THE Santa Barbara independent republies the stories of Calmatters.org On state and local problems with an impact on readers of the County of Santa Barbara.
A bill that could reshape literacy education in California elementary schools has erased a major obstacle to the Legislative Assembly this week after the duel teams reached a compromise which provides financing for phonic education, but continues to demand it.
The compromise between the defenders of the English learner and those who support the so-called “science of reading” or the “evidence” approach provides funding and support for phonetics, but does not require schools or teachers participate.
However, the legislative language, which has been added to a existing billrepresents an important step in the fight on how schools teach children to read. For years, the arguments concerning phonetics have blocked the progress of literacy policy, even if the reading scores at the level of the state have remained obstinately weak.
“It’s exciting for California. A lot of work has been devoted to this, and this shows that opposing teams can meet and find solutions, “said Marshall Tuck, Managing Director of Edvoice, a non -profit organization for education. “It will be a very good thing for California children.”
The bill, sponsored by the president of the Assembly, Robert Rivas, the woman of the Assembly Blanca Rubio, Democrat of West Covina, and the member of the Al Muratsuchi Assembly, a Democrat of Torrance, obliges the State to provide training to teachers and centered educational documents PHONED LPTHABLE TRAINING INSTRUCTIONwhich includes vocabulary, understanding, the ability to sound words and other literacy bases. The equipment and training must also meet the specific needs of learners in English, which represent around 18% of the 5.8 million students in the state K-12.
“We recognize the role of the legislative assembly in the proposal of solutions to improve literacy that raises the unique needs of multilingual learners and honors their languages and cultures at home – this is why we are proud to support AB 1454,” said Martha Hernandez, director of Californians Together, a defense group for English learners, in a press release.
Tuck said he was convinced that most schools will choose to use the new teaching material and send their teachers to learn the supporters and the teaching of phonetics, because they will want to take advantage of the funding. He said he was not too won by the fact that the equipment was not necessary.
Previous opposition
Previous bills to require a phonetic -based approach are dead, in part because everyone is not suitable that phonetics is the best way to teach students whose first language is not English. The group of Hernandez argued that these students need an approach that gives equal weight to vocabulary and the development of oral language in addition to phonetics.
The California Teachers Association, the largest state teachers’ union, has fought reading teaching mandates in the past, claiming that teachers – and not legislators – are the best to assess the needs of individual students, and they need maximum flexibility in class. The union has so far been neutral on this bill.
Research has shown that most students learn to read an explicit instruction focused on the sound of words, in parallel with vocabulary and understanding lessons. The other main approach emphasizes the reading of sight, in which students memorize whole words and reconstitute meaning through the context.
Nearly 40 states have required a phonetic reading instruction in recent years. Some school districts in California, including Los Angeles Unified, the largest state district, are already using phonetic programs. But About 80% of districts do notAccording to research by California Reading Coalition, an literacy defense group.
Reading scores in a standstill
California’s reading scores climbed regularly before the pandemic, But fell during distance learning and has since stalled. Almost 60% of third year students did not read at the school level last year, certain groups of students, including black and low -income students, are still late. In the fourth year, students should read fairly well to easily understand the content, according to state literacy standards.
The bill, planned for an audience today, was initially presented in February, but its main objective was to focus mainly on heating, air conditioning and school ventilation systems. The defenders have nailed to the literacy component this week, which is detailed in the Invoice analysis And will probably be integrated into the language of the bill later this week. He replaces a previous bill, also sponsored by Rubio, who died last week.
Because the bill is sponsored by the lecturer of the Assembly, he should pass the Assembly. Any bill that costs money can face a difficult battle in the current economic climate, but Governor Gavin Newsom supported literacy efforts in the past.
