But the Rochester City School District, which teaches more than 20,700 students in upstate New York, is focusing on what leaders say is one of their biggest problems: poor academic performance in reading and math.

Officials are rolling out a new English language arts curriculum this school year and searching for an evidence-based math curriculum to implement in 2025-26. Just 16% of students in third through eighth grades are proficient in reading in the district, and only 14% are at grade level in math. 

Interim Superintendent Demario Strickland said at that the district鈥檚 goal is to increase proficiency in both subjects to 40% by June 2028. 

鈥淚f work is not going to lend to any of these goals, then that鈥檚 something we should not be focusing our energy on,鈥� he said.

The district is implementing the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum for students in kindergarten through second grade to support foundational literacy skills, said district spokesman Brendan O鈥橰iordan. Children in grades 3 to 6 are using a literacy intervention program called Really Great Reading, he said.

Like Rochester, many school districts around the country are switching their literacy curriculum to evidence-based materials that align with the science of reading. But there鈥檚 still a need for schools to take a look at math in a country where only about 1 in 4 eighth graders is proficient in the subject, said Ashara Baker, New York State director of the National Parents Union.

Baker said that over the past year and a half, she has advocated for legislation to improve reading and math instruction in New York schools. She also created a statewide math coalition to help spur improvement, especially in the state鈥檚 largest school districts: Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse. Rochester’s student performance is the lowest of the five, according to a .

鈥淎 lot of folks 鈥� were spending a lot of time on literacy. I felt good that there were enough chefs in the kitchen, so I really wanted to refocus on math due to the simple fact that it wasn’t really a conversation across the country,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淔rom the research that our coalition did, there were states who had already adopted state legislation for math, but New York state as a whole 鈥� for some reason, we’re not moving quick enough.鈥�

Baker said that because , changes in math instruction are still too far down the road. 

In August, she helped publish the report as a way to spur change in both math and reading. In Rochester, reading proficiency rates dipped as low as 8% for fourth and fifth graders in the 2022-23 school year, according to the report, which is based on state assessment data. Math proficiency rates reached lows of 2% for eighth graders and 4% for seventh graders.

鈥淚’m pushing these numbers in front of lawmakers so they understand how dire it is for us to really figure out where we’re putting our investments,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淏ut then, also, they need to be held accountable. They need to understand that you can’t celebrate when you have 2% of eighth graders who are proficient in math.鈥�

The district has been working to improve student performance for years. But it focused on graduation rates, which is the wrong priority, said Shanai Lee, a local advocate who worked in the district office for 13 years. She now runs the nonprofit , which helps community members and parents foster change in the district.

鈥淲hat is happening? Are we relaxing standards to usher students out of the door? If we’re serious about the sustainability, the viability of Rochester, we have to begin to ask ourselves, 鈥榃hat are we graduating our students with, and what are we graduating them to?鈥� 鈥� Lee said. 鈥淏ecause oftentimes, I’m hearing from our workforce that our kids just aren’t prepared.鈥�

READY, which Lee founded in 2023, recently hosted its first Parent ACTION Academy. The academy is a nine-month leadership program that teaches families how to advocate with district leaders, lawmakers and school board members.

The goal is to ensure that Rochester children have access to quality schools. Lee said the organization estimates that only 10% of district students have the opportunity to attend a school that meets or exceeds state averages in test scores, teacher retention or graduation rate.

鈥淲e are ready for change. We are ready for quality schools,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淲e are ready to take control of the Rochester public education space as a community.鈥�

Asked to comment on Lee鈥檚 responses to the district鈥檚 plans, Strickland wrote in an emailed statement that Rochester is 鈥渃ommitted to a student-centered approach, focusing on excellence and equity to enhance academic outcomes. Our strategic plan goals aim to increase proficiency in ELA and math, with clear targets for improvement by 2028, ensuring we meet the diverse needs of our students and community.鈥� 

Baker said she sent the parents union report to Strickland to let him know that Rochester will be part of the statewide conversation around reading and math scores. 

鈥淚 will champion any district who is willing to make the changes,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淏ut if you’re not going to do right by kids and families, then I’m probably not the best person to be in the room with, because I’ll call you out on it.鈥�

Though test results from the reading programs the district had in place showed the students were on track, state exam results proved they were not at grade level. I realized very quickly that there was a misalignment and that tests allowed for a lot of personal bias, with teachers allowing their preconceived notions about how students should perform to influence how they scored exams. Along with the two (yes, only two) literacy experts in the school, we developed an entirely new, evidence-based program tailored to individual learning styles that would help all students become proficient readers. 

