Professional society comes out in favor of Direct Instruction
The Engineering Society of Detroit, a body of engineers, scientists, architects and technical professionals, has convened teams of industry professionals to answer the following question: ""If you were envisioning an optimized, statewide STEM initiative for Michigan, what would it look like and how would you get it done?" One of their solutions: improve reading proficiency rates by using research-based methods like Direct Instruction. Go here to read their entire report.
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Lesson (re)Learned: Kentucky faces challenges with constructed-response questions on Common Core assessments
In the early 1990s, KY attempted to use constructed-response test items as part of its school accountability system; the results were unusable. Despite this, the state pursued the same goal with its new Common Core assessments and, not surprisingly, came to the same conclusion as before. See a press release on the subject from the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, and a chapter on this exact issue from Dr. George Cunningham.
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New Paper from ECF: "Reversing American Decline by Reducing Education's Casualties"
For forty years, ineffective public schools have flooded the population with voters who
are low-information and without economic prospects. In this paper, Dr. J.E. Stone highlights the impact of ineffective schooling; explains its causes; and lays out a practical solution to reversing American decline.
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ECF releases charts showing 3rd grade reading performance in key TN districts
Testing results of the past 20 years show that less than half of Tennessee's school children are mastering reading by the end of the 3rd grade. Click on the links below to see whether children in some of the largest metropolitan areas of the state are reading or just being promoted:
ECF also offers the following district-level charts:
You can also compare schools statewide by visiting our interactive charts of "3rd grade proficiency versus poverty" in reading and math.
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How rigorous are your state's proficiency standards?
Each state defines for itself what "proficient" means; some states have a rigorous definition, while others are less strict in their standards. To see how states compare, ECF has published charts showing the percentage of students deemed proficient in various subjects and grade levels and compared them to percentages reported for each state by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, or "The Nation's Report Card"), considered to be the gold standard.
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A Blue Man 'Dupe': Parent Panic at $32G 'Progressive' School
New York's The Blue School is thought to be the cutting edge of experiments in educational improvement. The New York Post says it was founded with the strong backing of former NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. In fact, it is one more variant of type of schooling that has been tried repeatedly and with disastrous results. England's Summerhill School is a residential version that was founded in the nineteen twenties. Click here to read a Newsweek essay by Mara Wolynkski, a writer and television personality who attended such a school as a child.
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Are Tennessee's Children Learning to Read? Mayor Tim Burchett Asks the Question in Knoxville
Knoxville mayor Tim Burchett is leading on education, highlighting the importance of early literacy: "I say, before we raise taxes, let's tackle this core problem." Other local officials in Tennessee are beginning to recognize the problem in their schools (see charts below).
Reading is the most essential skill that children learn in school. It is taught over a 4-5 year period that begins in preschool or kindergarten and extends to 3rd grade. Beyond 3rd grade, schooling turns from learning to read, to reading to learn.
Promoting children to the 4th and subsequent grades without sound reading skills not only reduces their chances of success, it misleads their parents about the child's progress, it unloads poorly equipped and discouraged learners on middle and high school teachers, and it violates the spirit if not the letter of Tennessee's 2011 law against socially promoting unqualified students.
Social promotion of students who lack mastery of reading ignores their needs, drags down the progress of all students, and makes schooling vastly more inefficient and expensive. Children who cannot read simply cannot fully benefit from their educational opportunities. They need more help, more contact hours of teaching, and more specialized treatment - all of which takes more teachers, more specialists, and more time in school.
Testing results of the past 20 years show that less than half of Tennessee's school children are mastering reading by the end of the 3rd grade.
Click on the links below to see whether children in your local schools are reading or just being promoted:
ECF also offers the following district-level charts:
You can also compare schools statewide by visiting our interactive charts of "3rd grade proficiency versus poverty" in reading and math.
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Needed in Tennessee: An Early Reading Revolution
In a November 2011 position paper, the Education Consumers Foundation highlights the lack of progress in boosting literacy rates in Tennessee schools and introduces Direct Instruction as a proven solution. Click here to access this paper along with a host of support materials, including charts highlighting reading proficiency rates in each Tennessee district; directories of resources, trainers, and contacts experienced with DI in Tennessee; and more.
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Clear Teaching: With Direct Instruction, Siegfried Engelmann Discovered a Better Way of Teaching
Written by veteran journalist Shepard Barbash over a period of 10 years, Clear Teaching is a well-researched, highly readable introduction to Direct Instruction (DI). Click here to download this book in PDF format along with a host of support materials, including directories of resources, a list of trainers, and much more; those wanting print copies can order them from Amazon or can contact ECF for bulk orders.
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Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform
In this 2011 book, one of America's foremost scholars on what works in education discusses the proper role of testing in educational improvement, covering well-established principles of testing, current problems, and promising evidence-based solutions.Click here for more on the book or to order a copy.
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