There is definitely a heaviness out there regarding the news and the issues of the day. So a meme like this is just needed, courtesy of Reading is Fundamental CEO Carol Rasco.
reading
Lesson from Peter Rabbit?
As the father of a struggling reader, I was surprised to see this olde tyme cover of a Peter Rabbit book. The scowl on Peter’s face, the result of needing to go back to school, makes me think of just what I’ll be seeing in a few weeks when the eduson needs to give up his summer of freedom and start third grade.
Don’t know who to credit for the photo, but whoever you are, thanks much!
The Real Impact of Reading
For those who think that all of those fourth graders not reading at grade level will just catch up and that we don’t need to worry about ensuring all our elementary schools are using evidence-based literacy instruction, try considering some of these stats …
Apologies for my truancy
My deepest apologies to Eduflack readers for not being active here in the past few weeks. As I noted last year, dear ol’ Eduflack has been involved in some long-form content creation (meaning book writing). It took up many months of my time last year (thus the hiatus) and has come back to require my attention over the past few weeks.
The great news is I’ll be able to announce the completion of a very personal and I think important book next week. As one reviewer already put it, the book “ROCKS!” So February is going to be a rockin’ good month, with this new book from Yacker Media.
I look forward to sharing the news with y’all next week or so, and will work to share free Kindle copies of the book with loyal Eduflack readers as soon as allowable.
I’m also in the process of wrapping up the second edition of the Why Kids Can’t Read: Challenging the Status Quo in education book that Rowman & Littlefield Education will be publishing later this year. Back in 2005-06, I was a contributing author to the project. For this edition, I am the lead editor, working in partnership with longtime colleagues and mentors Reid Lyon and Phyllis Blaunstein.
Why Kids Can’t Read is an important story, particularly as we see that nearly 40 percent of the world’s school-age children are unable to read proficiently. The first edition of the book, out in 2006, looked at the wealth of research we have on literacy instruction and how best to teach our kids to read, while offering practical guidance for parents for how to ensure that “what works” is what is being used in their child’s classrooms. The second edition builds on that work, incorporating recent developments such as Race to the Top and Common Core State Standards into this important discussion.
So thanks for your patience. Eduflack will be back to its regular schedule in the coming weeks. Happy reading (post-announcement, I hope!).
Are You There God, It’s Me Eduflack?
The latest volley has been launched in the ongoing battle against the evils of testing. Today, the folks over at No Test, sorry, meant Fair Test, released a letter they coordinated from more than 100 children’s book authors to EdSec Arne Duncan, attacking increased testing, computer adaptive testing, teacher evaluation measures, and “the narrowing of curriculum” for eliminating students’ love of reading and literature.
The full letter can be found here. Hat tip to Stephanie Simon over at Politico PRO Education for spotlighting the letter this morning.
Lots of signatories on the list. Some names folks know, many that they don’t. Eduflack’s personal fave is Judy Blume. I’ll admit, as a kid, she was one of my favorite authors. I read everything she wrote. I even triggered the town librarian call my mom one afternoon because she thought it was inappropriate for a young boy to be reading “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?” My mother, the high school English teacher, ignored the advice of the librarian, and I read the book many times over.
Eduflack can appreciate the concerns these authors and illustrators have. And I might even be willing to concede that a child’s love for reading and literature has declined in recent years. But is it because of testing, or is it because of multimedia? Do we blame the bubble sheet, or do we blame the multitude of options now competing for a young learner’s attention?
Honestly, I’m getting a little tired of testing being blamed for all that is perceived wrong in our country. Too many people far too often are throwing everything and anything they can in their Quixotic approach to rid our world of testing. We ignore that testing has been a part of our public schools for as long as we’ve had public schools. We overlook that testing data can play a meaningful role in improving both teaching and learning. We avoid the true debate, a discussion about ensuring the value of testing and the use and application of high-quality assessments.
Instead, we rail against the system, throwing the red meat on “high-stakes testing,” “testing and reading schemes,” and “testing overuse and abuse.” We talk in media releases, instead of engaging in dialogues. And we turn to scare tactics and the negative, instead of exploring common ground and the positive.
