State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announces literacy moonshot. Photo courtesy of California Department of Education

CALIFORNIA (MPG) - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced his literacy moonshot, a five-year plan to close the third-grade literacy gap. The plan contains key strategies that are proven to improve literacy and would represent the most significant investment and the first long-term plan for literacy in recent California history. The plan seeks to support all California students to achieve literacy by third grade.

Superintendent Thurmond’s literacy moonshot includes funding for dyslexia screening; high-impact tutoring, which has been shown by recent research from Stanford University to boost both achievement and attendance; family engagement; and specialized training and coaching to support those who teach students to read.

The plan also includes legislation sponsored by Superintendent Thurmond to make attending kindergarten mandatory for all five-year-olds across the state. This effort aligns with Superintendent Thurmond’s call to expand funding for the California Community Schools Partnership Program, which helps schools connect students and families to resources for health, mental health, and social services.

Superintendent Thurmond and the California Department of Education (CDE) are pursuing resources to implement the literacy moonshot with the Governor and the Legislature. For several years, California has made investments to improve literacy and has seen modest, steady growth in literacy rates as a result. California has never funded a comprehensive statewide plan as other states have, many of which have seen dramatic boosts in literacy as the result of a statewide, comprehensive approach.

Superintendent Thurmond and the California Department of Education intend to work with schools, community-based organizations, advocacy groups and parent organizations to carry out and measure impacts of the plan.