Teachers Seek Moats' Wisdom

At 81, Louisa Moats meets teachers who praise her for reigniting their sense of purpose through literacy work.

“They’re poorly paid, they don’t look very healthy, they certainly didn’t have an elite education and I feel this concern and admiration for them as they do this job.”

Moats' Reading Legacy

Moats created a teacher-training program decades ago that now influences literacy education nationwide.

Reading Wars History

For decades, America’s reading wars debated whether phonics or whole-language methods best taught reading skills.

Reading Crisis Deepens

40% of U.S. children lack basic reading skills by fourth grade, with literacy rates declining since 1992.

Science of Reading Gains Momentum

States are passing science-of-reading laws requiring structured phonics instruction for teachers.

LETRS Program Details

LETRS trains teachers in phonics, morphology, and orthography with 155 hours of intensive coursework.

LETRS Adoption Surge

23 states purchased LETRS, with Alabama offering $1,000 bonuses for teachers completing the program.

LETRS Impact

LETRS enrollment jumped from 25,000 in 2020 to 700,000 in 2025, mostly in early grades.

State Funding Boosts LETRS

Michigan spent $75 million to train all reading teachers in LETRS, after seeing 38.2% of third-graders proficient in reading.

Moats' Skepticism

Moats remains cautious about LETRS’ widespread adoption, calling it 'humbling, bewildering, and surrealistic.'

“It’s humbling, it’s a bit bewildering, it’s a bit surrealistic.”

Reading Wars Origins

Moats began her literacy work after studying learning disabilities, leading to a focus on phonics and explicit instruction.

Reading First Initiative

The 2002 Reading First program mandated LETRS training but showed mixed results in student outcomes.

Balanced Literacy Debate

Balanced literacy methods, championed by Lucy Calkins, blended phonics and whole-language approaches but faced criticism for lack of structure.

Mississippi's Success

Mississippi improved fourth-grade reading scores by 10 points after implementing LETRS training in 2014.

Teacher Resistance

Some teachers resist LETRS, citing misalignment with existing curricula and lack of practical implementation.

“You spent all this money and time on this training and it’s not showing up in our reading curriculum?”

Long-Term Challenges

LETRS’ long-term impact remains uncertain, with studies showing mixed results and no definitive evidence of widespread improvement.