Getting Reading Right: Why California Overhauled the Way Literacy Is Taught

In 2017, students, teachers, and activists filed a class action lawsuit (Ella T. vs. the State of California) arguing state education officials knew there was a crisis of reading and writing in California public schools, but they failed to develop a plan to address it. That lawsuit resulted in a $53 million settlement—money that didn’t go to the plaintiffs but rather to 75 of the lowest-performing schools in the state.

Listen in as we talk to Margaret Goldberg, a full-time literacy coach, co-founder of The Right to Read Project, and an integral part of how California has overhauled the way reading is taught. You’ll be inspired as Goldberg shares the state’s new approach, process, exciting outcomes, and her experiences watching literacy rates improve.

Goldberg will discuss: 

• The difference between “then” and “now”—and how a new approach to teaching reading based on Structured Literacy and the science of reading altered the trajectory for thousands of students
• The process used to deepen teachers’ understanding of the research about reading and how they apply that to coaching 
• Righttoreadproject.com and how you can get involved