mai's case study reading academy

Texas teachers say they’re pushed to the brink by law requiring them to spend dozens of hours unpaid in training

K-3 teachers in Texas have until 2023 to complete a 60-hour Reading Academies course to keep the job. It’s taking some 120 hours on their own time to finish.

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It was one thing to ask Texas teachers — during an ongoing teacher’s shortage — to make extra room in their busy home routines for online classroom teaching for months, then to monitor the latest in vaccine and mask mandates while waiting and adjusting yet again for a return to the classroom.

But now, as teachers attempt to restore all the learning lost by their students during the pandemic, the Texas Legislature has insisted those who teach grades K-3 need to jump another hurdle: they need to complete a 60-to-120 hour course on reading, known as Reading Academies, if they want to keep their jobs in 2023.

And they must do it on their own time, unpaid.

For many like 38-year-old Christina Guerra, a special education teacher in the Rio Grande Valley, the course requirement is the final straw and it is sending teachers like her and others out the door.

“I don't want to do it,” she said. “I refuse to, and if they fire me, they fire me.”

Course adds to teacher workload

In 2019, the Legislature wanted to improve student reading scores and came up with a requirement that teachers complete this reading skills course. Every teacher working in early elementary grades — kindergarten through third — along with principals, had until the end of the 2022-23 school year to complete it.

But then the pandemic hit, and now many teachers are deciding whether to complete it or call it quits.

Tina Haass, a math and science teacher in the Fort Bend Independent School District, often spends her weekends working her way through the course. After a long day of school, she doesn’t have the mental energy to get on a computer and move through the course’s seemingly endless sections.

“​​Luckily, I don't have any kids,” she said. “I can't imagine some of these teachers having families that they have to come home to — they have to cook, they have to take care of their children.”

This course takes at least 60 hours to finish, but in some cases teachers are taking up to 120 hours to complete it. Most teachers aren’t compensated for their time. Some districts are offering stipends, if there's room in their budget.

Exactly how many teachers who still need to take the course is unknown. According to a Texas Education Agency update, nearly 90,000 educators have either started or completed the course as of March 9. In the same agency update there is no mention of how many K-3 teachers still need to complete it. The TEA did not respond to questions about the required course or the looming 2023 deadline.

Teachers agree that improving reading outcomes is important as Texas struggles to meet reading proficiency assessments. In the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” less than one-third of fourth graders performed at or above proficient level and only one-quarter of eight graders performed at or above proficient level.

But the pressures of the pandemic have forced many teachers to reconsider whether to remain in the profession. From 2010 to 2019, the number of teachers certified in Texas fell by about 20%, according to a University of Houston report .

After recent reports of more teacher departures, Gov. Greg Abbott formed a task force to address teacher shortages.

But teachers and public education advocates alike believe the state should hold itself accountable for the teacher departures, especially when adding requirements that add to teacher workload.

“I just feel like a lemon just squeezing, squeezing, squeezing,” said Guerra, a special education teacher in La Joya Independent School District. “But there's no more, there's nothing that you squeeze out anymore. There's no more juice.”

Guerra plans to leave the profession at the end of the school year.

Course exceptions, workarounds

As unforgiving as the deadline sounds, there have been a few curious exceptions.

The state has allowed districts to exempt art, health education, music, physical education, speech communication and theater teachers. But, there has been some confusion over whether or not teachers need an all-level certification in those subject areas to be exempt.

That extra certification allows teachers to teach early childhood education all the way to 12th grade. Meredith Connely, an elementary visual arts teacher in the Leander Independent School District, paid almost $200 and took an exam to receive her all-level certification.

“I’m seeing other people on my campus take it and it seems like it was $200 well spent, but I shouldn’t have had to pay,” Connely said. “My time has worth.”

The TEA clarified on Friday that the all-level certification is not needed. An Association of Texas Professional Educators survey of 975 K-3 teachers and administrators conducted last December, only 11 said they hold an all-level certification in one of the subjects that could be exempt. In that notice to educators this month, the Texas Education Agency seemed to suggest agency officials will consider ways to keep the Reading Academies course at 60 hours. Districts may also allow teachers to test out of the course.