We need to stop our Blubber, clear our Tiger Eyes, and Forever commit to a better way to talk about schools, school improvement, and testing. Otherwise, there will be no more Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing because more than a third of our fourth graders still won’t be reading at grade level. If we really want Sally J. Freedman to star as herself, can’t we shift from this vitriol to a more meaningful community engagement?
Or perhaps I should just let a few Superfudges fly, and accept this is just as it is. Then Again, Maybe I Won’t …
Phonetically Supporting Young Readers
Typically, Eduflack looks at education issues through a policy or a reform or a communications lens. But I’m also fortunate enough to be parent. A parent of a first and a second grader.
Last week was Back to School night at the kiddos’ school. One of the most refreshing documents I’ve seen in quite a while came from my daughter’s first grade teacher (a “boy teacher,” she keeps reminding me). In preparing parents for how they can support their children’s path to reading, he offered the following letter:
“Der Parints,Az ur child brings hom riting 4 the frst tim, doo not b srprizd at the spelling. The inglish langwij iz a confuzing langwiz 2 lrn. Insisting that stoodents uz ‘correct’ spelling nhibits thair dzir and abilite 2 rit. We aftn uz ‘phonetic’ speling in r wrk.Az parints, u can hlp ur child bi praising awl thair riting. Let ur child red thair riting 2 u. Displa thair riting around ur hows. No that az ur child bcums fumilyr with the inglish langwij throo reding and riting, he or she wil mak the tranzishun to ‘correct’ speling.Thank u 4 ur suport,”
Kudos to my daughter’s teacher and all of the other educators out there who help in this way. While such a letter may confuse some parents, it is just the sort of focus we all need to remember the reading and writing process, to support a phonics-based instructional approach, and to ensure our children become strong readers and writers.
Rigorous, Evidence-Based ECE
We all agree that early childhood education is an incredibly important, if not the most important, part of a successful P-12 experience. Yet despite such universal agreement, we are still failing to provide high-quality preK, particularly to those that would benefit from it the most.
Over at National Journal this week, the debate on the Education Experts blog is Before Kindergarten, as the folks at National Journal explore what we should be doing and why we aren’t doing more to help our youngest learners.
Eduflack is first out of the gate, with this post on the need for rigorous, evidence-based ECE. Among the gems:
The question is not simply whether or not to provide early childhood education. In a time when we are ever-focused on return on investment of scarce public dollars, the real questions should be about the rigor of the ECE program. What is the evidence base on which the program is constructed? How do we correctly target the students most in need? What is the quality and effectiveness of the educators leading an ECE classroom? What is their track record of effectiveness? This may be an unpopular thing to say in our current anti-testing environment, but we need to demand proof that the program (or approach) works and that the children it touches are gaining the skills needed to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
There is no question it is an important debate. Hopefully, we continue to take a closer look and continue to take meaningful actions that are proven effective.
“Meaningful Education Reforms” in CT
“I commend Connecticut for coming together to enact meaningful education reforms that will benefit students. I know the negotiations on S.B. 458 were difficult, but Governor Malloy and the Legislature, business, unions, educators, and advocates were committed to begin fixing what is broken in public schools. The final bill includes important reforms in early reading, school turnarounds, school choice, and school staffing and delivers more resources targeted to those districts and schools with the greatest need. Now that Governor Malloy has enacted the law, Connecticut can begin the hard work of putting these important reforms to work in the classroom.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a May 15, 2012 statement
Moving Good Ideas to Real Results
Late March is always fun because it means the start of the K-12 education conference gauntlet. This weekend, Eduflack is out at ASCD’s 2011 Annual Conference in San Francisco. On Saturday, I’ll be leading a session entitled: “Moving Good Ideas to Real Results: Public Engagement and School Improvement.”
The session will focus on a lot of what I write about here on this blog. Advocacy. Social marketing. Changing both thought and action when it comes to school improvement. Along the way, I’ll use specific examples from the field, including my own experiences in “changing the game” when it comes to reading instruction, teacher preparation, STEM, high school improvement, and turnaround schools.
If you’re out in the land of cable cars, Ghirardelli chocolate, and the World Champion Giants this Saturday morning, stop by the 8 a.m. session at the Moscone Center, rooms 250 and 262. If you’re not, and you want more info, just drop me a line and I’ll give you the Cliffnotes version.
