Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND — The popular 1980s show “Reading Rainbow” was rebooted in October, and at a time when children across the nation struggle with reading. The show returned earlier this month for free on YouTube, with Mychal Threets as the new host. Threets is called a viral library influencer because of social media posts showcasing his love of books. The show was initially created to fill the instructional gap for children during summer breaks but ended in 2006, according to IMDB. Reading scores drop nationally Reading scores last year dropped two points for both fourth and eighth graders, compared to 2022. This dip accentuates the decline that occurred between 2019 to 2022, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Less than a third of fourth and eighth grade students are proficient in reading by national standards. This means they do not regularly understand written text or interpret the meaning. The problem extends into high school. For 12th graders, scores declined nationally by three points, the lowest ever for that report. Causes for the continued decline in scores after the COVID-19 pandemic range from economic status, environmental obstacles and an over-reliance on screens from an early age. About 80% of children in low-income neighborhoods lose reading skills over the summer due to limited access to reading materials, according to nonprofit Reading is Fundamental. Prolonged use of social media can lead to memory deficiency, according to a recent study published in the JAMA Network. Virginia students have made small gains overall in reading scores post-pandemic, according to state Department of Education data. No state had increased scores in fourth or eighth grade reading last year, according to NAEP data. State education leaders have focused on improving math and reading scores, which were previously among the lowest in the nation. The Virginia Literacy Act was passed in 2022 to address early literacy outcomes, and implementation began in 2024. Improving reading proficiency Valerie Robnolt is an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education who has taught for over two decades in elementary school to college-level classrooms, with a focus on reading and literacy. Reading must be reinforced from an early age, she said. “We’ve been focusing a lot on students reading, you know, short passages, and we need to also work to motivate them to want to read,” Robnolt said. Although children learn to sound out words at a young age, they should also learn reading comprehension, she said. Both are essential to academic and casual reading. “It’s important for teachers to provide a model of fluent reading through read-alouds, using high quality children’s literature,” Robnolt said. Parents can help children learn to read longer stories by asking them to make predictions about what they think might be happening. With that help, children learn different strategies to interpret new subjects. The “Reading Rainbow” return to a free platform is significant because many of the parents of children identified as disadvantaged might not be available to read to them or have the funds to access reading materials, according to Robnolt. Parents must lead by example to encourage strong reading habits, according to Callee Boulware, South Carolina regional director of Reach Out and Read. The program works with families from birth through 5 years old to provide children with reading material and encourage bonding through parent-child interactions. “We have the constant battle and the balance with screens and their prevalence in our lives,” Boulware said. Parents have also become more reliant on screens, which can limit the amount of engagement and interaction with their child. When a child feels safe and secure, they can learn and thrive, Boulware said. “We have to focus on making sure that families have the things they need to be able to spend time in relationship building with their children,” Boulware said. Beth Morris, youth services coordinator at the Richmond Public Library main branch, understands the strain the pandemic put on parents, and has suggestions on how to help at home. “Oftentimes they just listen to the child read, but never ask them questions about the story,” Morris stated in an email. “They are just checking off that reading was done.” Morris suggested that parents quiz children while reading to make sure they understand the storylines. Politicizing books and libraries amid reading decline LeVar Burton hosted the original “Reading Rainbow” until it ended, and is a known icon for reading and libraries. Burton led the 2023 Banned Books Week organized by the American Library Association. Burton addressed the removal of books from libraries and schools, saying “books are under attack” because of “misguided efforts toward censorship.” In Virginia, over 200 books were removed from libraries in the last five years, according to a July report from the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission. Of these removals, 75% came from five counties, with Hanover County removing the most book titles by division. Many books on JLARC’s list had themes of racial inequality, sexuality and social commentary. Some contained sexual violence, such as the “Game of Thrones” series. Local school boards decide what material is available in school libraries. Parents and community members advocate to remove books they deem as harmful or lacking in academic benefit. The JLARC report also states that some school boards removed titles based on the misinterpretation of a 2022 law. The law required schools to notify parents of any sexually explicit required reading material, and to provide alternative reading if the parents wanted to opt out. The law did not indicate material should be removed from school libraries, the report stated. “We should have developmentally appropriate books in libraries, but we shouldn’t be taking books out,” Robnolt said. Reading Rainbow releases regular episodes on the KidZuko YouTube channel. Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