And the TEA also informed K-6 teachers who have passed the The Science of Teaching Reading Exam that they can take a shorter version of the course. The TEA website used to say that teachers needed the all-level certification to be exempt and at least one TEA employee notified a teacher that they needed that certification.

Andrea Chevalier, a lobbyist with the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said the Reading Academies course is well-intentioned. They found that about 65% of teachers surveyed found the content to be valuable.

When Abbott’s teacher shortage task force meets, Chevalier said teachers’ concern about the Reading Academies course should be addressed. n the same survey by Chevalier’s group, nearly half of the educators reported that the course took more than 120 hours to complete. Only 18% said it took between 60 and 80 hours and 95% said they worked after hours or weekends to finish it.

More time for some, but still departures

Haass, the Fort Bend ISD teacher, said she feels like lawmakers who mandated this course didn’t consider the time and effort teachers would have to put into it. Haass, who teaches math and science, said there’s no logic behind her having to take this as she isn’t the one teaching children how to read.

“This is the hardest — I’m sorry — fucking job I’ve ever had,” she said.

Jessica Jolliffe, assistant director of humanities at Austin Independent School District, said most teachers in the district are working on the course on their own time, whether it be after school, weekends or winter break. The district did give teachers time on Jan. 4 to just work on the course.

While teachers would rather not do this on their own time, Jolliffe believes the course content has value and can help students with their reading skills.

Back in the Rio Grande Valley, Guerra said her decision to leave teaching after 14 years was really made in the last two because of all the interruptions and criticisms teachers have had to deal with during the pandemic. That’s what she says. Abbott’s task force needs to address.

Guerra outlines how she thinks teachers were treated badly these past few years. First, they were accused of not wanting to teach classes in person. Then, once teachers were back in the classroom, there were the accusations that teachers were teaching critical race theory.

“At this point, I feel like there's no coming back for teachers after all of that,” Guerra said. “And the Reading Academy is just a kick in the ass after being treated poorly for the past few years.”

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Clarification, April 1, 2022 at 3:45 p.m. : In a previous version of this story it was reported that art, health education, music, physical education, speech communication and theater teachers were exempt from the Reading Academies course if they held an “all-level” certification in those subjects. The Texas Education Agency has recently changed that requirement so that those subject teachers do not need that added certification to be exempt.

Correction, April 1, 2022 at 3:45 p.m. : In a previous version of this story it was incorrectly reported that K-6 teachers who have passed The Science of Teaching Reading Exam do not have to take the Reading Academies course. The TEA says those teachers must take a shorter version of the course.

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2022-23 Texas Reading Academies Implementation

Texas Reading Academies support teacher knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practices based on the Science of Teaching Reading (STR), to positively impact student literacy achievement. Reading Academies were intentionally designed to provide choice in implementation to meet local needs and priorities. School districts and open-enrollment charter schools must ensure that not later than the 2022-2023 school year, each classroom teacher in kindergarten or first, second, or third grade and each principal at a campus with kindergarten or first, second, or third grade has attended a reading academy, per Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.0062(2)(A). 

Teachers and administrators will have a variety of options through which to meet the Texas Reading Academies requirement as program adjustments will make Reading Academies  more flexible, more efficient, and more effective . To learn about updates to Texas Reading Academies that support Year 3 (2022-23 school year) implementation please view the  summary of changes  on the Reading Academies page of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. This TAA provides more detail on the updates provided in that presentation, including dates for changes that are not yet in effect.

Reading Academies are More Flexible:

