what happened to reading?

from Wikipedia:

"Klein played an important role in changing the way that literacy was taught in New York schools. In 2003, he introduced a "balanced literacy" approach that was controversial among education experts who said the approach was unsupported by research.  The approach de-emphasized direct instruction, in particular phonics instruction. No curricula existed at the time for this approach, leading Lucy Calkins to write a textbook on the subject in three weeks ahead of the 2003–2004 school year. In 2022, the New Yorker reported that New York was shifting away from this approach to literacy amid controversies over low literacy rates.”

and

“Lucy Calkins is an American educator and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University who is best known for creating the Units of Study reading and writing curriculum."

“In October 2022, American Public Media debuted a podcast called Sold a Story, attacking Calkins’ work and the teaching of reading in American public schools. In 2024, The Atlantic covered the criticism of Calkins and reported on how she had become scapegoated for reading score declines.

In 2024, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging that “deceptive” and “defective” products from publisher Heinemann and three authors, including Calkins, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell, made it harder for children to learn to read.

In 2025, the court quickly dismissed the case, claiming it was not adequately equipped to assess the quality of evidence used to support Balanced Literacy.”