I found this podcast from this 
post:
I subbed today for a 7th and 8th grade teacher. I’m not exaggerating when I say at least 50% of the students were at a 2nd grade reading level. The students were to spend the class time filling out an “all about me” worksheet, what’s your name, favorite color, favorite food etc. I was asked 20 times today “what is this word?”. Movie. Excited. Trait. “How do I spell race car driver?”
I’ve only listened to one episode so far, but it’s really well produced, seems well-researched and very well put together.
From what I gather so far, the ways that the American public school system “teaches” kids how to read is not only completely wrong, but actually saddles them bad habits which fundamentally hinder their reading comprehension.
A huge swath of American adults are functionally illiterate, and I think I’m starting to understand why.
My best friend is a literacy specialist and the stories she tells me are absolute doomer fuel. Lesson plans written by text book companies that do the exact opposite of what the scientific literature states is effective. White boomer teachers screeching at ELL 5 year olds about their inability to speak English and shaming them for speaking in their own tongue, even when other students can also speak it. Kids getting pushed into special ed referrals because teachers just don’t know the basic skills of differentiated instruction. School administrators pushing boxed assessment programs that aren’t rigorous, aren’t research-based, or aren’t appropriate for what they’re being used for.
The saddest part is that the traditional view of some kids being inherently worse at reading is almost always just wrong. The number of kids who actually have a learning disability that will permanently stop them from reaching parity with their peers is extremely low. Anyone else who struggles has been failed by the educational system. Period. They could have caught up and stayed caught up with just a little extra attention. The literature is all there. We know how to teach people to read. We can do it efficiently and without causing stress or trauma. And the system seems hell bent on preventing that from happening.
I remember reading about how some 1st/2nd gen young immigrants (like under 10) not really being able to speak any language cause their parents didn’t speak their language at home with the hope of helping the kids get a leg up - except they weren’t stellar at English and could’ve used a lot of adult ESL classes. So those kids never really got their parents first language and they couldn’t really speak English, and they were kind of a mess at school for a bit. The official guidance was, just speak to them in your most proficient language and the school system will catch them up in Kindergarten and Grade 1.