Educators, administrators and stakeholders from around the state gathered in Indianapolis recently for the first Indiana Reading Summit. The event spurred meaningful discussion on literacy instruction and encouraged all involved to take action to improve reading achievement.

“In Indiana, only 75 percent of fourth graders are proficient in reading and by grade eight that number drops to 68 percent,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett. “We must demand higher literacy skills from our students and make sure they are ready to compete in a 21stcentury economy.”

Six expert speakers addressed the summit’s attendees, sharing their expertise and advice for Indiana’s teachers to improve instruction.

Summit speaker Dr. Mel Riddile, associate director for high school services for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said, “There is a huge gap between what we know we must do and what we’re actually doing. That gap amounts to educational malpractice. We have to be relentless in making sure we put effective strategies in place.”

The summit also highlighted reading instruction at the secondary level and across the curriculum. In higher grade levels, reading comprehension can be especially difficult because it entails more than just decoding the words on a page. Students must understand what they are reading, make sense of the vocabulary included and, in turn, present ideas from the text.

Summit attendee Leslie Ballard, state director for the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, hopes the summit will prompt action.

“Right now, everybody’s hobbling together these little Band-Aids, but we need something stronger,” she said. “The first battle is changing mindsets. The second is to provide strong professional development for our teachers.”

“Literacy is a basic cornerstone of students’ education. It is one of the greatest determining factors for future success,” Bennett said. “Already, we have taken steps to address the various instructional needs around the state. We’re demanding teachers be content-area experts; we’re enforcing minimum instructional-time requirements; and we’re raising the bar for students and teachers. Looking ahead, reading instruction will be central as we aim to provide strong curricular support for Indiana’s educators.”

A key message offered by Alabama Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Joseph P. Morton was that success in reading leads to greater student achievement, in general.

“This nation has got to come back around to the fact that the basic tenant of learning is reading,” said Dr. Morton. “If we can get people to understand that, we’ll get better math scores and better science scores.”

Nationally, more than six million high school students are struggling readers. For more information on the Indiana Reading Summit, go to: www.doe.in.gov/readingsummit/.