I’ve now read this judgment in full, and though I do not have legal expertise, it seems important for anyone who cares about how we provide individuals with access to literacy through public education. THREAD 1/ https://twitter.com/matt_barnum/status/1253385497084379137

This is a 6th circuit appeals judgment; plaintiffs are Detroit state school students, arguing that state has deprived them basic minimum education, “meaning one that provides a chance at foundational literacy”. 2/

District court had rejected their claim that the 14th amendment provides a fundamental right to a basic minimum education; taken to appeals court to reconsider. 3/

Plaintiffs paint a woeful picture of public schools that serve mostly disadvantaged populations. “Plaintiffs sit in classrooms where not even the pretence of education takes place, in schools that are functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy”. 4/

Their schools “lack the qualified teaching staff required to bring students to literacy – that is, teachers who are certificated, properly trained, and assigned to a class within the area of their qualifications and expertise”. 5/

“Plaintiffs also complain of their schools’ failure to use adequate curricula that could plausibly impart literacy … no consistent literacy instruction program in Plaintiffs’ elementary schools, and the schools lack the staffing and capacity …to implement such a program”. 6/

“Teachers dedicated significant class time to reading aloud from books with reading levels multiple grades below the chronological age of the class … students struggled to sound out simple words” 7/

“...the only books in the third-grade classroom … were picture books.” In one high school “the most advanced of the reading groups read books at a fourth- and fifth-grade reading level.” 8/

“Achievement data reveal that in Plaintiff’s schools, illiteracy is the norm.” Further, “Because the rest of the curriculum assumes a level of literacy that the students do not attain, they are also unable to learn State-mandated content in all other subject areas.” 9/

The important question for the appeals court is “whether Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to a basic minimum education, meaning one that provides access to literacy”. Supreme Court has never decided, but based on other cases, appeals court says answer must be ‘yes’. 10/

They say “Access to a foundational level of literacy – provided through public education – has an extensive historical legacy and is so central to our political and social system as to be ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty' " 11/

"...without the literacy provided by a basic minimum education, it is impossible to participate in our democracy”. 12/

“…every meaningful interaction between a citizen and the state is predicated on a minimum level of literacy, meaning that access to literacy is necessary to access our political process. ... Voting, taxes, the legal system, jury duty.” 13/

They relate this fundamental right to nation’s history of racial discrimination. “Education, and particularly access to literacy, has long been viewed as a key to political power … slaveholders and segregationists used the deprivation of education as a weapon”. 14/

The court emphasises the narrow scope of the right. It guarantees only education needed to access skills essential for exercise of other rights and liberties; an education sufficient to provide access to foundational literacy. 15/

“The recognition of a fundamental right is no small matter. This is particularly true when the right in question is something that the state must affirmatively provide. … Access to literacy is such a right.” Wow. 16/

Where does this go next? Not sure. Important to remember that these are widespread challenges. The failure to grasp reading instruction as an object of science within compulsory schooling is failing hundreds of thousands of pupils; and this is wholly preventable. 17/

Interested in state of literacy in US schools? Take a look at @ehanford 's incredible reporting https://www.apmreports.org/emily-hanford . 18/

I also liked @markseidenberg 's "Language at the speed of sight: How we read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it". Really good info on the US context. 19/

Finally, our paper with on "Ending the Reading Wars" provides an accessible account of reading science and its relationship to public policy matters. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1529100618772271 End /