The program we crafted was rooted in phonemic awareness, phonics, blending of sounds, comprehension, evidence-based teaching methods and, perhaps most important, objective assessments to truly understand where our young readers were struggling. 

By the end of the school year, we had realized schoolwide improvements not only in , but also in . 

Fast-forward a few years to my second job as a middle school principal in the district, and again, the majority of students were either reading below grade level or not at all. Perhaps as a direct result, the high school graduation rate was a . By employing the same evidence-based reading strategies, we were able to give students the skills they need to not only meet literacy benchmarks, but eventually increase the graduation rate to .

What we didn鈥檛 know at the time was that in developing this research-based program, we鈥檇 stumbled upon the basic foundations behind the science of reading. 

The two schools I was a part of are not unique in their struggles with student literacy. In 2022, , and just a third were proficient. However, that over 90% of children could learn to read if their school鈥檚 coursework included all the core components of scientifically based reading instruction; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, oral language and cognitive processes. 

While some students will learn to read naturally, incorporating the components of explicit, scientifically based reading instruction will help struggling kids become successful readers and proficient readers become even better. 

Understanding the science of reading helps educators develop effective teaching strategies that are grounded in research. In order to be successful, teachers must be equipped with the right skills and resources. This includes ongoing professional development in teaching foundational skills like phonemic awareness and phonics, learning how to administer guidance and feedback during oral reading practice and properly delivering effective vocabulary instruction to students.

Additionally, it鈥檚 critical to use tests that don鈥檛 allow for subjectivity in scoring to identify children’s reading difficulties, and implement targeted interventions to support readers of all levels.

My districts were located in underfunded urban areas, where in our country. Poor, marginalized communities are critically affected by educational inequities, but even well-funded districts can lack the appropriate resources for reading education. By using classroom volunteers, retired educators and high school seniors looking for volunteer hours, leaders can think outside the box when finding additional resources for their students. 

They can start by looking internally. Consider existing staffers who can be trained in the science of reading, like paraprofessionals and teaching assistants. This frees up specialists to focus on diagnostics and enables them to spend more one-on-one time with the students who have the greatest challenges.  

Also, , reading specialists and local community members to share best practices, strategies and resources. Our district trained and partnered with a local agency that, fortunately, employed many of our students’ parents. Not only were they trained to help in the classroom, but this preparation went further, allowing them to help their children and peers practice reading at home.  

Embracing the science of reading is not just a pedagogical choice but a moral imperative. By grounding literacy instruction in evidence-based strategies, school districts can ensure that every student, regardless of background or ability, has the opportunity to become a proficient and confident reader. This commitment to literacy is essential for fostering a generation of critical thinkers, empowered learners and informed citizens. Literacy is the gateway for children to access the world, and it鈥檚 our job as education leaders to make sure that they, their families and their teachers are equipped for what鈥檚 ahead.

If they鈥檙e too quick to close schools, families strapped for child care 鈥� or facing another day of indoor 鈥渇un鈥� 鈥� suffer. If they hold back and ice or whiteouts trap kids on buses, that鈥檚 a different kind of misery-making.

In December, Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel made fun of his first wrong school-closure call of the season in a Twitter video that ended up going viral.

Standing in the dry, sunny parking lots of a series of shuttered schools, he mocked himself: 鈥淐ertainly the worst conditions that have ever existed in Rochester history 鈥� maybe in American history.鈥� 

鈥淚 could never have made it out here to Bamber Valley Elementary School in these terrible road conditions if I didn鈥檛 have an incredibly powerful all-terrain vehicle like my Kia Optima,鈥� Pekel proclaimed to his phone camera. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have an amped-up car like mine, don鈥檛 go out. You鈥檙e never going to make it.鈥�

Gantlet thrown down, students have spent the rest of the winter tapping their critical thinking and creative writing skills to persuade Pekel to call snow days. 

Earlier this week, the superintendent singled out an entreaty from Fahad A. as one of the year鈥檚 best.  

Runners-up so far this school year include an argument that the district鈥檚 17,400 students are becoming accustomed to sleeping in on Thursdays, which one claimed have been especially snow-prone;

That stressed-out teachers need the extra rest;

And that homebound pupils will use the day to catch up. 

There was a variation on the classic 鈥渦phill both ways鈥� lament 鈥�

鈥nd outright flattery. 

But not everybody was amused. 

The superintendent did not miss a beat, replying to a thread of armchair meteorologists that he had not 鈥渢hrown any [forecasters] under the proverbial school buses we are all trying to keep on the road.鈥�

As it turns out, how many inches are enough to justify a snow day is a math problem with no right answer.