Early childhood literacy is one of the important topics in education right now, especially after recent statistics showing only about a quarter of Newark students passed the state’s spring English test.
Ron Chaluisan is head of the Newark Trust for Education. He said it will take a village to bring about improvement:
“It feels like it really needs to be a group collective effort where kids at home, kids in after school programs, kids in school, have some coherence around developing their literacy skills,” he said.
The scores underscore the severity of learning loss during the pandemic. Chaluisan said more access to computers and broadband for students in Newark will be critical in improving literacy.
“Kids do use digital tools very, very early on to learn about concepts, to learn about people, to learn about history, to learn about other situations that they may not have in person opportunities to interact with,” said Chaluisan.
He said a study two years ago showed many students don’t have computers and broadband access.
“What it found was that kids in urban settings much like our city here in Newark already were 10 years behind in access to those tools,” he said.