A Cry to The Education System: New York’s Reading Mandate Could Be the Hope for Literacy Proficiency & Individuality

Whether I was rummaging through the New York Public Library’s endless rows of books or tending to the library in the corner of my room as a child, growing up with constant exposure to literature instilled in me a deep-rooted love for books.

As I started high school, I developed an internal appreciation for those who kept libraries and museums running. To me, they were the undisputable backbones of learning.

I felt drawn to give back to students who wanted to further their love of writing, so I founded my organization MedYouthUnited (MYU), an international publication site and resource center rooted in keeping literacy alive. MYU has given me and many students hope for the preservation of literacy. Igniting a love of literacy, in the form of fundraisers, donations, and writing workshops, in New York has been extremely personal to me.

With MedYouthUnited’s local writing kit donations, I have had the privilege of speaking to many literacy lovers, ranging from students to educators. On one specific donation drop-off, I met a 4th-grade girl named Sarah, whose braids reminded me of my younger self. After our conversation about our favorite fictional book, she began telling me about her school’s depleted library and book bans.

A sort of sadness came over her face as she expressed to me: “Reading is not being spoken about enough. It seems like people don’t care.”

Sarah’s words remained in my head as I watched anti-literacy trends unfold in the media: teachers sharing blogs of how their highschoolers lacked essential reading skills to the silencing of staple works of literature like The Diary of A Young Girl (Anne Frank) and The Hate U Give.

These implications felt distant to me until they affected my community. Witnessing my school’s library being remodeled in place of a technology center, I felt the first-hand effects of the subtle literacy crisis in America, a silent epidemic that affects millions of elementary students worldwide.

Regardless of public, private, or charter schooling, it is undeniable that with societal and technological advancements, classrooms are becoming more crowded and more students annually are attending college. Yet, the trends in the NAEP’s most recent test score report indicate students’ progress is the opposite.

In 2024 alone, over half of the students in the US read below a 6th-grade level and one-fifth read below a third-grade level. In all tested grades and subjects, the 2024 post-pandemic national test scores are the lowest in history.

Reading scores are down in both 4th and 8th grades, grades where students depend on previously taught analysis and comprehension skills. In fact, 33% of these 8th graders are not reading at the NAEP Basic level, a percentage our history hasn’t seen prior to this year, indicating a third of 8th graders are unable to identify basic literary elements in a body of text.

In the NAEP Report, out of the 70% of children who learned remotely during the pandemic, less than 30% of lower-performing students had access to high-speed internet and a quiet place to work; only 15% had someone help them with their school work.

Two-thirds of Black and Latino students in America are reading far below grade level, and students who have former gaps in their education, ranging from learning disabilities to housing uncertainty during the pandemic, have fallen behind significantly.

These gaps in reading skills should be extremely alarming to all. Though other facets of society have been recovering since the pandemic, the heart of learning is still not where it should be. A passive form of memory retention has disconnected from the true purpose of school: learning.

Students nowadays are focused on obtaining good grades as opposed to truly absorbing concepts.

Michaela Dennean, a senior at Kellenberg Memorial, has spent the majority of this year balancing college applications, extracurriculars, and an overwhelming load of schoolwork.

During this chaos, she feels as if she strayed from the true point of school.

“I can’t remember the last time I truly absorbed something during the thirty-eight minutes that each of my classes meets,” she shares. “Myself and many of my fellow students feel this constant weight of a perfect GPA, a goal so heavy that it overtakes any hope of learning something valuable”

More recently, schools have been revamping their ways of introducing reading as more of an opportunity than a task. As of November 2024, over 35 states have adopted policies or laws related to this evidence-based literacy instruction.

In New York specifically, Eric Adam’s NYC Reads program is dedicated to promoting literacy in childhood programs and elementary schools. The program will be implemented over the next two years and will be split into two phases with an estimated $35 million to be invested towards school and teacher training programs. All 32 school districts of NY will be impacted and the curriculum will include early child education and disability-specialized care.

NYC Reads is driven by the ‘science of reading’ strategy. This scientifically proven teaching route revolves around decoding words and phonetic breakdown. It focuses on a student's ability to truly understand how groups of letters sound together instead of a guessing approach.

Mastery of this method in younger students sets a precedent of success as a child continues their education. Elizabeth Adams, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Ello, a children’s digital literacy and technology app that teaches students the basics of reading, sees the benefits of the ‘science of reading’ throughout her app users.

Adams emphasizes, "The leading approach to teaching children how to read, was something that was called whole language, and it tended to deemphasize phonics as an approach to it in a general education environment. And, the idea was if we give kids this love of reading and we just expose them to reading, it'll sort of happen naturally. "

This constant exposure to literacy is what will inspire our next generation to be active thinkers. A passivity for knowledge creates inactive scholars, evading individualized questioning or exploring.

