Mary Shinn’s reporting on the comments made recently by Colorado State Board of Education member Joyce Rankin at Needham Elementary is worthy of thoughtful consideration (“
It is disappointing to learn that it was necessary that a revised law, including accountability measures, was required to ensure compliance with the Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act. After the initial law was passed in 2012, by 2018, testing showed only 40.4% of Colorado children were reading at grade level in third grade. At the end of the article, Ms. Rankin repeated the often-quoted slogan, “You learn to read by third grade and after that you read to learn.”
What happens to the almost 60% of third graders not yet ready to learn?
Despite the correct focus on teaching scientifically proven foundations of reading in the early primary grades, clearly many children continue to require reading instruction beyond third grade. Internationally renowned reading and language educator Maryanne Wolf explores the challenges of learning to read in her recent book, “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World.” She urges investments in the teaching of reading across the school years.
Educators must continue to provide reading instructions for children as long as necessary. Classroom teachers deserve a curriculum that includes reading instruction beyond third grade for those students who lack fundamental reading skills.
Myriam Palmer
Durango
