A Dream Deferred | HBCU Conference 2024
Model of Excellence: NYC Public Schools Chancellor David Banks Champions the Science of Reading
At the A Dream Deferred™ conference, Chancellor Banks was presented with the Dr. Asa G. Hilliard Model of Excellence Award for his lifelong commitment to education.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks leads the largest school system in the nation, and he’s determined to get every classroom on the same page when it comes to the science of reading.
Dr. Banks opened the 2024 A Dream Deferred conference with a thundering call to address the crisis of youth literacy, declaring that teachers have been given “a flawed playbook” on reading instruction for the last three decades. He said that a move away from structured, phonetic teaching has been a mistake that left millions of students struggling to read, and it’s time for a course correction.
Reading, the most critical element for educational success, is the full-on focus of this administration. We’re leaning into the science of reading. We’re taking it back to old school, and we’re making sure we get it right.
David C. Banks, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
Pictured: NYC Public Schools Chancellor David Banks on the plenary stage at A Dream Deferred
New York City schools have introduced a unified literacy curriculum built on the cognitive science of how young students learn to decode words and sentences. It’s a departure from the “balanced literacy” approach that has dominated many schools for the past several decades.
“Balanced literacy is fundamentally flawed,” Banks said. “At the end of the day, you gotta get up and do something. You gotta implement real change. If you really love these children, you gotta do something.”
The chancellor went on to say that implementing a new literacy curriculum across hundreds of New York City elementary schools has been a huge challenge, but it means that young children are now getting consistent and evidence-backed instruction in reading.
The long-running debate over how kids learn to read has left teachers struggling and led to alarmingly low proficiency rates in New York and other major districts. Dr. Banks’s talk was followed by a screening of The Right to Read, a documentary that traces the NAACP’s campaign to make science-based reading instruction the standard in schools across the nation.
Pictured: Filmmaker Dr. Jenny Mackenzie introducing her documentary The Right to Read at A Dream Deferred
“Literacy is at the core of our democracy,” said filmmaker Jennifer Mackenzie, PhD. “Literacy is out greatest civil right.”
At the A Dream Deferred conference, Chancellor Banks was presented with the Dr. Asa G. Hilliard Model of Excellence Award for his lifelong commitment to education. College Board CEO David Coleman noted his longtime friendship with the chancellor and praised his commitment to making school more compelling and relevant for students of all backgrounds.
“This is an award for every step taken over 20 years, the values you’ve lived by every day,” Coleman said.
Pictured: College Board CEO David Coleman at the plenary stage at A Dream Deferred
