Building on Progress: Our Commitment to Literacy and Every BASD Student

We have work to do. We know it. But we also have nearly a decade of literacy work to build upon, measurable examples of student growth, and a continued commitment to ensuring every student becomes a proficient reader and writer.

Literacy performance in the Bethlehem Area School District raises important conversations about student achievement, assessment, and accountability. As Superintendent, I welcome that conversation. But I also want our community to understand that our response to literacy challenges cannot be reduced to a single test score or a debate over whether standardized testing is valuable.

Our responsibility is clear: Every student deserves to graduate from BASD knowing how to read and write proficiently and with the literacy skills necessary to succeed in college, career, and life. 

We take the results seriously.

Recent Keystone Literature results are concerning, and we should not minimize them. When fewer than half of our students demonstrate proficiency on a state assessment, we have to ask hard questions about what the data is telling us, where students are struggling, and what we need to do differently.

At the same time, one assessment does not tell the entire story of a student's learning or a school's effectiveness. Our job is not to choose between standardized assessments and classroom-based assessments. We need to use every reliable source of information available to us to understand student learning and respond effectively.

BASD has been investing in literacy instruction for years.

We believe that all students should graduate knowing how to read and write proficiently. To achieve that goal, we must provide evidence-based instruction beginning in kindergarten. That work is not new.

In the 2016–2017 school year, BASD began training teachers in the Science of Reading and evidence-based approaches to teaching foundational reading skills. We saw immediate improvement in our students' early literacy skills.

Each year since then, we have continued to build our teachers' knowledge and instructional practice. Reading well requires more than just foundational skills. Good readers need knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, morphology, and content from multiple disciplines.

That first group of kindergarten students whose teachers received our initial literacy training is now entering 10th grade. That matters. It demonstrates that positive instructional change is a long-term investment. Lasting change does not happen overnight. Sustained change is hard and takes effort and focus.

Literacy is everyone's responsibility.

Students cannot learn everything they need to become proficient readers in one class period a day. Every teacher is a literacy teacher. That is why BASD has trained all core content teachers in Grades 4–12 in content-area literacy routines, helping students read, write, and think about complex texts across the curriculum.

Literacy isn't simply an English department responsibility. A student needs strong literacy skills to fully access science, social studies, mathematics, the arts, career and technical education, and advanced coursework.

We must focus on growth AND achievement.

There is an important distinction between asking: “Did this student meet the standard?” and “How much did this student grow?”

We need to know both.

A student who enters a classroom significantly below grade level and makes substantial growth has accomplished something important. But we also have an obligation to ensure students continue progressing toward grade-level expectations and ultimately graduate prepared for their next step.

Growth matters. Achievement matters. Both matter. And we have evidence that students are making meaningful growth. In 2025, our English Learners met or exceeded the PVAAS growth index in Grades 4–8, as did the lowest-performing 33% of students.

On the Keystone Literature Exam, BASD's district scores were “Well Above” on the PVAAS growth index, meaning there was significant evidence that our students exceeded the growth standard.

Those results do not mean we are where we want to be. They do tell us that students are growing, and that the work of our educators is making a difference.

We have real challenges, but challenges cannot become excuses.

The pandemic interrupted students' progress. We experience transiency among both students and teachers. Every student has learning needs in some shape or form. Some are learning English. Some live in poverty. Others may need additional academic, social, emotional, or other supports. Those circumstances matter. We need to understand them and respond to them. But they cannot become excuses for low expectations. 

In the Bethlehem Area School District, we believe every student wants to learn and they deserve their grade level work. Every student is deserving of our best. Our response cannot be, “These students face challenges, so lower performance is expected.” Our response must be: “These students face challenges. What additional support do they need from us to succeed?” That is the work ahead.

We need to look closely at the students who are struggling, and intervene earlier.

We need to understand:

• Who are these students?
• When did they begin falling behind?
• What skills are creating the greatest barriers?
• What interventions are occurring?
• Are those interventions working?
• How quickly are we identifying students who need additional support?
• Are students receiving the right support at the right time?

These are the questions our educators and administrators are asking throughout the school year, not simply when state assessment results arrive.

We will use data to drive action.

Data has value only when it leads to action. BASD already uses multiple forms of assessment and instructional data to help educators understand student learning and identify areas of need.

The goal is to identify learning gaps earlier, provide targeted intervention, monitor student progress, and adjust instruction when the data tells us something is not working.

We should be able to look at a student's progress throughout the year and know: Where did this student start? Where are they now? What do they need next?

We should not accept a false choice between accountability and understanding.

I do not believe we have to choose between standardized testing and meaningful classroom assessment. We need objective measures along with frequent information that helps teachers understand their students.

We need accountability. We also need context. Good data gives us both.

State assessments provide a common measure across Pennsylvania, and that information is valuable. But classroom assessments and other measures provide educators with more immediate information about what individual students know, where they are struggling, and what instructional support they need. The answer isn't choosing one over the other. It is using all of the information available to us intelligently and effectively.

We are encouraged by the progress, but we are not satisfied.

We should be honest about where we need to improve. Our achievement scores are not yet where we want them to be. At the same time, there are bright spots.

We are encouraged by the student growth we see and by the dedication and commitment of our teachers. We have been investing in literacy instruction for years, and we will continue to build on that work. 

Families and caregivers play an important role, too.

Schools cannot do this work alone. Parents and caregivers can help build strong literacy habits every day.

Reading together, talking about books and what children are learning, visiting the library, encouraging children to read for enjoyment, and making time for writing and conversation all help children build vocabulary, background knowledge, comprehension, and confidence.

Literacy does not have to happen only during homework or in a classroom. A trip to the library, reading a book together before bed, talking about a story, following a recipe, reading directions, or encouraging a child to write can all become opportunities to strengthen literacy skills.

We want families to know that they are important partners in this work. Together, schools, families, and the community can help every student develop the literacy skills they need to succeed.

The responsibility ultimately belongs to the district.

As Superintendent, I am not interested in explaining away disappointing results. I am interested in understanding them. If the data tells us something is not working well enough, our responsibility is to identify what needs to change and act. We owe that to our students.

This is about the future of every BASD student.

The question should not simply be whether BASD's scores went up or down this year. The bigger question is: Are we preparing every student to leave BASD knowing how to read, write, think critically, and communicate effectively, and with the skills they need for whatever comes next? That is the standard I intend to hold myself, our administration, and our entire school system accountable to.

We will acknowledge where we need to improve. We will build on what is working. And, most importantly, we will act. Our students deserve a school district that is willing to look honestly at its data, even when the data is difficult,  and then do something with it.

We are not going to make excuses, and we are not going to define our students by a single test score. We are going to use every piece of information available to us to understand our students, strengthen instruction, and accelerate learning. That is our responsibility. That is our commitment. And that is the work ahead.