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FCFT Executive Board
April 19, 2021
Summary:
The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT) stands with the Fairfax NAACP in urging Fairfax County Public Schools to adopt structured literacy as the district’s official approach to literacy instruction.
FCPS’ current approach of balanced literacy is not supported by research on how children learn to read. Research has shown that around 60% of students require code-based explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction in order to learn to read proficiently. A balanced literacy approach leaves out the majority of students who require a more systematic approach.
FCPS must adopt structured literacy as the official approach to literacy instruction at the
elementary level. Principals must be directed to discontinue allocating new funding to programs and curriculum that is not aligned with the Science of Reading such as Lucy Calkins' Units of Study. And the district must begin the process of training literacy leaders and staff working in the primary grades in instructional practices that are aligned with the Science of Reading.
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