By David DeMatthews
Texas continues to trail the nation in reading performance, yet instead of focusing on research-driven approaches that actually help students learn, state leaders are investing in a polarizing 300-item reading list that has quickly become another culture-war flashpoint.
What Texas needs is not a reading list with biblical texts, but a serious commitment to helping millions of children access high-quality literacy instruction.
The sprawling reading list developed by the Texas Education Agency has spiraled into an avoidable controversy and distraction. Rather than focusing on strengthening literacy instruction, both TEA and the State Board of Education have become bogged down in disputes over religious content, representation, and the overwhelming number of required books.
Texas’ ongoing decline in reading achievement makes this distraction even worse. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress — the nation’s most trusted measure of student achievement — Texas’s reading problems are undeniable.
Eighth-grade reading scores have dropped from 264 in 2013 to 252 in 2024, while the percentage of students unable to grasp basic text has soared from 24% to 39%. The most vulnerable students are struggling the most.
Eighth-grade students classified as economically disadvantaged scored about 27% lower than their more advantaged peers while students with disabilities rank near the bottom nationally. Just 15% of economically disadvantaged fourth-graders were proficient or advanced on the NAEP reading assessment.
NAEP results matter because they are untethered from Texas’s accountability system and largely immune to political pressure, teaching to the test, or policy changes. Texans should place greater trust in NAEP than in STAAR, which has been repeatedly redesigned, rescored, and repackaged — allowing state leaders to assert “progress” or “crisis” to suit political agendas.
For example, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath boasted that Houston ISD’s progress on STAAR and the A-F system represented the “largest academic improvement that has happened at this scale in the United States.” Texans should be skeptical because STAAR scores can go up by intensive test-prep routines aimed at boosting STAAR scores that are not genuine gains in literacy. NAEP, by contrast, cannot be gamed, coached or drilled for like STAAR.
TEA’s proposed reading list under review by the SBOE does nothing to address the deep-rooted causes of Texas’s reading crisis which include chronic underinvestment in public education, a worsening teacher shortage, and a statewide “science of reading” initiative that has failed to move the needle on NAEP reading scores.
A Texas Tribune analysis revealed that the state’s per-student funding has significantly declined over the past decade. Even the recent legislative increase — raising the basic allotment by only $55 per student — falls far short of enabling districts to hire and retain qualified reading teachers or provide robust literacy interventions.
Texas’ teacher shortage has only intensified, forcing many districts to staff classrooms with uncertified teachers. According to TEA, the number of uncertified teachers soared from about 11,000 in 2018-19 to nearly 40,000 in 2023-24 — almost 11% of the state’s entire teaching force.
Results have fallen short even where Texas has invested. Consider the state’s 2019 flagship 60-hour “science of reading” academies for teachers and principals. Years later, reading scores remain stagnant or have declined.
Where Texas has failed, some other states have improved following common-sense reforms.
Mississippi’s much-publicized NAEP gains reflect a decade of focused literacy reforms, early interventions, and strengthened teacher preparation and professional development. The Los Angeles Unified School District saw improvements in eighth-grade reading following expanded summer learning and intensive supports in high-need schools.
Neither Mississippi nor LAUSD fanned the flames of culture wars with divisive reading lists – they invested in teachers and the supports students need.
Now is the time for Texas to do the same by restoring school funding, aggressively reducing reliance on uncertified teachers, and ensuring that teachers receive ongoing, high-quality trainings coupled with healthy working conditions that keep experienced educators in the classroom.
These are the steps to improve reading. Anything less is symbolic, performative and will continue to fail Texas children.
David DeMatthews, a former El Pasoan, is a professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas.
The post Opinion: A politicized reading list won’t fix Texas’ reading crisis — investing in teachers will appeared first on El Paso Matters.
Read: Read More