Third-Graders may end up in summer camp for slow readers
“Ending social promotion makes a good sound bite. Sound bites don’t make good public policy, however, and retesting and retaining kids because they don’t meet an artificial deadline doesn’t improve learning,” Carr said. “And, measuring learning only one way, by a standardized test, doesn’t give an accurate or complete picture of what kids have learned.”
"For now, Guilford’s camp plans are based on 3,200 students needing to attend, about 58 percent of its third-graders. Guilford officials expect state funding for the camps to fall about $1 million short of costs."
“You’re testing them on a very narrow set of knowledge and skills,” said Karen Wixson, the dean of the School of Education at UNCG. Wixson is consulting informally with Guilford County Schools on implementing Read to Achieve. The current approach overemphasizes knowledge of the alphabet, letter sounds and how to blend those sounds into words, and not other skills such as knowledge of vocabulary and concepts, she said. (Note: Wixson is an expert in remedial reading instruction.)
NC's looming third-grade retention crisis
"The Read to Achieve law contains a provision that students may avoid retention by demonstrating proficiency on a "portfolio." In educational circles a portfolio generally refers to a collection of a student's best work from throughout the year tied to specific standards. However, the portfolio that has been developed in North Carolina is actually nothing more than a series of 36 half-hour standardized tests. Some districts like Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Wake plan to have all third graders take the series of portfolio tests in an attempt to limit the number of students who will be retained.
The portfolio, as initially conceived in the law, showed promise as a means to wean the state off its overreliance on standardized testing. Unfortunately, the portfolio that has been created dramatically increases the amount of testing that the state's third graders must face. The implementation of the Read to Achieve program has effectively turned the purpose of the program on its head by administering even more tests that significantly detract from the time students and teachers have available to improve vital reading skills by the end of third grade."
"Research clearly indicates that those children who are retained will face an uphill battle for the rest of their educational careers with a much higher likelihood of dropping out prior to graduation."
Read to Achieve advisory committee searches for improvements to law's implementation
The NC Dept. of Public Instruction (DPI) convened a special committee on Friday (1/31) to provide feedback on ways to improve the implementation of Read to Achieve. The following are the committee's recommendations and general policy changes for lawmakers to consider. (The suggestions are considered preliminary and subject to change)
-Reduce the required number of passages students must master in order to demonstrate proficiency
-Provide local school districts more flexibility in how they administer summer reading camps
-Allow local school districts to adopt more balanced school calendars
-Allow students who are not reading proficient at the conclusion of a summer camp (or similar) to be promoted to the fourth grade, with appropriate instructional interventions in place
-Offer traditional public schools the same flexibility in complying with the Read to Achieve law that charter schools currently enjoy
-Consider using the 2013-14 school year as trial run for Read to Achieve, which would mean districts would not implement a retention policy or conduct summer reading camps.
**These are suggestions for lawmakers. Parents who agree, disagree, or have other opinions or suggestions should make their voices heard by contacting their representatives. Changes will only happen if legislators are made aware of the problems with this program.** Click here to find out who to contact.
Cabarrus County school board to discuss resolution on Read to Achieve concerns
“The resolution is intended to send a documented response to NC DPI (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction) and join other districts in support of changing the implementation guidelines as set forth by NC DPI.”
In the recommended resolution, it notes that the school board “requests an immediate stay of the portfolio assessments for the current school year.” It also proposes that the system be able to have a four-week summer reading camp, instead of a six-week camp, to fulfill the 72-hour requirement.
Facebook group: NC Parents and Teachers Against Read to Achieve Be sure to like this page and join in the conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment