Reading is a Civil Rights Issue

51% of Seattle’s Black students are in a Reading Red Zone. Needlessly.

The Seattle Medium recently shared our graph revealing the depth of the literacy crisis for Black students. Unless 95% of all students are reading ‘at grade level’ or higher, the district is not implementing Structured Literacy. Period. There is no ambiguity about that data. Getting there requires systematic implementation of Structured Literacy and removing all the legacy influences that undermine achievement (and they do).

This is most imperative for historically marginalized and underserved students, because wealth and access provide background knowledge that speeds up the reading process. If 95% of students should be reading well, why aren’t they? Who can help? People who have studied this intricate type of instruction for decades, who are largely outside the public school pipeline.

https://seattlemedium.com/black-students-reading-struggles-seattle