FYI from BSF, 09.23.22
Reading Comprehension
Twenty years ago, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law by a Republican President, flanked by a Democratic Senator, who ensured that his father’s public high school alma mater provided the backdrop.
With an influx of assessments, accountability targets, data collection, and more, NCLB has its proponents. It has its discontents. Such discontents could point to the flat results of the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) over time, recently posting a post-pandemic decline.
The focus on NCLB misses one critical point: most children learn to read - or not - before they ever sit for a 3rd grade MCAS or a 4th grade NAEP. With standards, assessments, research, and funding marching on for grades 3 and up, the first 3-4 years of most children’s schooling remained relatively less regulated and decentralized for the past two decades.
Perhaps with this in mind, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved a new mandate to require districts to screen for literacy development before students reach traditional assessment age, report results, and create intervention plans. Many (~300) Massachusetts school districts do some sort of screening already, but the new regulation requires consistent reporting and methods.
There are clear equity implications here, too. Dyslexia and other reading disabilities could be identified earlier. Poor literacy instruction could be a contributing factor to the overidentification of Black and Latino students as requiring special education services. Many children, who are assessed within average range intelligence and low reading skills very well may not have special needs; they just may have not been taught to read.
Assessment is only one leg of the stool. With the admission that the “whole language” or “balanced literacy” approach does not work (despite still being taught in some form in 70% of schools of education), there have been dramatic policy shifts to implement evidence-based teaching practices and curriculum for reading. Turning this tide has been arduous and political. But New York City and Washington, DC are mandating it now. It is a centerpiece of Tennessee’s pandemic recovery. Massachusetts has provided clear guidance.
Phonics is cool again.
Still, it is unclear what this will mean for teaching and learning in Boston Public Schools. As cited here, recent materials and practices used in the district are not evidence-based. The system’s “equitable literacy” framework is still in development.
Education policy is often marked by disagreement, pedagogical, political, or otherwise.
Making sure all of our kids can actually read should not be up for debate.
Notes in the Margin
Even with waning attention to COVID-19, public health is still a concern in Boston schools. Saturday’s vaccine clinic targeted for children had hours long waits. More state money is on the way to improve ventilation. BPS had its first reported case of monkeypox.
The strong outcomes of Massachusetts vocational programs receive praise in a study.
Around the country, the pandemic accelerated enrollment shifts. Long read on school closures in Oakland, as a reflection of the greater pressures on the city’s shrinking Black community. The states of California and Washingtonhave seen substantial declines in traditional school district enrollment. Massachusetts data should be available in November.
Other Matters
Not one, but two powerful personal stories from Boston educators remind you that elite institutions don’t have a monopoly on greatness:
Tyrone Figueroa, from NFL dreams to East Boston High School.
Rachel Skerritt, on leading the nation’s oldest public school, and one in turnaround.