The Boston Globe’s four-part investigation into literacy struggles in MA schools highlights Lexington Public School’s failures with literacy curriculum, interventions and special education practices in three of the four articles.
60% of low income, 66% of students with disabilities and 71% of Black students in Lexington in grades 3 to 8 did not meet the proficiency benchmark on last spring’s English Language Arts (ELA) MCAS. This data is evidence that Lexington’s lack of support for our non-high-achieving students has come home to roost.
LPS’s purported deficit of moderate resource teachers (special education teachers credentialed to work with students with mild to moderate academic or behavioral differences) means students may not always receive the special education (SPED) support they are entitled to by law. This commonly reported problem in our public schools, if and when it occurs, is, as I understand it, illegal. Despite this, according to the 2025 LPS budget, we are expecting a REDUCTION in funding for SPED educators.
LPS is also failing our students with disabilities with the continued use of an outdated, disproven core elementary ELA curriculum, Units of Study/Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), as well as non-evidence based reading interventions including Reading Recovery. These curricula and interventions do not teach reading with the direct, explicit, comprehensive and systematic instruction that all children need in order to develop solid literacy skills and become proficient readers.
Non-evidence based, disproven and out-of-date reading curriculum and interventions should HAVE NO PLACE IN LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The MCAS data shows Lexington has an unfulfilled duty to our students struggling with reading due the effects of both inadequate SPED staffing ratios and the continued use of outdated literacy curricula.
Governor Healey’s surprise announcement during her State of the Commonwealth address this week shows that she too has had enough — Healey proposed a $30M investment in reading instruction.
At next Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, our literacy department may continue to defend its use of LPS’ core elementary ELA curriculum, but with the governor on our side, I know it will not be lingering for long. LPS needs to implement a structured literacy program that will ensure all children are learning to read proficiently by the end of third grade and should not delay.
Parents are desperate for more support for their struggling-to-read children in Lexington’s Public Schools. Lexington needs MORE Wilson or Orton Gillingham certified moderate resource teachers to bring these students up to grade level. Instead, we are expecting a REDUCTION. This shortfall could lead to violations of the legal documents protecting disabled students which entitle them to essential services.
Taylor Singh