Educators recently gathered in North Carolina from across the country for the eighth annual The Reading League Conference to learn more about delivering literacy instruction to students and how to overcome the challenges that come with doing so.

The Reading League is an organization that supports teachers and evidence-aligned reading instruction. They aim to provide professional development to literacy interventionists as well as educators in general education classrooms.

For this year’s conference, the organization decided that they “outgrew” their base in Syracuse, NY and instead held the event in Charlotte for the first time.

“When we learned last year that the national conference was leaving Syracuse, NY for the first time and coming to Charlotte, our organization was floored,” Linda Rhyne, president of The University Reading League North Carolina Chapter, said. “Not only was this an opportunity to maintain the momentum of the science of reading movement in our state, but also meant that our national organization thought we were ready to support this huge undertaking. That was a huge stamp of support.”

The science of reading 

The science of reading is a body of research that shows how reading and writing skills develop, why some students may have difficulty, and how to improve student outcomes. 

The conference offered 58 different sessions to over 2,500 attendees with literacy development and instruction as a backdrop. Zaretta Hammond, a national consultant, author, and former high school and college writing instructor, opened the conference by telling attendees that reading is connected to equity and often the source of “cognitive redlining.”

“Reading is the epicenter of equity. Our job is to upend this, to disrupt our historical legacy, and we think that we’re doing that, but there is a disconnect between the amount of time and money and professional development we spend on reading, and still we’re not getting the job done,” Hammond said. 

Hammond told the audience that making students competent readers and learners helps prevent them from facing barriers and discrimination due to their lack of literacy skills. 

“Competence precedes confidence, and competence precedes joy. We want our students to be happy, joy-filled readers. That means they have to be competent learners,” Hammond said. 

Teaching literacy in North Carolina 

In April 2021, North Carolina passed a law that required all literacy instruction to be based on the science of reading. Training for teachers using the LETRS program began the following school year and concluded in June 2024. 

Amy Rhyne, a senior director in the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Early Learning, said that North Carolina was fortunate with their science of reading implementation because of the funding the state was able to provide. There was funding for eight local facilitators — one for each region of the state. They were also able to provide early literacy specialists to support each district and assess risks for their schools, Rhyne said.

Rhyne said that during implementation, it was important to think of classrooms as a system. According to Rhyne, too often people want to “fix literacy” without thinking about all the components involved.

“Do you even have the system set up to make sure that you’re focusing on, ‘Do they have enough time to teach what they need to teach and also differentiate that instruction and provide those interventions? Do you have the right processes? Does everybody understand the process? How are you communicating that? How are you supporting teachers beyond just that initial professional development?,’” Rhyne said.

Based on Rhyne’s presentation, the data show that North Carolina is showing more growth compared to other states. However, there are still discrepancies when students are analyzed by demographic group. Rhyne said that this discrepancy grows even if students come in at relatively the same reading proficiency level in kindergarten.

“We’ve got to go back and figure out why this discrepancy begins much earlier than what we’re doing, and take away excuses,” Rhyne said.

During the conference, supports for students with learning differences also came up. A well-known advocate for dyslexia and the science of reading in North Carolina is Nancy Hennessy. Henessey is a literacy consultant, author, and former teacher. 

“So many of our children struggle to learn how to read. Some of them may not be dyslexic, but many are, and it’s important that these children receive the specialized instruction that’s necessary for them to achieve reading proficiency,” Hennessy said. 

Camille Walters, an Exceptional Children (EC) resource teacher at Niner University Elementary in Charlotte, said that she constantly teaches phonics in her work and finds the science of reading helpful.

“So I chose the EC route, and I have second graders, I have first graders, and I have fourth graders. And so I’m constantly teaching phonics every single day. And I think the biggest impact for me is making sure I’m using the science of reading, but also using database instruction and connecting it to that piece, because I can have the science of reading, but I also need to know how to systematically move through that,” Walters said.

On the direction that implementation of the science of reading is headed, Hennessy said that it is only one component that contributes to the ultimate goal of literacy instruction. 

“I think because there’s been such an emphasis on foundational skills, that many people feel that the science of reading is all about foundational skills, that is word recognition. And it certainly does address that, and word recognition skills are the on ramp in terms of reading proficiency,” Hennessy said. “But the ultimate goal of reading proficiency is to learn from what it is that you’re reading, to make meaning of what you’re reading.”

Hennessey said the science of reading does address comprehension, but from preschool on students need to build on oral language skills and the academic language skills they get from read-alouds.

From a personal perspective, Hennessy said she had a brother with dyslexia, and it has an impact on the whole family, not just one person. Parents and family members have been more successful in advocating for legislation that supports the needs of children with dyslexia, Hennessy said.

“You know, groups like Decoding Dyslexia, Literacy Moms are very important, because even though we strive in public school to do everything possible that we can for all children, there’s much that we have to learn and we have to continue to learn,” Hennessy said.

Policy and implementation

As of January 2024, 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to the science of reading. 

However, forming legislation and putting it into place can look very different, according to Casey Sullivan Taylor and Kymyona Burk. Sullivan and Burke both work in policy for ExcelinEd, an “organization that supports state leaders in transforming education to unlock opportunity and lifelong success for each and every child.”

“When we think about the policy being passed, I also want to level set and say for some of you, you have probably felt like the policy being passed was happening to you, and not with you in mind,” Burk said. “Because sometimes as adults, we have to get out of our own way and figure out if this is actually what the best thing is for children.”

In their presentation, Taylor and Burk highlighted key components for successfully implementing a literacy policy and trickling it down from the state level into the hands of classroom teachers. Those components involved clear guidance and rollout plans as well as communication between teachers, administrators, state agencies, and the entire community.

The presenters also said that ongoing professional development and support is needed for teachers instead of only giving a one-time training on the science of reading. 

Taylor and Burk illustrated the following elements of implementation that they thought were important: support for teachers and policy, reading screenings, parent notification, quality instructional materials, interventions for students that may be struggling, and plans for retention. A map they presented from ExcelinEd showed where each state stands in the implementation process. 

“We know that reading is an education and economic issue. It’s not just about the fact that they may struggle in school — they may struggle in life as a result of being a struggling reader,” Taylor said. “So we have to look beyond. While the education experience is critical, we have to look at the opportunity for them to make choices in life. I always say that if your reading is limited, your choices are limited.”