The Reading League thanks CNY for championing literacy (Your Letters)

To the Editor:
The Reading League was founded at a local Panera Bread nine years ago when I met with a small group of friends who were educators, professors and psychologists.
We all shared frustration. We knew the science of reading — a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically based research that revealed how to best teach students to read — had been established for more than 50 years. We also knew that the educators for whom it had been conducted had no idea that this research existed. It was not present in their teacher preparation courses or in the professional development they received from their schools.
We became advocates, and collectively, our voices were heard. Our small, frustrated group rapidly grew to become a powerful, Syracuse-based national nonprofit organization with chapters in 33 states. Education, plagued by decades of students who could not read at grade level, began to pivot.
Today, over 70% of states and the District of Columbia have moved to implement evidence-aligned instruction policies. As a proud member of the Syracuse community, I thank you for your continued support and for championing literacy in our community. We, too, can give all of our students a passport to civic engagement through the promise of learning to read.
This week, we are gathered in Charlotte, N.C., for the 8th Annual Conference of The Reading League. Over 2,500 attendees from 50 states and eight countries have registered, many of whom are seeing significant literacy improvement in their own communities.
It takes a league!
Maria Murray, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
The Reading League
Onondaga Hill