Some Resolutions for 2011
Another year about to go down in the history books. Are we any closer to truly improving our public schools? For every likely step forward we may have taken in 2010, it seems to be met with a similar step back. For every rhetorical push ahead, we had a very real headwind blocking progress.
So as we head into 2011, your friendly neighborhood Eduflack offers up a few “resolutions” for all on the education reform boat to consider as we start a new year. We need to come to accept the following:
1. True reform does not happen at the federal level. The federal government is an important lever in the school improvement process, offering some necessary financial resources and some bully pulpit language to inspire reform. But true improvement happens at the state and local levels. It is about what our SEAs and LEAs do with those resources and whether they embrace the call from the bully pulpit. Just as all politics is local, so too is all education reform. Why do you think groups like DFER are so keen on launching new statewide efforts, like the new one in California?
2. ESEA reauthorization really doesn’t matter. As much as we want to fret about when ESEA is going to be reauthorized and what will and won’t be included, it doesn’t have much impact on the game at hand. At the end of the day, EdSec Duncan could work from the current NCLB, make a few tweaks, and be just fine for the next few years. Those thinking a major sea change is coming with reauth will be sadly mistaken. If we see reauth this year (put at about 60 percent), expect it to simply be a kinder, gentler NCLB. Nothing more.
3. Education technology matters. For years now, we’ve placed ed tech in the perifery when it comes to school improvement, trying to define it as simply the adoption of a particular piece of hardware. Ed tech needs to be at the center of 21st century school improvement. It is important to instruction and student achievement, teacher quality, and all-around turnaround efforts. If we are to realize its impact, we need to ensure it is a non-negotiable in the process.
4. We cannot forget about reading instruction. Nine years ago, Reading First was born, emphasizing the importance of literacy instruction in the elementary grades. We cannot boost student test scores and we cannot ensure that all kids are college and career ready if everyone isn’t reading at grade level. RF taught us a great deal on how to teach reading (and how not to advocate it politically). Building on those lessons, we need to redouble our efforts to get each and every child reading proficient. And that now includes focusing on middle and high schools, where too many students have fallen between the cracks.
5. Superintendents matter. Many of our largest and most influential school districts will experience change at the top this coming year. These new leaders can’t forget that the role of instructional leader is essential to their success. Shaking things up is good. Sweeping out the old is fine. Doing things differently is great. But at the end of the day, being a superintendent is all about teaching and learning and measurement. Magazine covers are nice, but rising test scores are far more rewarding.
6. We still need to figure out what teacher quality is. Is it just student test scores? Does it include preservice education requirements beyond HQT provisions? Are their qualitative factors? Can we accept a “we’ll know it when we see it” definition? With increased focus continuing to be placed on the topic of teacher quality, we need a true defition and a true measurement to really launch a meaningful discussion. We’ve spent too much time talking about what it isn’t or what it shouldn’t be. It is time to determine what it is.
7. Research remains king. In 2010, we spent a great deal of money on school reforms and improvement ideas. Most of these dollars were an investment in hope. Now it is time to verify. We need to determine what is working and what is not. We need to know not just that the money is being spent (as ED typically sees evaluation) but instead need to know what it is being spent on and what is showing promise of success. We need to redouble our investments in evaluation. Other sectors have made real advances because of investments in R&D. It is about time for education to do the same.
8. We need to learn how to use social media in education. It is quite disheartening to see that states like Virginia are exploring banning teachers from using tools like Facebook with their students. It is also a little frustrating to see that media like Twitter are still being used for one-way communications. We need to see more engagement and dialogue through our social media. An example? How about more Twitter debates like those between @DianeRavitch and @MichaelPetrilli ?
And as we look forward to the new year, some predictions on what is hot and what is not for 2011.
HOT — Accountability (and its flexibility). Assessments. International benchmarking. Rural education. Alternative certification. Special education. Competitive grants. Local control. School improvement. Local elected school boards. Online education.
NOT — Charter schools. Early childhood education. 21st century skills. STEM. ELL. Education schools. RttT/i3. Education reform (yeah, you heard me). Teachers unions. Mayoral control. AYP. Early colleges. Edujobs.
Happy new year!
Eduflack By Patrick R. Riccards 