3rd Grade Literacy

"The most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read."

—Louisa C. Moats, Ed. D.

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."

—Frederick Douglass

Perhaps no single issue in all of education carries as much long-term impact as learning to read. From early-literacy and letter and sound recognition to decoding and eventually fluid reading, the process of much of education from Pre-K to third grade focuses on teaching students to read. There is consensus that a student needs to be fluent by the end of third grade to be on track for future learning. This is the moment when students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” using their literacy skills to access increasingly complex texts across all subjects. Much of the rest of the education system relies on students hitting this all-important milestone, and students who do not learn to read by the end of third grade are on a statistical crash course in their education journey.

Research shows that students who fail to achieve reading proficiency by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, a statistic that rises to six times for students from low-income families. Without a solid foundation in reading, students struggle to keep pace, leading to compounding learning gaps over time. And consequences ripple far beyond academics, influencing career prospects, earning potential, and social outcomes, including higher rates of incarceration. It is particularly critical to focus literacy interventions on students from underserved communities—including students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities—who often face systemic barriers to accessing effective reading instruction.

The Science of Reading

The Science of Reading—a body of research spanning decades and including disciplines such as linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology—provides clear, evidence-based knowledge of how children learn to read. Effective instruction must integrate five essential components:

• phonemic awareness
• phonics
• fluency
• vocabulary
• comprehension

Dyslexia interventions and structured literacy approaches, which align with the Science of Reading, have proven particularly effective in addressing gaps for struggling readers. Studies highlight the importance of early screening and interventions, as delays in foundational reading skills become increasingly difficult to remediate in later grades.

The good news is that we now know a tremendous amount about how to most effectively teach students to read. We are looking to accelerate the adoption of these evidence-based practices and find ways to ensure all students in California have access to this better approach to reading instruction. This is also a sector with robust energy currently, and many entities trying to figure out the best way for the Science of Reading to infuse our education system—including entities exploring how Science of Reading curriculums can be implemented in ways that support the diverse needs of all learners, and that eliminate rather than perpetuate literacy inequities.

There are several potentially impactful strategies that we might pursue in this area including:

• Foundational literacy skills instruction in early elementary classrooms, with a particular focus on scalable solutions and organizations committed to improving reading instruction through evidence-based solutions.
• Remedial literacy skills instruction and supports for older students who have not achieved reading proficiency by the third grade.
• Remote tutoring provided directly to students that is grounded in the science of reading.
• Capacity building and professional learning for school leaders and teachers to strengthen classroom instruction.
• Tech and AI-supported tools to assist teachers and supplement reading instruction, offering more targeted and personalized support for students’ needs.
• Dyslexia screening and interventions to identify the 15% or so of students for whom strong reading instruction alone may not lead to literacy.