New Jersey bill aims to boost elementary student literacy rates

📚 A bill would require universal literacy screenings for New Jersey students

📚 It's in response to poor test scores among NJ's third graders

📚 The bill also provides professional development for teachers

Did you know that New Jersey is one of just a few states that does not have legislation outlining how children should be taught to read?

This may change after a bill that passed both houses and currently sits on Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk, would require universal literacy screenings for New Jersey elementary school students and professional development for teachers.

The bill would establish a working group on student literacy that would recommend best practices to the state Department of Education, according to Sen. Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), who is the prime sponsor of the bill, along with Senate Education Committee Chair, Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth).

The Inspiration

The inspiration behind the bill is the data, Ruiz said. In 2023, she said, statewide third-grade reading proficiency for the general population was over 50 percent of the student body not meeting grade expectations.

“When you peel that back demographically, Latino and African-American students are harboring at over 70 percent. Someone who may not be in the academic space will say, ‘Why is it so urgent?’ From the womb to third grade you learn to read. From third grade and beyond through your career and the end of your lifetime, you’re reading to learn,” Ruiz said.

That means that if foundationally, a student is not prepared in the third grade to have that academic support of basic reading at the level a student is supposed to be, a student’s academic outcome will be hampered by obstacles that could be prevented, Ruiz said.
“We know that when academic obstacles are hampered or obstructed, that individual suffers from economic opportunity in their career lifetime,” she added.

The better prepared a student is, the more assets they will have for economic opportunities, and a more straightforward path to develop their skill set equitably, Ruiz said.

The Bill

The focus of Ruiz and Gopal’s bill is on foundational literacy. It will connect the New Jersey Department of Education with a working group to develop a uniform approach to reading, and incorporate all curriculums that have had proven success in reading outcomes.

“Mississippi, for instance, and this was pre-pandemic, was one of the first states to come out and put forth a literacy initiative because they were ranking, I think, dead last nationwide for their literacy initiatives,” Ruiz.

They have shown extraordinary growth even during the pandemic. So, New Jersey has seen that states that are making investments in coming up with a uniformed approach, having working groups, and providing professional developments for teachers, have outcomes and gains that are much stronger, Ruiz said.

Universal Literacy Screening

The bill would require universal literacy screening for students in kindergarten through third grade to catch any reading deficiencies.

“The key to having something that is just uniformed across the board is for us to collect data to be sure that what we’re doing policy-wise makes sense, that for every dollar that we’re putting in if the return is as good as expected, or if we have to pivot and change planning and policy, and or laws,” Ruiz said.

Screening would happen at least twice a year under the proposed legislation.

The goal is to get a baseline into a student’s reading capacity. Where is the child’s reading level? What does the data tell? Does the child have to read an additional 20 minutes a day? Is it a comprehension issue? Is the child showing any signs of dyslexia?

Many issues can be remediated early on if they are identified early enough, she said.

Within 30 days of screening, schools must notify a parent or guardian of how their child performed and they must provide information about opportunities to help bolster a child’s reading level.

Everyone has to play a role in a child’s reading development, Ruiz said. Schools will start this implementation but caregivers must also to change the way they think about literacy in their households. Children need to take the time out to read, and households should read as a family.

“I know this sounds critically basic but when there is a household that’s struggling and there’s too much going on, these are things that fall by the wayside. However, year after year, if a child does not meet grade level expectations, it just progressively gets worse,” Ruiz said.

During the pandemic, learning loss spread in pockets in areas, that are now systemic, with over 50 percent of the general population of third-graders not meeting grade level expectations, she said.

If third-graders are not prepared to read where they should be, and they get promoted, their lifetime outcomes will be shortened exponentially.

“If we’re aware that this is happening currently, and we’re not significantly doing enough, then the state becomes part of the issue,” Ruiz said.

The bill also created The Office of Learning Equity and Academic Recovery so the department consistently can look at the trends and shift where necessary.
Education as a whole should never be stagnant. It’s dynamic, Ruiz said.

Takeaway

Everyone needs to be involved in a child’s reading growth. This includes teachers, students, parents, and the school districts.

"Having a uniformed approach from the department on what expectations are for literacy, what programs are approved, what is generating the best outcomes, what is giving the best returns on the investments, I think is a phenomenal starting point,” Ruiz said.

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