As my son with special needs, currently in preschool, approaches kindergarten age, I worry whether he will enjoy school, make friends, and navigate his new environment. Yet there is one concern that weighs most heavily on my mind: that he will not learn how to read.
My son has a vivid imagination when it comes to building with Magna-Tiles. He loves to play with sticks outside and finds unique ways to turn an ordinary one into a drum set or pretend he’s walking a dog. My son is a sweet and sensitive soul. He also has a speech and language delay that impacts his development, leaving his receptive and expressive language at least a year behind his peers and threatening his literacy skills.
Teachers play a huge role in a child’s ability to read and write; I want to ensure that Pennsylvania’s schools are equipped to set my son up for success, especially when it comes to evidence-based reading instruction. I should know. I am a kindergarten teacher and have had to educate myself about the science of reading for the young learners like Kaeden in my own classroom.
This is not something that we as parents should have to worry about. Yet, according to the 2024 Nation’s Report Card, just 33 percent of PA fourth graders are reading on a proficient level; for students with special needs it’s only 10 percent. In Philadelphia in 2024, only 17 percent of fourth graders who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient Reading level.
Evidence-based teaching materials are an excellent tool, but curriculum doesn’t teach students: Teachers do.
Governor Shapiro signed SB 801 into law last October, providing districts with a recommended list of evidence-based reading curricula from which they may choose. This is a great start to improving literacy outcomes across the Commonwealth, but the legislation does not require the adoption of these curricula nor provide funding to support their implementation. Evidence-based teaching materials are an excellent tool, but curriculum doesn’t teach students: Teachers do. Without effective training in structured literacy, which includes the explicit, systematic and sequential teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension, teachers will not be ready to fill any holes in our instructional materials.
That is why Governor Shapiro’s budget released earlier this month should have included $100 million for literacy, with a large portion of that money for teachers’ structured literacy training. The newly formed PA Literacy Coalition is also advocating for this budget request, which would pave the way for school districts to use state grant dollars to train their teachers. This training would be in addition to the sessions that they are already providing educators under the Structured Literacy Program Framework Guidelines.
The PA Department of Education states in the guidelines that “the continuing professional development plans of each school entity must include training in structured literacy competencies / standards.” However, there currently is no statewide system to keep track of the training across districts and schools.
While education leaders define what structured literacy is, there also must be consistent accountability and guidance so teachers have access to high-quality structured literacy professional learning. When it comes to my son, I want to ensure his teachers have knowledge, deep and meaningful knowledge, in evidence-based reading instruction — not just knowledge about the curriculum — to help him become a skilled and proficient reader.
Teacher knowledge and training are our biggest defenses against reading failure.
When I reflect on how I was taught to teach literacy during my undergraduate studies, I am astonished at how unprepared I was to teach children how to read. I had no idea what a scope and sequence was and how to effectively teach phonics, relying heavily on the curriculum to teach me instead of the other way around. I still have so much guilt over the way I taught for so many years and wonder how many students who passed through my class ended up skilled, proficient readers.
I now know that teacher knowledge and training are our biggest defenses against reading failure, and that is why I sought out my own training. However, many teachers may not know where to receive professional learning and are counting on their districts to support them.
These days, because of the structured literacy training I found, I am a confident and effective literacy teacher. When my students walk through my door, their parents know their children are receiving the top-notch instruction in which they are entitled.
This is my hope for my son: that he has teachers, starting in kindergarten, who know how to teach reading according to research and science, ensuring his dreams are within his reach. Dr. Louisa Moats, a well-known science of reading expert, said: “Explicit teaching requires explicit understanding” and you can’t effectively teach something you don’t know.
Let’s make sure my child and yours have an education centered around strong literacy teaching and learning.
Kristyn Kahalehoe is a kindergarten teacher for the School District of Philadelphia, certified Orton Gillingham teacher, and 2024-2025 Teach Plus Pennsylvania Senior Policy Fellow.
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