• Districts may allow certain teachers to attempt to demonstrate knowledge without completing modules first NEW Demonstrated Proficiency Option:  Individuals with an advanced understanding of the science of teaching reading, a proven track record of consistently high student proficiency, and outstanding performance on teacher evaluations may demonstrate their knowledge and expertise without having completed a full 12-module academy through the new demonstrated proficiency option that will be available during the following windows: August 15-26, 2022, and October 10-21, 2022. For additional detail related to this option and future announcement of additional dates, please visit  https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/reading/hb-3-reading-academies  and select “More flexible” under “Year 3 Updates.”  
• Teachers who passed the STR exam will not have to complete all reading academies module content NEW Science of Teaching Reading (STR) Pathways:  For educators who have earned the STR certification, the streamlined options in both ELAR and Biliteracy will be available with cohort launches in October 2022 and January 2023. The STR pathways will allow STR-certified educators to complete a shorter version of the reading academies. Administrators may wish to enroll new teachers in a January 2023 cohort to allow time during the first half of the year for other new teacher priorities. While not all authorized providers are required to offer these new pathways, a list of authorized providers that have confirmed their intent to offer STR pathways in 2022-2023 is available at  https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/reading/hb-3-reading-academies . Select “More flexible” under “Year 3 Updates."  
• Participants with extenuating circumstances will continue to have additional time to complete academies Participants with extenuating circumstances will continue to have additional time to complete academies. Administrators should contact their authorized provider for additional information specific to a participant’s situation. The current list of Reading Academies Authorized Providers is located  here .  
• Teachers who have passed the STR exam and only teach math will be eligible for a waiver from the Reading Academies requirement NEW STR-Certified Math Teacher Waiver : Districts and charter schools that wish to request a waiver of Texas Reading Academies for mathematics teachers who have passed the STR exam can do so through  this application  now. Districts and charter schools will need to provide basic information in the application, a screenshot showing the teacher’s STR certification, and an assurance that the teacher will only teach mathematics in the 2022-23 school year. 

Reading Academies are More Efficient:

• Content has been streamlined to ensure actual seat time accurately reflects projected seat time Some content has been made optional. For example, Module 3 content is now optional. This streamlined content is now live for all Year 3 pathways and all cohorts.  
• Cohort leaders are no longer required to grade artifacts This change has taken place, allowing cohort leaders to dedicate their time to support teachers as they complete the Texas Reading Academies.  
• Districts will be able to verify reading academies completion Districts and charter schools can now verify reading academies completion on the TEA website at  https://tea.texas.gov/reading-academies-search

Reading Academies are More Effective:

Authorized providers will have more resources and recommendations for supporting the strong local implementation planning with districts. For examples of how to best support teachers who will participate in reading academies during Year 3, visit  https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/reading/hb-3-reading-academies  and select “More effective” under “Year 3 Updates" to view a webinar recording. 

Additional Help

If you have questions regarding requirements or implementation options related to the reading academies, please submit them to the  Support Portal  for assistance.

Module 4 Resources

Module 4 participant notebook.

An Introduction to the Assessment Instruction Cycle

The Assessment-Instructional Cycle provides meaningful feedback about a student’s skill level.

There are four stages in the Assessment-Instructional Cycle:

Stage 1 Collect assessment data that documents student literacy performance.

Stage 2 Analyze the data to see patterns or trends.

Stage 3 Interpret the patterns to inform instruction that supports student success.

Stage 4 Plan and implement instruction that meets the needs of your students.

That leads us to begin the cycle again in our continuing efforts to respond and offer targeted instruction for individuals and for groups of learners.

Assessment Categories

Assessment Tools

As discussed in Chapter 1 of this module, teachers are continually collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to adapt their instruction accordingly. This happens informally as teachers reflect on what happened today, so they can adjust tomorrow’s lesson. It also happens in more formal ways, especially when a student clearly needs additional support. The assessment processes and tools introduced in this video and throughout this chapter support formal assessment. The assessment tools mentioned in this video will help you understand the progression of assessments throughout the school year. Each assessment will be explained in more detail as you move through the chapter content.

Deep Dive into the Assessment Instruction Cycle

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Per House Bill 3 (HB 3) , passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in June of 2019, all kindergarten through third grade teachers and principals must complete a Texas Reading Academy by the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The goal of the Texas Reading Academies is to increase teachers’ and principals’ knowledge and implementation of evidence-based practices to positively impact student literacy achievement.

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MAI’S AMERICA: Cross-Cultural Psychology Case Study Analysis

Before starting this assignment, you must:

1. Read Gardiner Chap 6 and Shiraev & Levy Chap 11 2. Take brief personality test (link posted in Week 13) 3. Watch the documentary Mais America (links provided in folder just below the Review Sheet). Each answer has a minimum word count requirement of 300+. Please indicate word count at the end of each answer. 1. How would you describe Mais general personality? Provide a brief discussion using examples from the videos.

