
The state Department of Public Instruction provided guidance to the Madison School District on selecting new elementary reading materials. The district tested a new reading program in five kindergarten classes at Allis and Gompers elementary schools at the beginning of 2020.
The Madison School District and the UW-Madison School of Education announced Monday the formation of a joint early literacy task force to analyze teaching methods for reading and make recommendations to the district to reduce achievement gaps.
The goal of the task force is to use literacy as a strategy to make sure all district students receive quality grade-level instruction.
Madison Superintendent Carlton Jenkins said “reading wars” — a reference to a decades-old academic dispute over how best to teach phonics and reading — have been going on for years in the district, but now is the perfect time, amid the pandemic as well as the racial justice movement and following two successful district referendums, to begin to think about how the district can better support and educate all students.
“This is going to be our way of living up to those referendum promises we made in terms of trying to give all of our children the highest quality of education,” Jenkins said. “There have been some historical wrongs for African American children, for Latinx children, poor children, ELL children, special needs children” in regard to early literacy in public education.
“Right now is the time to do it. We’ve changed not only here in Madison but in the country and around the world in saying that we must make sure we remove any racist ideology about who can and who can’t have access to reading,” he said. “This is a fundamental right to every person, every child, and every adult to be able to read.”
The district has regularly met few expectations set by the state Department of Public Instruction in English language arts achievement. More than half of students in the district were considered below proficient in English language arts over the past three school years, according to DPI data. Only about 11% of black students, while more than 61% of white students score proficient or better.
The first meeting of the task force is slated for January. The district and UW-Madison hope to have recommendations from the group by June .
The task force plans to:
- Analyze how the district currently teaches literacy, particularly early literacy, as well as data related to the effectiveness of the current teaching model.
- Analyze the teaching methods of future instructors at UW-Madison’s School of Education in regard to literacy, with a focus on early literacy.
- Review evidence-based, effective models to teach reading across all grade levels, and determine how to incorporate the models into teacher training.
- Make recommendations to the district and the UW-Madison School of Education on how to implement steps to strengthen literacy in Madison schools as well as the School of Education.
The task force is a diverse group composed of 16 UW-Madison and district educators, administrators and community members who will explore best practices and research in teaching early literacy while focusing on anti-racist practices.
“We will get to work right away analyzing those recommendations and working together with the district so as they’re making changes in how they’re teaching reading, we’ll be making changes in how we prepare future educators,” UW-Madison School of Education Dean Diana Hess said.
At the beginning of the year, DPI made a rare statement on how teachers across the state should teach children to read, saying phonics should be used in an “explicit and systemic” manner after remaining largely silent on the decades-long debate. Their statement came amid widespread calls for the state agency to step in as Wisconsin maintains its reputation as the state with the worst disparity in reading scores between black and white students nationwide.
Photos: How Midwest schools are navigating COVID-19

Lupe Ramirez speaks at a small rally in front of city hall in East Chicago, Indiana, on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and others were there to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

Alex Watkins holds a sign at a small rally in front of the East Chicago City Hall on Thursday, Nov. 12. She and a small group gathered to speak out against alleged intimidation tactics employed by members of the East Chicago School Board.

With help from an interactive video board, HAST instructor Mira Projovic lectures remote high school students during a Women's Studies course on Sept. 24 in Hammond, Indiana.

Following a lecture for his science course, Hammond (Indiana) Academy of Science and Technology instructor Steve Grimm gives two thumbs-up to his remote eighth grade students on Sept. 22.

Lowell student fans are spaced apart in the student section as they cheer on the Red Devils against Portage on Aug. 29 in Lowell, Indiana.

Despite the rather unusual conditions, students remain diligent in their studies at Duneland Boys & Girls Club on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

A student waits for assistance from a Duneland Boys & Girls Club staff member on Aug. 28 in Chesterton, Indiana. Boys & Girls Clubs have stepped up to fill child care needs in virtual learning communities.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak dons gloves to clean her desk area after a sick student left the nurse's office at Lake Central High School on Aug. 21 in St. John, Indiana. Lake Central students returned to class this week. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Lisa Bosnak uses disinfectant wipes to clean the area in her office after a sick student was sent home Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurses Carla VanDerNoord, left, and Lisa Bosnak compare notes while updating data related to whether students are on campus or e-learning Aug. 21 at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Nurse Carla VanDerNoord updates student information relating to whether they are on campus or currently e-learning Aug. 21 in the nurse's office at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. Nurses in some schools are taking the lead on contact tracing.

Munster students use plastic buffer shields and social distancing in Hannah Fus’ American Sign Language class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School students set up three-sided plastic buffers on their desks in Kelly Barnes’ English 9 classroom in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School Principal Michael Wells stands in the hallway near the main entrance in August as students pass for their next class. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

Munster High School teacher Kelly Barnes logs in with her virtual learning students during her English 9 class in August. The School Town of Munster was one of Northwest Indiana's first districts to reopen this August with in-person learning. Munster Schools are transitioning back to virtual learning through early December.

In Central Illinois, a McLean County Unit District No. 5 school bus is operated by a driver wearing a mask on Friday.

Special Education teacher Dustin Underwood fills in as a substitute culinary arts teacher at Normal Community West High School in Central Illinois on Nov. 6.

Vehicles are lined up outside Grove Elementary School in Normal on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Parents were not allowed inside due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Susy Marcum, school nurse at Grove Elementary School in Normal, Illinois, works inside "The Bubble," a quarantine area set up in a classroom for her nurses station on Oct. 19, the first day of school. Students will isolate in the area until a parent can pick him or her up from school.

In Normal, Illinois, Grove Elementary School music teacher Gabe Myers, left, welcomes Laila Abouelmagd, 5, to kindergarten, as her grandmother, Dolores Callahan, and father, Mohamed Abouelmagd, unload her school supplies on Oct. 19.

Karlie Underwood, 17, a senior at Heyworth High School in Central Illinois, makes a podcast on Oct. 16.

Masked students leave Racine Lutheran High School on Thursday afternoon. It might have been one of the last times students at Racine Lutheran will be able to attend classes in person in 2020, since the city of Racine Health Department announced Thursday it would order all schools in its jurisdiction — both public and private — to close their buildings after Thanksgiving.

Madison Preschool of the Arts second-graders -- from left, Carl Pevehouse, Charlotte Austin and Gabe Mahaffey -- work on self-portraits, which includes showing their face masks. The early childhood center on Madison's West Side has pivoted to help families juggling jobs and assisting their elementary-age children with online learning.

Sherry White directs students to and from vehicles and the building on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Sherry White directs students to vehicles during staggered times to allow safe distance for students at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois.

Third-grader Myleigh Taylor leaves school Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois on Friday.

Fifth-grader Braden Brown heads to his parents' car after school on Friday at Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School in Central Illinois. Parents pick up students during staggered times.

UW freshmen, from left, Elinor Picek, Lauren Sullivan and Audrey Sarasin use a timer to take photos around Camp Randall prior to kickoff of the Badgers' season opener against Illinois in Madison on Oct. 23. COVID-19 cases and positivity rates have been creeping upward on campus since late last month.

A sign on Madison Area Technical College's Truax campus in October informs students of COVID-19 protocols.

Illinois State University students test for COVID-19 on Aug. 24 in Normal.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, freshman Ramsey Folkerts carries boxes into a dorm Aug. 21 on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The school has had to adapt numerous policies this academic year because of COVID.

Eastern Illinois University students Jenna Decker, from left, Katelyn Montgomery and Madeline McQueen walk around campus on Aug. 20 during move-in day.