Hi Literacy Lovers,
The Minneapolis Public School (MPS) district is similar to school districts across the country who have yet to shift to evidence-based literacy practices. Day in and out, students receive instruction and interventions misaligned with reading science. You’ll be inspired by the MPS parents in this week’s podcast who are fighting for what is right for all children in their city. We’re so glad you’re here to learn with us!
Listen to This
In this episode: Ep. 82: Minneapolis Public School Parents: Accepting Nothing Less Than Evidence-Based Reading in Schools, you’ll hear from three parents in the Minneapolis Public Schools Academics Advocacy Group. They came together to develop a coalition of families willing to speak out and say, “Our kids deserve access to structured literacy. Less than 50% of students read at grade level.”
Read This
This article in The 74 caught our attention because a group of informed parents led the charge in asking for science of reading aligned literacy materials in classrooms. In the article, A New Kind of Curriculum Night: Armed With Protest Signs and Data, Diverse Group of Minneapolis Parents Demands Better Reading Instruction for Their Kids, MPS parents rally together to fight for their kids’ collective rights to read.
In MPS, students in need of Level 3 interventions are “remediated” with LLI, Leveled Literacy Intervention by Fountas & Pinnell. In this edweek article from 2019, LLI was listed as a popular reading intervention not backed by reading science. MPS parents wrote a blog post about LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention), asking Is LLI like feeding sick kids Twinkies? The links throughout the blog are supportive of understanding how the “Lips the Fish” strategy (Get your lips ready for the first sound!) and “Eagle Eye” strategy (Look at the Pictures!) set children up to fail at reading.
Click on This
Go to the MPS Academics Advocacy Group website to learn more about their powerful work!
