To look inside Julie Celestial’s kindergarten classroom in Long Beach is to peer into the future of reading in California. During a recent lesson, 25 kindergartners gazed at the whiteboard, trying to ...

Third-grade co-teacher Rebecca Leach helps pupils select the best words for a sentence at Lima’s Heritage Elementary on Tuesday. LIMA — John Parent sat in the kindergarten classroom in wonderment as ...

Can you spell deja vu? The battle over the best way to teach children how to read has re-erupted in the California Legislature, as dueling factions haggle over a bill that would mandate a ...

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 ...