You must integrate Gardiner Chapter 6 OR Shiraev & Levy Chapter 11 content into your discussion. 2. Define goodness of fit. Explain whether there was a goodness of fit for Mai in each of her two placements with host families. Explain and discuss clearly why or why not, using examples from the videos. You must integrate Gardiner Chapter 6 content into your discussion. 3. What is your personality type from the test? What are the characteristics of this type? Briefly explain and discuss whether this personality type makes it easy or difficult to deal with cross-cultural experiences (for example, study or work in a foreign country like Mai did). Explain and discuss why or why not. You must integrate Gardiner Chapter 6 OR Shiraev & Levy Chapter 11 content into your discussion.

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Case Study: How One Texas School District Is Repurposing Staff Development Time to Embrace the Science of Reading

Unleashing the power of professional learning communities through richer, curriculum-based learning in the aldine independent school district..

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This is the next installment in a series of articles by the Knowledge Matters Campaign to elevate stories of educators implementing high-quality instructional materials. Edna Cruz is a bilingual skills specialist and Alaura Mack is an instructional skills specialist working together at Reed Academy in the Aldine Independent School District, which includes parts of Houston and Harris County, Texas. As the first distrct in Texas to have adopted a high-quality, knowledge-based reading curriculum, the authors reflect on the importance of equipping teachers with curriculum-based professional learning to ensure long-lasting success for students. Follow the rest of the series and previous curriculum case studies here .  

In 2020, the Aldine Independent School District became the first district in Texas to adopt a high-quality, knowledge-based reading curriculum. It was a seismic change for teachers, who had been using a familiar balanced literacy program with skills-focused lessons and leveled readers for several years. But it was a necessary change for students — in 2018-19, just 30 percent of Aldine third graders were reading at or above grade level.  

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and its effect on academic achievement, we have made strides by implementing the Amplify CKLA curriculum. Today, teachers lead highly structured, thematic units that focus on the same content over a period of weeks. All students work with the same knowledge-rich, grade-level texts, whether they read them independently or with support. That gives every student the opportunity to build vocabulary and a base of common knowledge, which boosts reading comprehension and fosters inclusive communities of learning. 

Our students have made rapid progress — within the first two years, 50 percent of third graders were reading at or above grade level. The percentage of third graders scoring “well below” benchmark dropped from 48 percent to 36 percent. These are heavy lifts in Aldine, where about 90 percent of students are economically disadvantaged and more than half are English language learners. 

Students’ academic achievement and development rely on their teachers’ understanding and execution of the Amplify CKLA curriculum. As instructional specialists, we have implemented robust curriculum-based professional learning to ensure Aldine teachers are prepared to deliver strong instruction that meets the needs of all students.  

Curriculum-based professional learning brings teachers and instructional leaders together to probe and practice individual lessons, which has helped our teachers implement new curriculum with fidelity. During these sessions, teachers internalize, annotate, collaborate, and rehearse lessons within units of study. They identify the most critical ideas and skills students should encounter, the most likely misconceptions students may experience, and the scaffolds or learning supports needed to grant access to the content to all learners.  

This sort of study doesn’t happen overnight. Here are three key aspects of this work that have shaped our progress: 

Closing the Research-Practice Gap 

Too often, research stands a world apart from the educators who work directly with students. 

Aldine provided resources and time to close that gap. Even before the new curriculum was announced, both teachers and instructional specialists like us read Natalie Wexler’s The Knowledge Gap and participated in related staff development sessions. Meanwhile, a literacy task force was studying curriculums and visiting out-of-state classrooms to make their recommendation. 

This shared reading assignment and attendant discussions helped teachers and specialists learn the science behind best practices and understand the role that building knowledge plays in literacy development. Both were critical when it came time for our teachers to trust that an unfamiliar and seemingly out-of-reach reading curriculum could be effective in Aldine classrooms. 

