# Why are U.S. literacy rates declining? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/why-are-u-s-literacy-rates-declining Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/why-are-u-s-literacy-rates-declining.md Podcast: [Harvard Thinking](https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250) Published: 2025-09-24T16:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://harvard-thinking.simplecast.com/episodes/declining-literacy-rates-p9sPmCkg Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/ac2b9968-4d64-42e6-b97f-e96f88f429fb/episodes/469358d9-261f-415b-bdf9-f206f430e60b/audio/da75836f-bee7-48be-b9cb-0c049748ed74/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=tyge_lYM Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/harvard-thinking-6767250/episodes/why-are-u-s-literacy-rates-declining Duration seconds: 1554 ## Resource Literacy rates in the U.S. have been in decline for a while now. Experts are combing the data for answers. Researchers are examining the role of curricula, teacher training, and classroom best practices to figure out: How do we help our kids read better? In this episode, host Samantha Laine Perfas speaks with policy expert Martin West, teacher educator Pamela Mason, and reading researcher Phil Capin about how to best support our students. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/harvard-thinking-6767250/episodes/why-are-u-s-literacy-rates-declining/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/why-are-u-s-literacy-rates-declining.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.