Can We Really Fix the Low Reading Test Scores?

In a previous post, I shared why I think NAEP scores keep dropping, despite best efforts and billions of dollars spent.  In that post, I named what I believe is one of the biggest culprits:  over-teaching some things, like phonics, and neglecting other crucial aspects of literacy instruction.  On the flip side, low scores prior to 2018 might reflect not enough focus on phonics.  Too much of one thing will always result in not enough of another. Yet there are other factors that likely contribute to our low test scores, although I believe to a lesser extent. Here’s what else we need to consider when explaining the low reading scores…and what we can do to to fix it.

Some, like Natalie Wexler, argue that the NAEP test is just too hard in the first place or that it isn’t a true indicator of students’ reading.  They’d like the test to go away altogether or at least be completely overhauled so it only includes content that has definitely been taught. After all, background knowledge does play a significant role in reading comprehension.

The test isn’t going away.  Nor is it going to be revamped to reflect only previously taught content. At least, not in the near future.  This is completely out of our control. 

Other arguments about the low test scores that are out of our control?

Technology

Many argue that technology has made the biggest impact on low reading test scores.  To be sure, this most certainly plays a role. Kids’ brains have changed. Maryanne Wolf has written about this and so has Jonathan Haidt. (And I urge you to read their work if you haven’t yet!)

No question, technology has caused massive problems with students’ focus and cognitive reasoning. It has also greatly affected kids’ vocabulary. Because reading is a language- based skill, lack of vocabulary Is one of the biggest reasons kids have trouble reading. 

“[A] higher frequency of internet use was associated with a decrease in verbal intelligence and a smaller increase in the regional volume of gray/white matter in several brain areas after a few years. These areas relate to language processing, attention and executive functions, emotion and reward.” National Library of Medicine

What’s more, the constant use of devices that require little more than swiping and tapping has led to a decline in students’ handwriting.  Tapping and swiping take far less fine motor control than holding a pencil and forming letters. So in this regard, yes, technology has played a big role–and any pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade teacher today could attest to this prevalence.

Parenting

Popular opinion or not, parenting itself might play a contributing role in low test scores. Of course, there are plenty of parents out there who do everything right and their children still have trouble with reading. My own daughter struggled with reading for a time when she was in 3rd grade, and my husband and I did all the right things. But by and large, parents who just put technology in their kids’ hands instead of talking and reading with them are putting their kids at a major disadvantage.  

As well, when parents don’t or can’t provide access to books and/or don’t read with their kids before school begins, they put their kids at a disadvantage in developing print awareness.  This is an important factor in language and comprehension development, as Tim Shanahan recently shared on his blog.

The reading gaps that we’re seeing in low test scores are more a story of a difference between kids with language skills and book experience and those without.  Simply put, kids who have little access to books or experience with books and language are at a massive disadvantage. This has always been the case.

Related to this is another possible contributing factor–lack of parental involvement in their kids’ schooling altogether.  Some say that parents’ lack of involvement sends the message that school doesn’t matter, which seeps into kids’ attitudes about school, too.  As well, there are many parents who simply can’t become involved, through no fault of their own.  This could be due to language barriers, the need to work during evening hours, not knowing how they can help at home, or simply very busy family lives that leave no room for schoolwork.

Another possible reason kids’ language skills aren’t developing well? 

Not enough play in kindergarten

Some argue that lack of play in kindergarten has led to low test scores later.  Play is an important part of developing language. If there are kids who already come to school with low vocabularies and age inappropriate grammatical oral language structures plus they also miss out on developing language skills (plus so many more) because play is not included in kindergarten, this absolutely should be considered.

“If you aren’t given a chance to think the way you think best, which is with your body and with your voice in play, you’re not going to think as well.” Dr. Susan Engel, 1/27/25 Edweek interview

What kids come to school with in terms of these experiences in building background knowledge, vocabulary, and language structures are everything. 

Which leads me to the prevalence of whole group, one-size fits all lessons.

