Colorado recently took a major step toward ensuring all children can read by third grade when Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the READ Act. The law focuses on identifying and providing services for students who have reading deficiencies in kindergarten through third grades to better prepare students for more reading-intensive schoolwork and future success beyond third grade.
Recently, the Education Writers Association held their annual national seminar, “Learning from Leaders,” here in Philadelphia. The event brought together education reporters, experts, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, policymakers, district administrators, and educators to discuss important topics in education.
Last week in Philadelphia, Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI), hosted a morning site visit for about 20 reporters from the Education Writers Association (EWA) at Samuel Powel Elementary, one of CLI’s i3 schools. Like many of CLI’s partner schools, it is implementing CLI’s effective literacy practices to create school-wide culture of literacy.
Working with an instructional coach does not mean a teacher is poorly trained, incompetent, or incapable of teaching. In fact, it is one of the best methods to help teachers develop exceptional instructional skills, practices, and strategies in the classroom, and to improve student achievement.
More and more people are discovering what we’ve known all along: that smart investments in educating our youngest children pay off. In this era of limited dollars and economic challenges, early childhood advocates are increasingly making a case that the benefits of early childhood investments don’t take a generation to yield fruit—they pay off right away.
A task force led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein released a report that states American students rank behind their peers in reading, math and science in many other developed and industrialized countries, and that this “educational failure” poses a risk for our future military and economy.
One third-grade student at Chicago’s Armour Elementary summed up our feelings about the exciting collaboration with Target and Chicago Public Schools. “I feel brand new!” he exclaimed after checking out a book from his classroom’s new home-lending library.
When school district officials in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, introduced a new curriculum two years ago, they did their homework—they made sure the model curriculum was aligned to state standards, carefully adapted it for use in all grade levels, and added literacy coaches and other supports. But something was still missing.
Last week our executive director, Kelly Hunter, was a featured speaker during a session at the second Building a Grad Nation Summit in Washington. The Summit, sponsored by America’s Promise Alliance, gathered teachers, school administrators, policymakers, organization and community leaders, and funders to further a commitment to ending the dropout crisis in the United States and preparing young people with the skills they need for success in college and the workforce.