Literacy-boosting lawmakers win national award

By Lori Sturdevant

Last update: October 26, 2009 - 5:09 PM

The efforts of two Minnesota state senators and three citizen lobbyists to bring research-proven methods to the teaching of reading have won them national acclaim.

State Sens. Kathy Saltzman, DFL-Woodbury, and Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista, were recipients Monday of achievement awards bestowed by the National Association of Reading First, an advocacy group that supports the dissemination and implementation of newly developed methods of teaching children to read. Also honored were Susan Thomson of Orono, the founder of the Parent Advocacy Group; John Alexander, head of school at Groves Academy in St. Louis Park, and Bette Erickson, a Minneapolis teacher and parent advocate for learning disabled children.

Saltzman and Olson collaborated on legislation in 2009 that requires candidates for pre-kindergarten and elementary school teachers' licenses to demonstrate proficiency in comprehensive, science-based methods of reading instruction. That requirement, which will be imposed on new teachers beginning in 2012, was hailed as one of the strongest in the country to bring the findings of literacy research to bear on the classroom.

The two legislators said they in turn were responding to persistent, informed pleas from parents including Thomson and Erickson and educators including Alexander. They cited new teaching methods that produced evidence of dramatic improvement in reading proficiency among students who had been judged incapable of reading when exposed to traditional methods of instruction alone.

The vision the award winners outlined Monday was of a vanishing achievement gap, a lower drop-out rate, and a smaller share of young people imprisoned, all because more Minnesota children will learn to read. That gain can come with little additional cost to taxpayers, Olson added. If that vision comes true, national recognition will be richly deserved.

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