While some kids come to school completely prepared and able to jump right into those phonics lessons, for example, some are nowhere near ready. So those whole group phonics lessons are reaching some kids but completely leaving out others. 

Don’t even get me started on the “F” word–fidelity.  If teachers are beholden to the curriculum and pacing calendar despite the obvious need to modify both in order to respond to student learning needs, it’s going to be a recipe for disaster.  If we’re not able to meet kids’ needs, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that low test scores will be an obvious result.

And let’s not forget the impact of attendance.  

Let’s face it.  If kids aren’t in school, they can’t learn the lessons.  Looking to the drop in NAEP scores after Covid, it’s very clear that it helps a lot if kids are actually in school.  Obviously.

What can we do about these low reading test scores? 

First, complaining about things we cannot control won’t help.  We can lament lack of parent involvement or too much technology at home all day long, but this will do nothing for us or our students.  All we can do is focus on what we can control in our own classrooms.  

So what can we control? 

We can focus on what matters most for learning.  

Which means we double down to what the research tells us. All the research. 

Research that says exposure and experience with print and books matter. 

Research that tells us engagement and motivation play a major role.

Research that tells us that phonemic awareness and phonics are crucial for reading development.  As well as research that tells us that kids also need experience with authentic texts. 

Research that tells us explicit whole group instruction is needed.  And research that tells us what the role of inquiry based learning is.  As well as  research that says that guided, small group instruction also matters.  

And for goodness sake, there must be a mix of reading and writing. Real writing, not just transcription. Transcription matters, yes, but just as with reading, there must be a balance. And not just writing about reading, either.  Writing as a whole process, as Joan Sedita, Steve Graham, and yes, Lucy Calkins have said for decades.

In our own classrooms, too, we can limit student use of technology and screen time.  Preschool and kindergarten classrooms can make room for more play. 

And yes, there must be balance in our literacy instruction.

We cannot hyperfocus on one thing to the detriment of other important things. 

“There’s such a thing as over-teaching phonics. And since time in school is limited, we need to be extremely careful and strategic in how students and teachers spend time.” Claude Goldenburg, 11/29/24 Substack 

As we move forward as a country, let’s get it right. Let’s remember that reading instruction and learning to read is complicated and multifaceted. We have to strike a balance between discrete skills work and consolidation work…and everything in between. 

The word balance is not the enemy. It’s the misinterpretation of it is, as Claude Goldenburg alludes to in his recent Substack article regarding the misinterpretation of the 3 cueing processing system.  He says that “explicit phonics instruction increases the likelihood of reading success but provides no guarantee, and while phonics instruction’s effects on reading acquisition are real (technically, “significant”), they are more modest than many “science of reading” advocates claim.” 

Just as with any workout regimen or diet, there has to be a balance. 

Pushing too heavily into one thing is going to push out room for another.  It happened in the early 2000s when teachers put phonics on the back burner, and it’s happening now as teachers are putting too heavy of a focus on phonics.  The National Reading Panel warned of this in its 2000 report, advising that “Phonics should not become the dominant component in a reading program, neither in the amount of time devoted to it nor in the significance attached.”

To address our nation’s low reading test scores for real, let’s focus on what we can control.  And my goodness, we can control a lot.

When we can get that right, and quit arguing about it, then we will see scores go up.

Because it all matters.  It all makes a difference. It all makes a reader. 

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Who is Coach from the Couch??  I’m Michelle, a 25-year veteran educator, currently a K-5 literacy coach.  I continue to learn alongside teachers in classrooms each and every day, and it’s my mission to support as many teachers as I can.  Because no one can do this work alone. I’m available to you, too, through virtual coaching calls!  Simply email me at [email protected] or reach out for a coaching call! I’m here to partner with you to build that foundation of student motivation for writing so your students can realize greater success.

Or, consider joining my Facebook community–a safe, supportive environment (really–no blaming or shaming is allowed!)  where you can ask questions, learn ideas, and share your thoughts among other literacy-loving educators!