Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday proposed a major change in education policy that could transform the way many schools teach reading in New York, following the lead of other states that have scrapped methods that experts say have left millions behind. children’s.
The proposal comes as education experts point to growing evidence that the state’s approach to literacy is failing. Last year, less than half of New York’s third graders were proficient on state reading tests.
Ms. Hochul called for the state Department of Education to require school districts to certify that their curricula have adopted “scientifically proven” literacy approaches by September 2025.
“This is very important, because for a long time people realized that what was happening was not working. But no one stood up and said we need to change,” Hochul told a room of lawmakers, teachers and fourth-graders at a public elementary school in Watervliet, outside Albany, on Wednesday.
Like most of the proposals he will present in the speech, this one would require the support of the state Legislature, controlled by Democrats.
New York has fallen to 32nd in the nation for reading proficiency in recent years, tied with five other states in a national assessment.
Many teachers in New York City and the state were trained in a method known as “balanced literacy,” which encourages independent reading and includes some practices that experts say are problematic, such as teaching children to guess words using images.
Experts and policymakers say it is now clear that the balanced literacy approach did not offer children enough fundamental skills, such as phonics, to ensure they became capable readers.
While some children can learn to read without explicit phonics instruction, research has found that most children need more systematic teaching about letter sounds and other language components. And many also struggle with not having a solid foundation in broader topics about the world in order to understand what they are reading.
Students who do not learn to read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school, according to Hochul’s office. Students of color and low-income students. are especially at risk of being left behind. This is because it is more likely that live in homes where families may lack resources to provide supplemental helphow to pay for tutoring.
The effects can be long-lasting: Students who lack reading proficiency tend to have lower lifetime earnings and worse health outcomes than their peers, Hochul said.
Susan Neuman, a professor of literacy and childhood at New York University, welcomed the prospect of New York moving away from what she called its “lazy” approach to literacy.
“I think this is a good thing,” he said of the plan and the $10 million Hochul proposed spending on training. “I think it’s very necessary and probably not enough money.”
The literacy plan was the last proposal announced by Ms. Hochul before her State of the State address.
On Tuesday, he revealed plans to expand consumer protections in New York. One would ban insulin copays and another would raise the cap on disability payments for sick or injured people from $170 a week to more than $1,200.
Explaining the importance of the state’s turnaround, the governor found herself giving fourth graders in Watervliet a little history lesson.
“When I was younger we used to learn about phonics,” he said, adding that the focus of teaching began to change decades later.
“They thought, ‘Hey, there’s a whole different way to learn.’ Why don’t we put the kids in a room with books and they’ll figure it out,” she said. “Do you think that’s very clever?”
“No!” the children shouted.
