Marion Joseph died in 2022 and therefore cannot celebrate what at long last is happening in California to improve children’s abysmal levels of reading comprehension. Joseph, a renowned expert on ...

4:16 p.m. June 2, 2025: An earlier version of this report incorrectly said teaching phonics was new to Long Beach Unified. Some phonics has been taught in the district for years, but a new focus on ...

California took a big step toward overhauling its reading curriculum last week when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill pushing for phonics-based instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms.