Reading scores in Wisconsin are stagnant and the state boasts some of the worst disparities for reading proficiency among its black and white students. In Madison, only 11.2 percent of Madison’s black students are proficient in reading, compared to 60.8 percent of its white students, according to the 2018-2019 Wisconsin Forward Exam.
Those statistics hit home for Kathleen Klein, who has a fourth grader at Lincoln Elementary who had trouble learning to read. So literacy education is something that she is deeply concerned about. Klein has been attending “parent empathy group” meetings — one in October at Meadowridge Library and another in November at Lakeview Library on Madison’s north side, organized and hosted by the Madison school district. The meetings give parents a chance to discuss their concerns about reading education in Madison’s schools.
Klein was disappointed that only about eight people showed up to the October meeting. But she doesn’t fault apathetic parents. “[The school district] sends out parent newsletter emails and something came out just like a day or two — not much notice at all — before that meeting,” she recalls. “I think this is a really big deal and I was disappointed to see that there wasn’t much made of it.
“A lot of people in Madison are concerned about how the kids in our district are doing,” Klein adds. “I think it’s one of the most important things that we need to talk about as a community because we will never have equity in our schools until we have equal access to literacy.”
The district has been low-key about the meetings. The first two parent events weren’t listed on the district’s website or on its Facebook page. Theresa Morateck, literacy coordinator for the district, says notices were sent directly to parents who live near where the meetings were being held.
The November meeting did draw some reading experts — including UW-Madison cognitive neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg and Madison reading advocate Laurie Frost — who have been publicly critical of the district’s teaching approach to reading. When they spoke, Morateck emphasized that the meeting was meant for parents, not the community at large, although she did not ask anyone to leave.
“The point of this was to bring in the community and to hear what the community wants to hear,” Morateck said. “And when I say community, I mean parents.”
But Klein complained about this distinction, saying she was glad to see people who simply care about how reading is being taught in the district attend the meeting.
Frost called it a “contrived restriction” on a community meeting. “It’s time to stop playing games, and to actually pay attention to the science and to actually impact the data, to look at the data and take [it] seriously, and to put aside our adult politics about whole language, phonics, whatever, and make sure the kids are learning.”
At the meeting, Seidenberg said that what the community wants is a forum to talk about their concerns.
“I’ve been here in Madison since 2001, and have never had a discussion with anyone from the Madison Metropolitan School District about any policies related to achievement gaps, dyslexia, language differences, bilingual background, speaking a different dialect,” he said. “And so there’s a certain amount of frustration when you say, ‘We’re really interested in these criteria, and we’re really going to look at them seriously.’”
By and large those who attended the meeting asked for one thing: a chance to learn more about how the district is teaching reading and a venue to make suggestions and share concerns.
Klein has since sent a letter to the Madison school board asking it to include reading instruction on the next agenda.
As of this week, the issue hasn’t been added to any board meeting agendas. But in an email, school board president Gloria Reyes says the district will be giving the board monthly updates on its progress and “full curriculum committee meetings will be publicly noticed in early 2020.”
Morateck says in an email that the district will be holding more meetings related to literacy soon. “We have several stakeholder meetings scheduled over the next month with families, community members and staff. We are looking forward to hearing feedback to inform our process for vetting materials this January.”