Revamping PLCs for Curriculum Study

In the past, meeting time for professional learning communities (PLCs) was spent on grade-level “business,” like planning field trips or sharing concerns from individual classroom observations. These are key issues, but they don’t necessarily translate into instructional innovation or academic progress. 

Even when meetings were focused on instruction, master teachers and teachers with outsized experience or confidence spoke up most often. As a result, meetings did not include the voices of all teachers, especially novices or those serving the most disadvantaged student groups. 

Our district revamped grade-level meetings to focus on in-depth curriculum study. Today, during Curriculum-based Professional Learning (CPLs), instructional specialists facilitate in-depth curriculum study sessions, which follow detailed discussion protocols. These one- and two-page discussion guides help teachers unpack and internalize the logic of each unit and lesson, identify opportunities to make cultural connections with and among students, and focus attention on the essential questions and tasks each lesson needs to ensure students master the learning goal.

This structure and guidance help ensure teachers’ time together is purposeful and driven by our common curriculum. In addition, by focusing attention on a shared resource, we’ve seen that more teachers speak up in CPLs, which gives a grade-level group a wider view of classroom practice and learning. 

Building Teachers’ Trust 

Changing curriculum means changing instructional practice and underlying beliefs. Teachers need to trust that a new curriculum will work with their students before they will teach it as intended.  

Often, teachers who work with struggling students are initially wary of high-quality, knowledge-based curriculum. In our district, second-grade teachers were concerned that students would not successfully engage with a unit based on grade-level texts about The War of 1812, for example.  

Ongoing curriculum-based professional learning with grade-level colleagues helped address these concerns. As teachers studied and practiced units and lessons together, they could see the logic and variety of ways students at all levels could access, understand, and make connections with rigorous content. And, as they experienced this new teaching in their classrooms, they could share challenges and evidence of growth. No one teacher was going it alone.  

Any change in curriculum requires strong leadership from the Central Office. But when it comes to changing what actually happens in classrooms and schools, teachers are the real decision-makers. By intentionally equipping teachers with curriculum-based professional learning, we are setting our schools up for long-lasting success. 

Edna Cruz is a bilingual skills specialist at Reed Academy in the Aldine Independent School District, which includes parts of Houston and Harris County, Tx. She is a member of the Curriculum Matters Professional Learning Network, which supports district leaders from around the country implementing high-quality instructional materials.  Alaura Mack is an instructional skills specialist for English Language Arts at Reed Academy and is also a member of the Curriculum Matters Professional Learning Network.

Edna Cruz is a bilingual skills specialist at Reed Academy in the Aldine Independent School District, which includes parts of Houston and Harris County, Tx. She is a member of the Curriculum Matters Professional Learning Network, which supports district leaders from around the country implementing high-quality instructional materials.

Alaura Mack is an instructional skills specialist for English Language Arts at Reed Academy in the Aldine Independent School District, which includes parts of Houston and Harris County, Tx. She is a member of the Curriculum Matters Professional Learning Network, which supports district leaders from around the country implementing high-quality instructional materials. 

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Texas Schools Rethink Teacher Training to Embrace the ‘Science of Reading’

By Edna Cruz & Alaura Mack

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Personal Reasons: On Mai-mai Sze’s Motivations for Reading and Annotating

Annotations from Mai-mai Sze’s copy of Science and Civilisation in China, volume 2.

Mai-mai Sze’s notes on the concept of yin and yang, in Chinese and English.

June 15, 2015

Book History , Contemporary History , History of Reading , Microhistory

June 15, 2015 at 2:29 pm

That’s a truly fascinating post. Marginalia reveal such richly human stories–when they’re studied this way!

June 16, 2015 at 11:55 am

Thanks so much, Tony! I overlooked her memoir for quite a while because the story ends when she’s about 21. Lucky for me, Cynthia Houng picked up on how interesting and unusual it is. Mai-mai explores some really mature and difficult questions in the book, even though she it wrote for children. Perhaps she wrote it as a way to explain herself to herself. I’m glad, though, that “Echo of a Cry” wasn’t enough. Beyond herself, there was a whole world to explore and understand, and did she get after it in her library!

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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