In a third grade classroom at Danebo Elementary School in the Bethel School District, students are reading a book about a scavenger hunt.
Their teacher, reading specialist Amy Cleland, is guiding the group through tough two-syllable words. She’s also offering a few helpful hints for words that confuse her students - like “button.”
She’s also taught them to identify patterns, and common sounds using flash cards and songs. That day, students were focused on words that end with D-G-E.
Bethel’s Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning, Jill RW, said every elementary school in the district is learning language skills that way. It’s a strategy known as the “science of reading” that uses phonics and language comprehension.
"Students now, they don't have to sound out C-A-T anymore,” she said. “They know the rule of each of those letters, and so when they see the word cat they just know."
RW said that curriculum is a part of a larger district-wide strategy to boost literacy. Bethel has also hired literacy coaches to help teachers across the district use evidence-based practices and it expanded its summer reading program to serve more students than ever.
"We have seen some really great gains, some bigger gains than before (the) pandemic," RW said.
Bethel’s efforts may not be reflected in recent state standardized testing data. Students don’t take those types of assessments until third grade.
Bethel staff say the district’s youngest students have seen the biggest improvement, with nearly two-thirds of first graders meeting grade level requirements. That’s an increase from last year, when a little less than half of Bethel first graders were meeting grade level requirements.
Sarah Pope, executive director of literacy advocacy group STAND for Children, said Oregon’s students have struggled with literacy for years. She says many states rebounded after the pandemic – but districts in Oregon have been slow to catch up.
"There was very little summer learning happening,” Pope said. “There was very little tutoring happening. Much of the curriculum that districts were using, the textbooks and the books associated with that, they weren't aligned to the research.”
Investing in literacy
In 2023, Oregon lawmakers approved a $100 million investment in literacy. Bethel was one of eight school districts selected to receive funds, and two of its elementary schools are “demonstration schools.”
Pope said the data that Bethel and other districts in the program have reported is promising, and she said lawmakers may consider expanding similar programs statewide during this year’s legislative session.
Preliminary state data showed that about 27% of elementary students in the program showed improvement after investments.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has recommended the state double its literacy investment – continuing funding for existing efforts like Bethel’s and helping more schools switch to evidence-based practices.
Pope says the governor’s proposal is a good start, but she anticipates at least $300 million will be needed to get the entire state on the same page.
"We now know better around what works, and what doesn't work,” Pope said. “And now why the $300 million investment is so important is to ensure that those strategies that work, are the ones that we're using, and that we pull out the ones that don't work."
Jill RW, Bethel’s elementary education director, said Bethel used to be known for its reading programs, but has struggled in recent years.
She’s hopeful going all-in on the science of reading will change that. She says so far, it's made the biggest impact on the district’s youngest students, but she’s hoping it will also help older children make gains on pandemic learning loss.
