The Legacy of Literacy Campaign

Through the creation of NJLL, JerseyCAN and its Coalition partners from around the state will activate a layered plan, beginning with a multi-platform marketing campaign to showcase data regarding the literacy gap in New Jersey public schools. In addition, the Coalition will launch a lobbying campaign to work with the New Jersey Legislature that will look to define clear state directives and goals to address the literacy gap, enable aligned teacher training for public school teachers, mandate more significant information sharing to parents regarding their children’s literacy acquisition, and instruct the NJDOE to develop and implement a plan to address the literacy gap.

Why reading? Why Now? Leveraging Literacy

Declaration of principles:

Using the nationally-recognized ExcelinEd framework to assess New Jersey’s place in literacy, JerseyCAN has identified five (5) areas of consideration in building out an optimal state-level reading infrastructure. Based on where New Jersey’s progress lies, our goal is to facilitate the introduction of legislation for the following five literacy principles with the highest leverage for positive outcomes in the community:

1. 1. Science of Reading (SOR) training for classroom practitioners;
  2. Teacher Preparation programs aligned to SOR;
  3. Universal Screener to identify students’ entry point along the continuum of reading;
  4. Notification to Parents of Students identified with Reading Deficiencies;
  5. District Adoption of High-Quality Instructional Materials.

First and foremost, the Science of Reading training must be legislated in order to set our districts and schools on the right instructional track for children to have access to reading acquisition; currently, the New Jersey Department of Education is not providing strong guidance in this area. Teacher preparation and professional development must be a target of legislation alongside Science of Reading legislation so that teachers are poised to deliver the instruction that students need to receive effectively.

Then, there needs to be a legislative goal around universal literacy screening as part of an accountability framework to ensure that schools are paying close, individualized academic attention to every single student in their care. In tandem with that attention, parents must be advised of where their children stand, hence a legislative push for parent notification.

This is a crucial step to building the momentum for change because parents may be lulled into complacency in the absence of communication about their child’s status relative to what constitutes age or grade-appropriate reading competency. The application of training and instruction to any discipline of study is dependent upon the use of high quality instructional materials to yield results, hence our choice of a legislative push to regulate district adoption of high-quality instructional materials. Without this, our schools might sabotage themselves by taking a piecemeal approach to change.

Our theory of action makes the case that we must ring a statewide alarm to address the abandonment of concern about the educational outcomes of underserved students, especially students of color; and we must also illuminate the bright spots of charter public schools that have deployed resources to effectively serve those populations, with appropriate literacy instruction as the crux of those efforts.

How are we going to get things done?

READ: Revolutionize Education through Advocacy and Development

- - Revolutionize- Insist on powerbrokers doing what works for children and spark new ideas that rely on community engagement and conversations.
  - Educate-Educate community members so they know what is happening in their schools
  - Advocate– Advocate for a viable future for parents and children via the power of education
  - Develop– Develop resources and tools that will provide our kids with better opportunities

A Message from the Executive Director:

“Across the board, our students’ reading proficiency must be improved, but we are in a desperate situation with our students of color. JerseyCAN and organizations and institutions across the state of New Jersey are ringing the alarm bell today and uniting around one clear priority – immediate action to ensure that every public school student can read and write. Teaching students to read should be an unwavering professional pursuit informed by evidence and a track record of success, not based on a popularity contest of which teaching method is preferred or currently in vogue. If a light is not shined on this issue and strategically addressed in Trenton, we will rob many in this generation of New Jersey’s public school students of a viable future.”-Paula White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN

Join the Legacy of Literacy Coalition:

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, endorse and commit to upholding the principles outlined in the New Jersey Legacy of Literacy Coalition’s Declaration of Principles. We believe in the transformative power of evidence-based literacy principles and their potential to improve educational outcomes for all children in New Jersey.

By signing this declaration, we pledge our support to advocate for the implementation of Science of Reading training, aligned Teacher Preparation programs, Universal Screening, Parent Notification, and the adoption of High-Quality Instructional Materials in our state. We join the Legacy of Literacy Coalition in its mission to revolutionize education through advocacy and development.

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Declaration of principles:

How are we going to get things done?

A Message from the Executive Director:

Join the Legacy of Literacy Coalition:

Background Materials: