Forbes Correlates Literacy and Workforce Readiness

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcowen/2019/11/12/an-urgent-call-for-improved-reading-and-literacy-instruction/

An alarm sounded last week when results from the Nation’s Report Card showed faltering reading levels for America’s young people. The release from the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed a decrease in student achievement in 17 states in fourth grade reading and 31 states in eighth grade reading in the last two years. With all of the “breaking news” in our day to day lives, this headline is worthy of real reflection. Our students and our schools need and deserve our help. 

Beyond just the common sense nature of needing to be able to read and write well, according to the 2016 Why Reading Matters report from Business Roundtable, “93 percent of CEOs rated reading and writing as very or somewhat important for current job openings in their companies, and 42 percent of CEOs reported problems in finding qualified applicants with strong enough skills in those areas.” On top of that, the Georgetown Public Policy Institute reports that we will have 55 million job openings in the economy throughout 2020. Sixty-five percent of them will require a postsecondary education and training beyond high school and the fastest growing occupations (health care, community services and STEM) have the highest demand. How will we possibly be able to meet our workforce needs if our young people continue to struggle to read at a proficient level? 
I am proud that organizations representing education and civil rights communities have quickly come together to address this alarming news. This week, more than ten leading education groups have issued an urgent call to action to focus on five critical areas:

• Embracing the science of reading – Instruction in early reading, in particular, has the most solid research behind it of anything in education. We know what works, now let’s make sure it’s in practice in every school and classroom.
• Pushing for use of high-quality, standards- aligned curriculum – States like Mississippi, which had positive NAEP reading results, illustrate what’s possible when reading strategies are implemented patiently and effectively.
• Advancing the capacity of teachers in teaching literacy by way of teacher preparation programs – A 2018 report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a nonprofit organization that prioritizes teacher effectiveness, found that only 37% of elementary and special education teacher preparation programs included evidence-based methods of reading instruction.
• Assisting non-profits, business and community leaders in their efforts to strengthen reading strategies for their students – Equipping parents with resources and best practice so that they can become effective partners in this work.  (Emphasis mine)
• Increasing the federal investment in literacy for local and state evidenced-based, comprehensive literacy efforts – While primary responsibility for teaching children to read and write lies at the state and local level, this national challenge warrants federal support.

It is encouraging that movement is already underway by state education leaders to focus attention on this area. For example, the Council of Chief State School Officers announced that in early 2020, they will hold a “Literacy Summit” with national and state leaders to focus on the actual policies and programs that are needed to answer that call to action.  

As individual organizations, we’ve all developed respective agendas that place student achievement and equity at the core of our work. Together, we are calling on everyone with a stake in the future workforce to join us — and the thousands of educators who do this work every day — in making reading and literacy a national priority. Our future workforce depends on this foundation—and our students deserve the best shot at success.  
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Jim Cowen
I am the executive director of the Collaborative for Student Success, a non-profit organization that defends high standards, high-quality assessments and strong systems ...