8 Jan 9th-Jan 15th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | the nation for preschool access. The 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University notes that 4% of Arizona’s four-year-olds attended a state-funded preschool program during the 2022-23 school year, compared with 35% nationwide. Literacy rates also are influenced by chronic absenteeism, which has worsened since the pandemic. According to a report from the Helios Education Foundation, chronic absen- teeism especially affects a host of demo- graphic groups: economically disadvantaged students, non-English- speaking students, American Indian or Alaska Native students, Black/African American students and Hispanic students. Thirty-five percent of Arizona’s economically disadvantaged students are chronically absent, compared with just 28% of their non-disadvantaged peers. Georgetown University-based think tank FutureEd has tracked chronic absenteeism rates since the 2018-19 school year. It found that Arizona had the 15th-highest chronic absenteeism rate in the country for the 2022-23 school year, the last for which full data is available. Clark, Arizona’s literacy director, said curtailing low attendance is a critical component of advancing students’ literacy rates. Much of the rest has been shoul- dered not by schools but instead by nonprofits. Organizations doing the work To address the literacy gaps that the state education system apparently cannot fix, third-party organizations are stepping in. Read On Arizona has formed several part- nerships to improve school readiness and third-grade reading outcomes. The California-based nonprofit Raising a Reader promotes equity-based learning, encouraging parents to work with their kids at home to develop a love for reading. The organization’s Classic Red Book Bag program sends Arizona students home with five books each week and encourages parents to read with their children. Parents are instructed to use evidence-based strat- egies while reading, such as asking the children questions about the story or about the accompanying photos. That way, students stay engaged while reading in the reassuring presence of a trusted caregiver. Raising a Reader serves about 2,300 children across Arizona, focusing on students in kindergarten through third grade. Suzanne Metcalf, the organization’s director of marketing and communica- tions, stresses the importance of investing in this type of education. “Every dollar invested in early literacy yields lifelong benefits,” she said. “It’s a lifelong benefit, not just for the child but for the families.” Stand for Children Arizona’s Growing Readers is a 10-week program that teaches parents the basics of literacy and how they can help at home. Growing Readers assists about 600 families across the state each year, focusing primarily on Title I schools, which serve lower-income students who need additional support. Stand for Children Arizona also advo- cates for education policies, such as 2020’s Proposition 208, which would have funded education through a tax on high earners but was overturned by the courts. The organization also has pushed to make dual- language learning available in classrooms. Since 2001, Arizona has been beholden to Proposition 203, which disavows multi- language classroom learning and requires that students are taught primarily in English. The stated purpose of this legisla- tion was to “acquire a good knowledge of English, thereby allowing them to fully participate in the American Dream.” But 20 years later, the proposition has yet to prove its efficacy. The ban on multi-language learning hurts Arizona’s immigrant communities. Non-English speaking students have dramatically lower literacy rates, with 86% of these children falling far below the average rate. Research shows that dual immersion programs, which allow students to learn in their native tongue and in English, have higher success rates. But Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has repeatedly disavowed them, suing schools that don’t comply with the “English only” approach. Last month, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed a case filed by Carmen Chenal, Horne’s wife, against Creighton Elementary School District over its dual-language program. It is the second case lost by Horne as he continues the crusade targeting schools using a multi- language model. To education advocates — for whom Horne has been an especially malevolent force — it’s one more example of how Arizona gets in the way of educating its children. “The state has, unfortunately, been derelict in fulfilling their constitutional responsibility,” Mamani said. “It’s in the constitution of Arizona that they should have funded, equitable schools, and that’s not what’s happening.” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has battled against dual-language immersion programs, despite research showing that they help literacy rates. (Photo by TJ L’Heureux) Can Your Kid Read This? from p 6
