reading on grade level in California, and only 3 in 10 low-income students. Nationally, California ranks 33rd in fourth-grade reading proficiency.
This is a tragedy — but it is solvable. One can look to Louisiana to see how it went from 50th in the nation in 2019 to16th in fourth-grade reading scores in 2024 after implementing comprehensive literacy policies requiring evidence-based teacher training — and it spends far less per child on education than California.
Upon seeing how my son was being taught to read, I contacted his school’s principal, San Diego Unified Board members and a SDUSD literacy specialist. While most understood the problem, none of them seemed to have a clear solution and conversations often resulted in useless finger-pointing.
Change won’t happen unless we move beyond the blame game. New legislation recently introduced by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, is a glimmer of hope for families across our state. The bill would support both our educators and our students by requiring teacher training in evidence-based literacy practices and evidence-based instructional materials. Years of research has illustrated how children learn to read, and Assembly Bill 1121 would bring this proven approach to every California classroom. If Louisiana can do it, we can certainly do it here, too.
Not all families have the knowledge, resources, and capacity that I did to provide supplemental reading support to their child — nor should they need to. Public schools must provide a knowledge-rich curriculum and literacy instruction aligned with evidence-based principles to deliver on their promise to parents that their children will be prepared for college, career and life.
While no single policy will solve all reading challenges, AB 1121 is a major step in the right direction. I implore our leaders to stop the finger pointing, follow the science, and do what is right for our children.
Stuart is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and lives in San Diego.
Originally Published: April 1, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT
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