Solutions For The Literacy Crisis
Written by Trevin Morley
The most effective way we can combat the literacy crisis is to fix the education system and the way kids are taught to read. There is a scientific method of how to teach children to read using what is called The Five Pillars of Literacy. The first pillar is “phonemic awareness” which is teaching “students to identify and manipulate the approximately 44 phonemes in the English language” (The Reading Brain). This leads directly into the second pillar which is “phonics” which “teaches students how to build connections between sounds and letters or letter combinations and how to use those connections to build words” (The Reading Brain). Phonics is incredibly important because it builds the foundational skills that allow students to decipher and decode words, allowing them to read and write more efficiently. The third pillar is “fluency” which is “the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and expressively, either to oneself or aloud” (The Reading Brain). Building fluency is important because it is what determines if the student finds reading to be a satisfactory experience. Having fluency when reading builds the student’s motivation which therefore makes them want to read more. The fourth pillar is “vocabulary” which is “the growing, stored accumulation of words that students understand and use in conversation (oral vocabulary) and recognize in print (reading vocabulary), or their lexicon” (The Reading Brain). Vocabulary is important because understanding the meaning of words allows for reading comprehension. This ties into the fifth and final pillar which is “comprehension.” Comprehension is simply understanding and interpreting the meaning of what is read, which is the whole purpose of reading. Teaching students with the five pillars of literacy rather than “sight words” will help them become better readings because they will no longer just be memorizing words but instead have separate skills that help them to decipher how to read, write, and comprehend texts.
An example of the five pillars of literacy working can be found in what is called the “Mississippi Miracle.” After ranking nearly last in the nation in reading proficiency in 2012, Mississippi decided to implement a new law called Literacy-Based Promotion Act or LBPA. This law uses the science of reading methods which include the five pillars of literacy in order to teach children how to read. The law furthered this by ensuring that “all K-3 educators across the state received training grounded in the science of reading” (How State…). By implementing this law, Mississippi rose from 49th in reading proficiency to 21st, showing how effective the science of reading is. If all states made laws that implemented the science of reading into their reading curriculums, then we would be one step closer to combatting the literacy crisis.
Combating technology and A.I. inside and outside of schools would be a difficult task, but there are a few potential solutions. Finding a way to deter short-form content use would perhaps be the most difficult because it is something that the student mostly engages in at home or on their own terms. A small solution would be to teach kids about the harmful effects of short-form content addiction in school. Teachers could be trained on the subject matter and then deliver a lecture. However, this probably wouldn’t have much effect because the students don’t have to listen and only the truly motivated would be inclined to. Another solution would be a drastic one, a complete social media ban for children under 16 years old, as was done in Australia recently. This would definitely help combat short-form content addiction, which may make students more inclined to pay attention in class and even reach for longer form content such as books.
In order to discourage students’ use of generative AI, we must first ban or severely restrict its use in schools completely. This would mean that teachers would not be able to use AI either. If a student sees a teacher using A.I. for an assignment, it may insinuate that A.I. use is okay for the student to use also. Recently, the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, spoke at a summit, stating that there will be "A school system that's going to start making sure that first graders, or even pre-Ks, have A1 teaching in every year. That's a wonderful thing!" (Limehouse). Yes, she said “A1” not “AI.” How can we expect our students to be proficient in reading when our very own Secretary of Education is not proficient in reading AND wants to implement AI teaching in schools. If we are going to fight the literacy crisis, we cannot slow down children’s brain development by implementing AI teaching in schools.
The literacy crisis is troubling, but it is not an impossible battle. If we want the future of America to be a more educated society then we must take the steps to ensure that our students will be able to read and write proficiently.
Works Cited
“How State and Federal R&D Investments Helped Make the “Mississippi Miracle” Possible - Alliance for Learning Innovation.” Alliance for Learning Innovation -, 5 Feb. 2024, www.alicoalition.org/success-story/how-state-and-federal-rd-investments-helped-make-the-mississippi-miracle-possible/.
Limehouse, Jonathan. “Education Secretary Linda McMahon Confuses AI with A1, Sauce Brand Capitalizes on Blunder.” USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/12/linda-mcmahon-a1-instead-of-ai/83059797007/.
“THE READING BRAIN and FIVE PILLARS of LITERACY - Penn Woods Classical Academy.” Penn Woods Classical Academy, 3 Oct. 2023, pennwoodsclassical.org/the-reading-brain-and-five-pillars-of-literacy/.