By The newspaper
Apr 29, 2024, 06:00 AM EDT
New York Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted the enactment of the “Back to Basics” legislation, as part of the Enacted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which will allow the training of 20,000 teachers and a million-dollar investment to raise reading standards in schools across the state.
The official highlighted this crucial initiative at the Albany School of Humanities, where she visited a first-grade class using best instructional practices based on the science of reading. Governor Hochul’s “Back to Basics” plan ensures that all New York classrooms use this type of evidence-based instruction to improve reading proficiency rates in the state.
This is part of Governor Hochul’s record investments in education through the Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Budget, which increases school aid by $1.3 billion to nearly $36 billion, including $24.9 billion in Foundation Aid.
“Reading is one of the most fundamental skills students need to learn, but currently our children are not meeting basic levels of reading proficiency,” said Governor Hochul. “With this budget, we are discarding discredited reading instruction practices and getting back to the basics, using phonics, reading comprehension and other effective techniques to prepare our children for success.”
Success indicator
The ability to read in third grade is an important indicator of a student’s future success. Students who do not achieve proficiency by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school, with dropout rates even steeper for students of color and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Additionally, failing to ensure reading proficiency at an early age has a cascading effect, which can derail a student’s academic trajectory and impact future earning potential, health, and well-being. Recognizing the urgent need to improve reading proficiency and ensure student success, more than 30 states have adopted a “back to basics” approach.
Governor Hochul’s ‘Back to Basics’ reading plan ensures that each school district uses best instructional practices based on the science of reading to improve reading proficiency among New York’s children. The State Education Department (SED) will provide best instructional practices to school districts in teaching reading to students in preschool through third grade by January 1, 2025. School districts will be required to annually review their plan of studies and instructional practices to align them with those issued by the SED, and verify them before September 2025.
Thousands of teachers will be trained
The budget also includes $10 million to train 20,000 teachers in these best instructional practices through NYSUT’s Education and Learning Trust. Additionally, the Budget expands the State University of New York and the City University of New York’s microcredential programs for teachers focused on the science of reading to ensure that current and future teachers seeking advanced education are better prepared.
As part of Governor Hochul’s “Back to Basics” celebration, members of her administration will read to classes across the state and highlight the importance of using evidence-based best practices in the classroom.
State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said: “Literacy is the cornerstone of education, opening up worlds of knowledge and imagination. Equipping our educators with the resources to deliver evidence-based reading instruction will give our students the tools to effectively understand, analyze, and synthesize information, laying the foundation for lifelong learning and success.”
“Governor Hochul’s Back to Basics initiative will enable generations of students to become good readers and successful citizens. “SUNY is the largest provider of teacher preparation in New York State and we look forward to expanding SUNY New Paltz’s successful Reading Sciences microcredential to further enhance the skills of our teachers and the success of our students,” said the chancellor. SUNY, John B. King Jr.
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said, “CUNY is proud to contribute to Governor Hochul’s ‘Back to Basics’ plan by training current and future teachers to incorporate the science of reading into their classrooms. CUNY prepares nearly a quarter of New York State’s classroom teachers and we are committed to equipping them with the skills, practices and credentials to ensure that all students can become proficient readers, a critical goal for promoting educational equity in our state”.