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WHERE THEY STAND

EVERY MAYORAL CANDIDATE
WAS ASKED TO TAKE THE LITEARCY PLEDGE
HERE ARE THEIR ANSWERS:

ERIC ADAMS

STILL WAITING FOR ANSWERS

ART CHANG

Pledge Questions 1-8: Yes!

Check out www.chang.nyc/education for my full education plan.

Pledge Questions 1-8: Yes!

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Literacy is a critical gateway skill; but even before the pandemic, the system was not bringing every student up to grade level, with massive disparities by race, socioeconomic status, disability, and multilingual status. In 2019, roughly half of New York City’s 3rd grade students were on grade level on their language Arts assessments, with an over 27% achievement gap between Black and Latinx students and their White peers. The disrupted and lost learning time caused by COVID is likely to leave more of our most vulnerable students further behind. In elementary schools, we should focus on supporting research-based, culturally responsive literacy instruction, curated or developed by New York City teachers and grounded in the science of reading, including ensuring students and educators have access to high-quality instructional materials and providing professional development for all PK-3 educators, including special education, English as a New Language and Bilingual teachers. We should also build on the current administration’s Universal Literacy Initiative by maintaining and expanding school-embedded early literacy coaches to support classroom educators. In secondary schools, we must provide targeted professional development to equip teachers with the tools to deliver evidence-based specialized instruction aimed at helping diverse groups of students like those with disabilities, students with interrupted formal education, and students who were never properly taught to read. Acknowledging that the literacy gap is likely widening due to the pandemic, we must commit to providing targeted acceleration support for secondary school students whose literacy skills have fallen further behind.

SHAUN DONOVAN
LITERACY IS A CIVIL
RIGHTS ISSUE
Our System is Failing Kids with Dyslexia
Citywide, by 7th grade, students with disabilities are the lowest performing subgroup in ELA (other than those learning English as a new language), with only 11% achieving proficiency on the NY State exams.
This Is the Heart of the School to Prison Pipeline
60-80% of the incarcerated on Rikers aged 19-20 have reading and writing disabilities, yet science has proven that 95% of children can learn to become skilled readers with the proper instruction.
We Aren't the Only Ones Talking About This...
See what the NAACP is saying.

Pledge Questions 1-8: Yes!

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A Garcia administration will implement universal screening for students for dyslexia to ensure that all students receive the structured instruction they need in through second grade. We will accelerate our Universal Literacy goal to 2023 and equip teachers with science-backed curricula based in phonics, so that 100% of second graders are reading at grade level by the end of the school year- when students start reading for information- so that all our students are set up for success.

KATHRYN GARCIA
RAY MCGUIRE

STILL WAITING FOR ANSWERS

DIANNE MORALES

Pledge Questions 1-8: Yes!

Provided no additional optional statement.

SCOTT STRINGER

STILL WAITING FOR ANSWERS

Questions 1-8: Yes!

Provided no additional optional statement.

PAPERBOY LOVE PRINCE

Pledge Questions 1, 2,3,4,5,7,8: Yes

Pledge Questions 6: No

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Regarding question 6, a Wiley Administration will ensure that the Orton-Gillingham methodology is available in every school, and increase the number of highly trained literacy specialists at each school to guide literacy instruction. We will make clear our support for structured literacy because it is an evidence-based program that continues to demonstrate its positive impact on all students, not just those with dyslexia. Additionally, reading below grade level is a racial and social justice issue my administration will not ignore. However, I don’t think it is beneficial to have a rigid stance on the literacy instruction and pedagogy implemented in every school for every child, as we know that children learn differently and require individualized and differentiated instruction to be successful. As such, I will not completely exclude methodologies, as it is important to be responsive to new literacy research, and respectful of educator expertise and community input, which may call for elements of different approaches to be employed in the classroom. Regarding question 7, while I have committed to allocating additional resources to support dyslexic/dysgraphic students, and providing personalized evidence-based instruction to students that need it, this will be done without separating children wherever possible. This is in line with Advocates for Children's recommendation that "A student with a disability should only be removed from the general education environment when his or her disability is so severe that the child cannot progress, even with the help of aides and services, in a general education setting.” With regard to universal screening, before we can implement it, we have to provide the resources and training to ensure we have staff who are able to carry out unbiased and equitable screening processes. To do so, a Wiley administration will provide intensive, high-quality training to teachers in every elementary school to identify reading needs early, and implement a low-stakes dyslexia diagnostic assessment system across all elementary schools in kindergarten. Appropriate guardrails will be put in place to avoid inappropriate identification of students of color as dyslexic, including improved systems of interventions, and higher quality and more comprehensive and culturally appropriate evaluations. Lastly, in addition to the commitments made above, we will allocate a minimum of $250 million dollars to hire 2500 new teachers, including special education teachers that understand and can implement evidence-based literacy interventions. Employing more teachers will shrink class sizes and help our students meet the academic and social emotional challenges of the past year through tailored individualized learning. This increased level of attention will allow students at risk of having dyslexia and those struggling with literacy to receive additional supports.

MAYA WILEY
ANDREW YANG

Pledge Questions 1-8: Yes!

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My administration will ensure all children are reading proficient by 3rd grade, beginning instruction in 1st grade and using 2nd grade as a safety net year. I will implement a universal screening in all universal pre-k classrooms to help identify students who need support and will extend training to teachers on how best to apply methods to bring students up to reading and speaking proficiency. I will also evaluate calls to create the first public school for students with dyslexia, which would provide an all-day every-day focus on direct, multi-sensory instruction across subject areas. 

Please find more about my literacy plans at https://www.yangforny.com/policies/early-childhood-education and https://www.yangforny.com/policies/delivering-for-students-with-disabilities

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