To look inside Julie Celestial’s kindergarten classroom in Long Beach is to peer into the future of reading in California. During a recent lesson, 25 kindergartners gazed at the whiteboard, trying to ...

The battle over the best way to teach children how to read has re-erupted in the California Legislature, as dueling factions haggle over a bill that would mandate a phonics-based style of reading ...

Third-grade co-teacher Rebecca Leach helps pupils select the best words for a sentence at Lima’s Heritage Elementary on Tuesday. LIMA — John Parent sat in the kindergarten classroom in wonderment as ...

In the past, when someone new came into his kindergarten classroom to provide unsolicited “support,” the author’s immediate thought was always, “OK, great, what are they trying to sell me?” A literacy ...

What should an elementary reading block look like? For such a common part of the school day, it’s surprising to find that there’s no one right answer. More than 40 states have passed legislation ...

4:16 p.m. June 2, 2025: An earlier version of this report incorrectly said teaching phonics was new to Long Beach Unified. Some phonics has been taught in the district for years, but a new focus on ...