Policy Rollouts - NYC Reads

In May 2023, after decades of stagnant or declining reading scores, New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) launched a revolution in how reading is taught and teachers are trained in early literacy. Called ‘NYC Reads,’ the initiative moved NYCPS towards a phonics-based reading curriculum and was heralded as the final shot in the so-called ‘reading wars.’

The Goal

We aimed to communicate clearly to the public - with a special emphasis on our parent audience -  why we were making this change, what we were going to do, and how we were going to do it.

Our Top Messages

• This is the crisis of our time: We are not doing right by our children or our educators.
  • We have not provided strong enough guidance on quality learning materials or strong enough coaching, training, professional learning for our educators.
  • Educators and decision-makers at the city, state, and national levels must act now to adopt proven curricula and methods of teaching reading.
  • Students in urban, suburban, rural, and exurban districts across the country are reading at inexcusable levels and we must act now.
• Every student must be a confident reader: from birth through graduation - our public schools must meet our most basic calling – we must guarantee that every student in NYC public schools can develop strong reading skills, regardless of their background or circumstances.
• Adopting reading curricula that works: The initiative focuses on implementing evidence-based, effective reading-instruction and materials that teach students to decode words—that have been proven to be effective in building confident readers.
• Support and Consistency for Educators: Our teachers were left without a playbook. NYC Public Schools is providing them with strong materials backed by professional development and support. No longer will educators be left to cobble together materials in order to teach the most foundational skill in our schools.
• Empowering parents to support their children: Our families also need to be empowered to support their children on their educational journey. By supporting their child they are supporting their teacher, the classroom and the entire school community. Parents should build relationships with their teacher, understand where their child is, and educate themselves about the science of reading

How We Launched ‘NYC Reads’

• Launch Event - high energy, high-visibility event featuring the mayor, chancellor, parents, students, and union leaders.
• Story Placement - placed stories in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal as curtain raisers on launch day featuring senior NYCPS leaders.
• Technical Press Briefings - briefings with community, local, and national reporters on embargo ahead of launch.
• Social Media - high energy clips and recaps of the launch event and press hits were amplified on social media immediately follow the event and with continual follow-up.
• Post-Event Interviews - continuing press hits with community, local, and national press to continue to build on the exciting news.