Because no, the state shouldn't be selecting curriculum

I'm passing (in my personal capacity) along this opportunity for advocacy from Sara Cuthbertson, chair of the Lexington School Committee, who shares the following letter from Lexington superintendent, Dr. Julie Hackett: 

Dear Colleagues:

I am writing in support of the MASS position statement on Bill S.263 that MASS sent yesterday. We have written a complementary DRAFT LETTER that we hope you will consider signing. Please encourage your Unions, PTOs, and School Committees to consider endorsing the letter.  

Governor Healey has made early literacy education one of her top priorities. Next Wednesday, February 7th, the Senate's Joint Committee on Education likely will be reporting out about the pending Literacy Bill, which could become a law next year. If the Bill is not reported out favorably on February 7, it will be effectively dead until next January when the process begins anew. 

1.     What am I being asked to do?  Please read this DRAFT LETTER and consider signing your name to it.  We plan to send the letter to its intended audience on Monday, February 5, 2024. 

2.     How do I sign on and what is the deadline?  If you would like to sign your name to this letter, please add your name to this document by this Monday, February 5, 2024.  
We have several signatories already, and this list has been steadily growing as a result of conversations between concerned literacy leaders, assistant superintendents, and superintendents over the past several years.

3.     To whom will the letter be sent?  The Governor, the Joint Committee on Education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Secretary of Education, the Commissioner, local and state elected officials, etc. 

4.     How do I propose revisions or edits? If you have questions or concerns on any portion of the letter, please feel free to make a copy of the Google Doc and send proposed revisions to Julie Hackett. 

5.     What do I do if I know someone else who might be interested in signing on? Feel free to share a copy of the draft letter with them and ask them to add their names to this document.  

6.     What should I do if I have questions?  It’s a busy time, and it can be difficult to keep up with all that’s going on in public education.  If you would like to learn more about these issues, this K-5 literacy presentation may be helpful.  We’re also happy to answer any questions that you may have. Please also feel free to reach out to any one of the following: 

·        Julie Hackett, Superintendent,  jhackett@lexingtonma.org

·        Caitlin Ahern, Director of Elementary Education, cahern@lexingtonma.org

·        Sara Calleja, K-5 Literacy Department Head, scalleja@lexingtonma.org

·        Sara Cuthbertson, School Committee Chair, scuthbertson@lexingtonma.org

·        Robin Strizhak, LEA Co-President,  rstrizhak@lexingtonma.org

 

7.               Can individual teachers and school committee members sign on?  Yes, and there is power in numbers.  Whenever possible, we encourage you to check with your organization to see if there is interest in signing on as a group. If you sign on as a group, it would be helpful to know how many individuals are represented.

8.               What happens next?  If you sign on, you will be copied on emails sent.  We will keep you updated on any developments.  

 

Thanks so much for your consideration!  

Julie

Julie Hackett, Ed.D.

PLEASE NOTE THE URGENCY OF THIS REQUEST!
I would also add that if you sign, sending a copy of the letter to your OWN Senator and Representative is a wise move as well! 

I copy below the text of the letter being signed on to: 

February 5, 2024

Dear Governor Healey:

We represent concerned educators, literacy experts, administrators, superintendents, parent-teacher organization (PTO) leaders, and school committee members who have dedicated their lives to the children in Massachusetts public schools. We wish to affirm and build upon the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents’ Position Statement on S.263 and H.579–An Act to promote high quality comprehensive literacy instruction. Thirteen states passed Science of Reading (SOR) laws during a pandemic, and 44 state legislatures have introduced nearly 300 bills that have attempted to restrict access to books and discussions of race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities in K-12 classrooms. 

In your State of the Commonwealth address, you proposed a “$30 million investment each year for the next five years to overhaul the State’s early literacy instruction.” The investment promotes “high-quality instructional materials'' and “teacher training” to address a growing concern that, “Many districts are using out-of-date, disproven methods to teach reading… and children are paying the price. Some are struggling, for years, to catch up—if they even can.” We applaud your commitment to literacy and strongly support the State’s desire to close opportunity gaps for struggling readers. The purpose of this letter is to respectfully urge you to resist a one-size-fits-all approach to literacy instruction for MA students. If not done well, uninformed policy changes to reading curriculum and instruction could permanently damage the positive change you hope to effect—a child’s ability and desire to read.  

When children are at risk of reading failure, we are obligated to do everything in our power to help them succeed—and we do. We have heard painful stories about students and families who have struggled to get the appropriate support that their children need and deserve, made worse by the pandemic. We do not wish to downplay the valid concerns and experiences of children with dyslexia and their families. We hope to offer a fresh perspective to clarify misunderstandings and misinformation in the press and elsewhere based on our personal and professional experiences in public education.  

Since 2021, MA DESE has taken a system-wide approach to improving reading instruction in Massachusetts. DESE appropriately pushed school districts to make changes that could yield improved student outcomes, such as universal literacy screening and open access to professional learning. While we appreciate these efforts, we have concerns about CURATE, a list of DESE-approved “high quality” curricula for districts to adopt based on their ratings from Ed Reports. The problem is that Ed Reports exclusively favors basal readers and excludes student or teacher choice of texts, which is fundamental to motivation and engagement and the evolving body of research on the science of reading. Experts in the field, including Nell Duke, Mark Seidenberg, Young-Suk Kim, Catherine Snow, and others, suggest that we know little about the science of teaching reading. Teachers need various strategies to do what is best for the students in front of them, and there is no proven curriculum that addresses the needs of every child.

Our concerns are not new. In March of 2023, we sent this letter to Commissioner Riley regarding misinformation on DESE’s Mass Literacy site for families. Since then, conversations about literacy have been more polarizing than ever. States are unilaterally adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to literacy instruction. In Massachusetts, Bill S.263, “An Act to Promote High-Quality Literacy Instruction,” is wending its way through the legislature, and its potential impact remains unclear. 

 

These are troubling developments, and we worry about the future of education for the children in Massachusetts and beyond. We created the “Four Fallacies of the New Reading Wars,” designed to inform decision-makers and the public on widely misunderstood topics such as proficiency, the science being “settled,” a “one size fits all” approach, and so-called “proven” high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). We hope you will take a moment to review this critical document.  

Teaching a child to read is a complex endeavor not widely understood by the press or the general public. There will always be students who need help with reading, and there are no quick fixes. A customized repertoire of instructional strategies and systemic shifts that require time, patience, training and resources will be needed to close opportunity gaps. To that end, we look forward to a productive collaboration with our State partners and any others who remain dedicated to teaching all children to read and thrive in Massachusetts. 

If an in-person meeting to discuss our collective concerns and the contents of this letter would be helpful, we are happy to arrange one for you. Please feel free to contact Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett or any of the superintendents who signed this letter. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. We sincerely appreciate all you do for our Commonwealth, schools, and students.  

Respectfully Submitted,