Technology has increased the desire for this passivity. With the national average screen time remaining at a whopping four hours a day, young minds become addicted to fast-paced and instantaneous information. In 2023, it was reported that Gen Z’s attention span lasted no longer than 8 seconds.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Writopia Lab, a youth literacy development center that ignites a fire for writing, Rebecca Wallace-Segall has seen a dramatic change in reading habits during her time as a director and educator: “It is impossible to miss that change in our cultural landscape—phones have replaced books (and even in-person social activities) during downtime.”

“But I have witnessed in both school and at Writopia that the more social we can make reading as an endeavor, the more life we can breathe life back into it.”

Essentially, reading is thinking. Now more than ever, it is essential that we equip students with fundamental conception skills that they can implement in every facet of their lives. Literacy transcends skimming over an assigned reading; concrete analysis and decision-making skills shape our future voters, leaders, and change-makers.

Literature enriches the soul. Constant exposure to literacy can heighten children during the uncertainties amid the developing educational policies in the U.S. With the rise of banned books, some containing ‘debatable’ topics like gender and race, students seeing themselves in literary characters creates a sense of resilience and hope.Literature gives children a sense of detachment from the world and the ability to empathize with niche characters that are similar to them. A prioritization of literature in schools not only instills children with confidence in their abilities but also evokes empathy in students.

With the rise of misinformation like AI and deepfakes, we must elicit a perceptive generation and provide them with literature that will nurture their holistic selves. Without the ability to engage with material on a deeper level, students become less likely to think and create for the simplicity of self-learning.

Mrs. Catherine von Schoenermarck, an English teacher at Kellenberg Memorial, says that literature is what evokes uniqueness in a student. “It’s what connects us to the essence of humanity. When we stop reading and get rid of that empathy induced by books, we are no different than AI and robots.”

Before we can teach kids to love reading, they need to understand the words in front of them.

The science of reading has been proven as the most effective approach to building literacy by breaking down words. This method is only successful if properly understood; decoding skills are deemed positively associated with reading comprehension only if one's skills are strong enough, according to a study by the American Psychological Association.

However, in a dire attempt to raise children’s reading scores while fostering individuality, the push to teach this method has created bias among students, teachers, and parents.

In a survey of teachers by Educators For Excellence, 60% of the 200 teachers advocated for the shift in the curriculum, saying its implementations will have a positive effect on instruction. Most teachers’ concerns lie within personalized teaching, the inclusion of whole books instead of excerpts, and stories that reflect the diversity of students.

While trying to instill confidence in their students, a firm grasp on the NYC Reads learning approach will take time to be embraced by parents and teachers. For most educators, according to the Educators For Excellence survey, most teachers’ confidence in the new material increases with the time they spend adapting to the ‘science of reading’ method.

Some parents have complained the new method is meticulous and boring. An anonymous 4th-grade parent in NYC shares, “My son came home confused about the new material. I told him that it will take time to get used to, but I am feeling hesitant about the shift.”

While this premature act requires patience and consistency, the mandate is not the only endeavor New Yorkers are taking to combat youth illiteracy. In schools, many educators are taking a hand to inspire a love of literature within their classrooms.

At Kellenberg specifically, Mrs. Catherine von Schoenermarck brought a bit of 'Book Love', an organization that shares stories and fosters a love of reading, to her sophomore and senior English classes. At the beginning of every period, her classes spend ten minutes reading a book of their choice with the hope their reading will transcend the classroom.

Similarly, at the beginning of every senior College Writing class, Kellenberg teachers inspire their students during daily writing sessions, with students being encouraged to write creative pieces, scenes from a play, or personal narratives.

“These are very dear to my heart when I get students to read and write things that are important to them," shares von Schoenermarck. "You get to foster that love and see it grow."

As the 'science of reading' method continues to evolve, beyond-the-norm strides ignite a more intimate passion for literature among children. Writopia Lab and the other +900 youth writing programs, after-school centers, and courses nestled in New York take that extra step in cultivating a love for both reading and writing.

These centers foster micro-communites where an aspiring writer can become fully elevated around those who want to see them succeed. The warm smiles of educators and students at centers like Writopia are what make me excited to donate Writing Kits, giving me a hope for the preservation of literacy.

"At Writopia, we have found a direct link between increased engagement in writing with increased passion for reading. Parents of reluctant readers often report to us that as their kids have internalized the art of writing, the more interested they become in reading."

At the end of the day, adults – whether educators, teachers, or parents– play a crucial role in creating literacy-prioritizing spaces. The more we do to rouse a love of reading from an early age, the more chances a child has to become intellectually transformed.

Educators, students, and parents: hear the cry of illiterate students. As we continuously adapt to this mandate, AI, and many changes beyond our control, what institutions cannot enforce we must inspire. Support for schools, teachers, and students needs to be as relentless as the hopes we have for our future generation.

"As adults, the more spaces we create that intentionally foster this exchange,” shares Rebecca, “The more kids and teens have a chance to reignite their love for reading—together."

Works Cited

A Cry to The Education System: New York’s Reading Mandate Could Be the Hope for Literacy Proficiency & Individuality

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