Perspective | Halfway there

There’s much more work to be done to ensure all students are reading at grade level by third grade

If you are like me, you have begun turning to AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok to ask your burning questions. Last week, I asked Grok, “which kind of flowering annuals can I plant in damp, sandy soil along a fence line that is mostly shady.” Grok did not disappoint. Five seconds later I had seven suggestions, and I was off to the nursery.

So, when my youngest child told me recently that he was struggling in AP Precalculus, I went to Grok again for help. Anyone who knows me would be laughing at the prospect of me helping anyone with math. I was an adult before I finally understood that decimals and fractions are the same thing. Nevertheless, I asked Grok, “what are trigonometric identities?”

Here is a portion of Grok’s response:

Trigonometric identities are equations involving trigonometric functions (like sine, cosine, tangent) that are true for all values of the variables where both sides are defined. They’re used to simplify expressions, solve equations, and model periodic phenomena. Below are the main categories and key identities:

1. Basic Identities

• Reciprocal Identities:
  • csc⁡θ=1sin⁡θ\csc \theta = \frac{1}{\sin \theta}\csc \theta = \frac{1}{\sin \theta}
  • sec⁡θ=1cos⁡θ\sec \theta = \frac{1}{\cos \theta}\sec \theta = \frac{1}{\cos \theta}
  • cot⁡θ=1tan⁡θ\cot \theta = \frac{1}{\tan \theta}\cot \theta = \frac{1}{\tan \theta}
• Quotient Identities:
  • tan⁡θ=sin⁡θcos⁡θ\tan \theta = \frac{\sin \theta}{\cos \theta}\tan \theta = \frac{\sin \theta}{\cos \theta}
  • cot⁡θ=cos⁡θsin⁡θ\cot \theta = \frac{\cos \theta}{\sin \theta}\cot \theta = \frac{\cos \theta}{\sin \theta}

2. Pythagorean Identities

• sin⁡2θ+cos⁡2θ=1\sin^2 \theta + \cos^2 \theta = 1\sin^2 \theta + \cos^2 \theta = 1
• 1+tan⁡2θ=sec⁡2θ1 + \tan^2 \theta = \sec^2 \theta1 + \tan^2 \theta = \sec^2 \theta
• 1+cot⁡2θ=csc⁡2θ1 + \cot^2 \theta = \csc^2 \theta1 + \cot^2 \theta = \csc^2 \theta

3. Angle Sum and Difference Identities

• sin⁡(A±B)=sin⁡Acos⁡B±cos⁡Asin⁡B\sin(A \pm B) = \sin A \cos B \pm \cos A \sin B\sin(A \pm B) = \sin A \cos B \pm \cos A \sin B
• cos⁡(A±B)=cos⁡Acos⁡B∓sin⁡Asin⁡B\cos(A \pm B) = \cos A \cos B \mp \sin A \sin B\cos(A \pm B) = \cos A \cos B \mp \sin A \sin B
• tan⁡(A±B)=tan⁡A±tan⁡B1∓tan⁡Atan⁡B\tan(A \pm B) = \frac{\tan A \pm \tan B}{1 \mp \tan A \tan B}\tan(A \pm B) = \frac{\tan A \pm \tan B}{1 \mp \tan A \tan B}

Notes:

• Signs in half-angle identities depend on the quadrant of θ2\frac{\theta}{2}\frac{\theta}{2}
• These identities are derived from geometric properties of triangles and the unit circle.
• They’re widely used in calculus, physics, and engineering, especially for simplifying integrals or analyzing waves.

If you need derivations, examples, or specific applications, let me know!

— Grok

Needless to say, asking for derivations, examples, or specific applications was not going to help me help my son. As I stared blankly at the screen, my educator’s brain realized that while I could  read aloud what was on the screen, I could not understand what I was reading. 

In teacher-speak, I did not have the background knowledge in advanced math nor an understanding of the appropriate academic vocabulary to make any sense of what I was reading.

A phonics-based approach to early literacy instruction

If you have not followed the debate (which actually began over 100 years ago) of whole-language versus phonics in elementary classrooms, check out Sold a Story | Podcast on Spotify for an explanation of how, currently, only 1/3 of U.S. eighth graders start high school reading proficiently, a problem that has led to astronomical costs in community college and four-year university remedial education and subsequent student debt.

Fortunately, North Carolina is among a handful of states that has committed and invested in righting this ship. 

In April 2021, the Excellent Public Schools Act passed with bipartisan support, and with it came tens of millions of state and federal ESSER dollars that provided professional development for all PreK through fifth grade teachers and elementary administrators in the Five Pillars of Reading Instruction. 

Our teachers put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this 140-hour required course — a heavy lift for them coming out of the pandemic. But the results on our statewide foundational literacy assessments have been affirming. North Carolina’s K-3 graders are out-performing the rest of the nation on the same assessment, and all student groups have seen double-digit gains.

While the data is promising and we should be so grateful to our teachers and principals for making these gains possible, these assessments do not test reading comprehension and fluency.

