Speaking of disservice to kids in school, I recently learned about the “Three-Cuing” system and how it is basically making kids less literate by having them simply guess the meaning of things they don’t understand instead of teaching how to read context, subtext, and use critical thinking skills or basic phonics… It kinda pissed me off. Especislly since I had already been noticing a trend of young people online putting words into others’ mouths or defining words wildly differently than the norm and misunderstanding the entire thing they just read.
I saw an article recently about Mississippi (and/or Alabama?) 4th graders beating out California and New York on reading, and many were crediting that the state mandated phonics over this “take a guess” nonsense.
Yes! MS went from 49th to 9th in like 10 years. Most people are crediting it to phonics and their willingness to hold students back if they don’t learn the material.
Something about holding students back seems like it might artificially inflate numbers. Like, if they administer a test in 4th grade while keeping the kids who are struggling in 3rd grade, well only the kids who made it to 4th grade are taking the test.
I mean, thats the point. If the student is not smart enough for the 4th grade, they get held back to try again. They are not 4th graders even if their age suggests they are.
I dont think you are. Having higher requirements for 4th grade definitely bumps the results up, question is by how much? Not that many students are held back, no idea how much they would contribute to the statistic
I thought about that too, but I would imagine a LOT of students would’ve had to be held back to make this kind of impact on the state average. I would bet that the pressure it applied to students, schools, and parents did most of the heavy lifting.
I used to be a teacher. In my state, before COVID, 3rd grade is the grade that you don’t pass if you don’t hit certain criteria for literacy. After COVID, they didn’t hold anyone back due to an emergency executive order from the Guvnah. Pretty much all the teachers I worked with hated it and believed that holding kids back was beneficial to all.
Where? This isn’t something I’ve seen in CA schoolwork. My teacher friends have a lot of problems with matriculation right now but guessing at definitions isn’t one of them.
I thought the second one might be (unfamiliar with it, it was just in the search results), but NYT is definitely not right wing, and the NAEP and Wikipedia are fairly neutral.
… Suddenly I think I understand why a some things with very specific meanings are getting redefined by younger folks who call you names if you don’t accept their new definition.
I have a theory that the people who think having Ai make a summary of books were taught ‘three-cuing’ and thus, cannot actually read.
Incidentally there’s a really interesting podcast about teaching reading in the US, called ‘Sold a Story’. It’s wild how kids were supposed to somehow magic up the meaning of words.
Speaking of disservice to kids in school, I recently learned about the “Three-Cuing” system and how it is basically making kids less literate by having them simply guess the meaning of things they don’t understand instead of teaching how to read context, subtext, and use critical thinking skills or basic phonics… It kinda pissed me off. Especislly since I had already been noticing a trend of young people online putting words into others’ mouths or defining words wildly differently than the norm and misunderstanding the entire thing they just read.
I heard about this too, and it’s so insane.
I saw an article recently about Mississippi (and/or Alabama?) 4th graders beating out California and New York on reading, and many were crediting that the state mandated phonics over this “take a guess” nonsense.
Am I reading this correctly? MS (and/or AL) having a better reading education system than CA & NY with this?? Wow.
Yes! MS went from 49th to 9th in like 10 years. Most people are crediting it to phonics and their willingness to hold students back if they don’t learn the material.
Something about holding students back seems like it might artificially inflate numbers. Like, if they administer a test in 4th grade while keeping the kids who are struggling in 3rd grade, well only the kids who made it to 4th grade are taking the test.
I’m likely wrong.
I mean, thats the point. If the student is not smart enough for the 4th grade, they get held back to try again. They are not 4th graders even if their age suggests they are.
Right. But while 4th grade has great literacy results, 3rd grade has 38 students per class who are deficient in reading now. How long can that last?
I mean, in theory, they learn during the repeated year and become part of the great literacy results of the 4th grade.
I dont think you are. Having higher requirements for 4th grade definitely bumps the results up, question is by how much? Not that many students are held back, no idea how much they would contribute to the statistic
I thought about that too, but I would imagine a LOT of students would’ve had to be held back to make this kind of impact on the state average. I would bet that the pressure it applied to students, schools, and parents did most of the heavy lifting.
I used to be a teacher. In my state, before COVID, 3rd grade is the grade that you don’t pass if you don’t hit certain criteria for literacy. After COVID, they didn’t hold anyone back due to an emergency executive order from the Guvnah. Pretty much all the teachers I worked with hated it and believed that holding kids back was beneficial to all.
Where? This isn’t something I’ve seen in CA schoolwork. My teacher friends have a lot of problems with matriculation right now but guessing at definitions isn’t one of them.
There were a bunch of articles when the data came out from the NAEP report card. Most I saw were mentioning phonics as the biggest factor.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/mississippi-schools-transformation
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/09/mississippi-not-california-is-the-education-future/
It’s often being referred to as the “Mississippi Miracle” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Miracle
I mean, both of those are right wing sources though.
I thought the second one might be (unfamiliar with it, it was just in the search results), but NYT is definitely not right wing, and the NAEP and Wikipedia are fairly neutral.
NYT has proven in the past few years its a trash rag propping up shitty right wing policies. See also the Washington Post.
Are you confusing NYT with the New York Post? I certainly see lots of headlines and articles critical of Trump in the NYT.
I am talking about issues beyond Trump, especially around Israel/Palestine and LGBTQ+ issues.
… Suddenly I think I understand why a some things with very specific meanings are getting redefined by younger folks who call you names if you don’t accept their new definition.
Three cueing peaked in the 90s.
Do you have any examples? I’m genuinely curious if this goes beyond youth slang into reshaping the language.
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Huh. Apparently Georgia banned it last year, with a bipartisan bill that my (D) state senator co-sponsored. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one!
Your logic is very aesthetic.
Do you even conundrum what he’s saying?
Foreal cap.
I have a theory that the people who think having Ai make a summary of books were taught ‘three-cuing’ and thus, cannot actually read.
Incidentally there’s a really interesting podcast about teaching reading in the US, called ‘Sold a Story’. It’s wild how kids were supposed to somehow magic up the meaning of words.
That was a right wing grift, that is thankfully finally being phased out of most schools.
Well, however you learned literacy wasn’t perfect either, I guess.