It’s basic biology: we wouldn’t plant a seed and expect it to grow without the right soil, sunlight, and resources. Yet, year after year, in district after district, we invest time and money in reading initiatives without cultivating the ecosystems needed to support them.

More than half of surveyed district leaders told EdWeek they plan to spend $200,000 or more on K-2 “science of reading” materials this year. However, decades of educational reforms suggest that these investments are unlikely to have their full impact if they are not coupled with the critical mindsets, beliefs, systems, and structures that support a high-quality reading ecosystem. For students, the stakes are incredibly high. According to the most recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only one-third of U.S. fourth graders are reading proficiently—a number that has remained stagnant for decades since the release of the National Reading Panel Report and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ensuring every child, everywhere, is a reader will require leaders to invest in more than just materials and consider how they are building and sustaining a comprehensive reading ecosystem.

What do leaders need to know about the reading ecosystem?

Inside this guide, we break down how we define the reading ecosystem, why it’s important, and the questions that leaders can ask as they reflect on their own approach to reading.