For this, we use our state and federally mandated End-of-Grade (EOGs) to assess the extent to which a student understands what she reads. While 3^rd-5^th grade EOG scores have ticked up a bit since the pandemic, we still have a long way to go to proficiency for all.

The research is clear that students who cannot match letter sounds to letter symbols (phonics) struggle to become proficient readers. However, teaching students to read the words on the page accurately is only half the battle. Students must also comprehend what they are reading, and this will require a major shift in instructional practices.

Building strong readers: Why reading comprehension must be taught as a complex, knowledge-driven task

Unlike phonics and phonemic awareness, reading comprehension is not a standalone skill. 

Research and evidence from classroom practices show that comprehension is a complex, multidimensional ability deeply tied to vocabulary and background knowledge that cannot be taught in isolation. Yet many teachers use a strategy-driven approach to teaching comprehension instead of moving beyond the common skills drills such as finding the main idea, finding supporting details, and sequencing events for students to comprehend what they are reading.

However, comprehension doesn’t work this way.

While phonics follows a clear developmental sequence, comprehension relies on a web of cognitive processes, including language skills, reasoning, and, importantly, knowledge of the text’s topic. A student may excel at sequencing events in one story but struggle with another if the subject matter is unfamiliar. Focusing on discrete skills like finding the main idea often fails to transfer from one text to another; just because a student can sequence the events in one story doesn’t mean he will be able to do the same thing with another. This leaves many students unprepared for the complex texts they encounter on assessments like the EOGs, where only about a third of students score proficient.

The power of knowledge and vocabulary in comprehension

Comprehension happens when students have a foundation of background knowledge and a strong vocabulary. Knowledge acts as an anchor, helping students make sense of new information, infer details, and stay engaged. For example, a student familiar with music will more easily grasp a text about famous movie composers, connecting new terms like “rhythm” to existing mental frameworks. Knowledge also boosts motivation, as students are more likely to read about topics they understand and enjoy.

Vocabulary is equally important. Words are the building blocks of meaning, and students learn them most effectively through exposure to texts and conversations. Research cited in Placing Text at the Center shows that students can learn up to four times as many words when reading texts on related topics over time. This coherence allows vocabulary to build cumulatively, as seen in programs like the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE) program | Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, which integrates literacy with science and social studies. In a North Carolina study of 2,800 students, MORE participants outperformed peers in science vocabulary and reading comprehension, with gains sustained through grade 4.

Yet, traditional comprehension instruction often avoids this knowledge-vocabulary connection, favoring long-used strategies over content-rich texts.

As any teacher will tell you, state and national tests heavily weigh background knowledge, putting students with limited exposure at a disadvantage. This gap disproportionately affects economically-disadvantaged students and students of color, making knowledge-focused instruction a matter of equity as well as excellence.

A text-centered, domain-specific approach

To teach comprehension effectively, educators must place texts at the center of instruction, using them to drive learning rather than as vehicles for practicing skills.

Some districts in North Carolina currently use content-rich curricula that embody this approach by embedding literacy in subjects like science, history, and the arts. These programs prioritize thematically connected texts, allowing students to build knowledge and vocabulary systematically. For instance, a unit on ecosystems might include texts about forests, oceans, and food chains, reinforcing terms like “habitat” and “predator” across contexts. This approach integrates oral discussions, hands-on activities, and writing that moves beyond rote skill application.

Even better would be to integrate comprehension instruction into disciplinary blocks like social studies and science. This shift would allow comprehension to be a tool for learning rather than an end in itself. The MORE curriculum’s success in supplemental content blocks shows the potential: students not only improved in literacy but also gained domain knowledge, creating a virtuous cycle of learning.

Challenges and opportunities

Shifting to a knowledge-driven, text-centered model requires overcoming entrenched practices.

Many teachers, trained in strategies-based methods, may find it strange to prioritize texts over skills, as Placing Text at the Center acknowledges.

Further, teacher preparation programs must evolve to emphasize current research-aligned practices, equipping educators to analyze texts for complexity and plan instruction around content.

North Carolina’s strides in early literacy gains mark a significant step toward ensuring all students read proficiently by third grade, but the journey is only halfway complete. To ensure that students can decode and understand what they read, educators must shift to a knowledge-driven, text-centered approach that prioritizes building the vocabulary and background knowledge essential for deep comprehension.

As North Carolina continues its transformative work in literacy, the progress is undeniable, and the path forward is clear.

We cannot just teach students to read words on a page; we must empower them to understand, connect, and thrive in a world of ideas. With dedicated educators, innovative curricula, and a commitment to the right resources, we’re building a future where every child can unlock the power of reading.

Halfway there, we’re fueled by hope and determination to finish strong, ensuring all students reach their full potential.

Catherine Truitt

Catherine Truitt was the North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2021-25.

Grok

Launched in November 2023, Grok is a conversational generative AI powered by xAI’s state-of-the-art Large Language Models. Grok performs a variety of tasks, including natural language processing, question answering (voice and text), information retrieval, creative writing, image generation, image editing, image and video understanding, and coding assistance.