10/21/2024

Driving Change: When Parents Become Advocates

“They [parents] have to trust their gut. If their kid is not reading, there’s something going on,” parent and educational advocate Debbie Meyer says in All For Literacy, Season 3, Episode 4. 

After advocating for her own child’s literacy education, Meyer became a founding member of the New York Reads Coalition and the Dyslexia (Plus) in Public Schools Task Force. She also is a member of the advisory board of the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children and is an adjunct instructor and director of Community Engagement and Recruitment at Iona University.

With teacher training programs not always covering the science of reading, parents have increasingly needed to step up to form a partnership with educators and create change together in their child’s classroom and district. And as discussed by Emily Hanford—another All For Literacy guest—in her well-known “Sold a Story” podcast, at-home learning during the pandemic shed a greater light on just how many children were struggling to read. Many parents, like Meyer, have stepped into advocate roles—partnering with educators and school leaders to ensure their children’s success. 

Meyer shares with parents five elements of literacy learning they should understand as they become advocates for their child’s educational progress. 

1. Literacy matters

With an average of 85% of content in schools delivered via reading, literacy skills are integral to a child’s success in the classroom. It’s not just humanities classes that require reading but also science, math, arts, and everything in between. So, if a parent suspects their child is struggling to read, it’s important to address the situation as soon as possible. 

Literacy skills also affect every facet of life. “My husband and I argue whether literacy is the silver bullet to change a community,” Meyer says. “I think it's at least one of the silver bullets because if you can't read, you can't vote, right?”

Everything from voting to job tasks to properly administering medications requires a person know how to read. Thus, literacy skills matter.

2. Trust your gut

Parents need to trust their guts when it comes to their own child’s progress and/or struggles. “If their kid is not reading, there's something going on,” Meyer says.

“It was clear my kid was not learning how to read at all,” Meyer says about her son’s experience after moving to a new school. “He was developing school anxiety and depression about what he couldn't do.” 

At that point, Meyer trusted her gut that something was not working for her son in terms of the literacy instruction at the school. After monitoring his progress and identifying clear patterns of regression, Meyer moved her son to a school specifically for students with dyslexia. 

Meyer encourages parents to trust their feelings as they monitor their child’s educational journey, and to not be afraid to raise concerns or make changes. While educators are skilled professionals, parent’s have a bird’s eye view of their child’s development and can bring important patterns and warning signs to their classroom teacher’s attention. “Yes, you are someone’s mom, absolutely, but you are also a full-grown person with expertise in your child,” she says. 

3. Literacy takes practice

It’s important for parents to understand literacy is a skill that requires practice just like anything else. It’s possible for literacy struggles to arise from a lack of practice opportunities rather than a lack of evidence-based instruction. 

“I should have taken a physical education course because that would have been really interesting to see how phys. ed. teachers are prepared,” Meyer says. “We honor practice in music and we honor practice in sports.”

It’s often an accepted fact that a skill like learning a musical instrument or playing a sport requires repetition and practice—sports teams often practice several times a week—but it’s not often considered when it comes to literacy. “It's OK if someone goes and practices shooting free throws. It's Ok if you sit with your piano and practice and practice and practice. We don't honor it in learning how to read. And a lot of kids really need that extra practice,” Meyer says. 

4. Ask effective questions

As parents interact with educators, it’s crucial to select effective questions that can help drive change for their students. Meyer recommends starting off with a simple yet effective pair of questions—”What reading programs are you using in your classroom?...and then say, Can you tell me what the evidence is that these programs work?” she says.

She also reminds parent advocates not every teacher or administrator will have the answers they are looking for, and to not be afraid to bring questions to several people. Similarly, “Parents should also know they can bring an advocate to a parent teacher meeting and to an [Individualized Education Program] meeting who knows about this stuff so they don't have to learn about it,” Meyer says. 

Other pertinent questions to ask educators Meyer mentions, include:

• What do you do if a kid is already struggling? 
• Do you double down or bring in a new program?
• What systems do you have before special education?

Effective and easily understood questions can increase the likelihood of getting productive responses and eventually driving change. 

5. Teachers are people too

One final reminder from Meyer is that teachers are people too. “While this is a really urgent issue, we also have to be patient and supportive of our teachers,” she says. 

Just like students, teachers need ongoing educational opportunity and practice when it comes to the science of reading. “They've got to get it right,” Meyer says. “And so that urgency should drive doing it right and doing it well, not doing it fast.”

Parent advocates can drive real change

As evidenced by Meyer’s own journey from parent advocate to leader of communitywide change through her work with the New York Reads Coalition, the Dyslexia (Plus) in Public Schools Task Force, and the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children, parents can drive real change for students. With the right information, questions, and approach, parent advocates can successfully partner with educators to improve literacy success.

Listen to All For Literacy, Season 3, Episode 4, to become empowered to create the change students and educators need to improve literacy rates, and subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode.