Education Policy

Policies at the federal and state levels can have a major effect on what happens in the actual classroom and directly influence the quality of the education that our children receive. As parents, family, and community members, it's important to be informed about what kinds of policies benefit our children the most so that we can make educated voting decisions.

Reading First

Reading First is a federal program that mandates a specific kind of data collection and a three-tiered assessment system. This applies to children from kindergarten to grade 3. It focuses on classroom-based assessments which are not necessarily standardized. Reading First classrooms ensure individuals are provided differentiated instructions in small groups. The groups must be differentiated by:

Results

Over four years, the program led to increased numbers of students reading at grade level, fewer children being designated as high-risk readers, and overall improved reading scores.

Importantly, Reading First has not been shown to decrease the achievement gap between low and high SES readers. Both groups did improve, but they did so at the same rate.

No Child Left Behind

Long Title: An act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.
No Child Left Behind was national legislation passed in 2001 that assessed reading and math skills of children from grade 3 to grade 8. It was done annually in the form of standardized testing.
Expired in 2015 and replaced with Every Student Succeeds Act.

Every Student Succeeds

Every Student Succeeds was a legislation passed in December 2015 to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
This act retains the annual standardized testing part of NCLB, but also emphasizes equal opportunity for all students regardless of background.

Reading Assessments and Standardized Tests

Many literacy tests are based on detailed state standards, and they aim for “seamlessness in curriculum and instruction,” especially with Reading First. Although the tests may provide a large amount of data, they may not be accurate because the tests do not take into account other contextual factors, such as student and teacher environments.
Moreover, content-wise, the tests tend to emphasize vocabulary too much. Standardized tests should focus on reading comprehension because “the goal of reading is to obtain meaning from the print.”
Scores from standardized tests should be examined on a large scale: citywide, statewide, and nationwide, rather than by individual classrooms. This will allow for holistic evaluation of program effectiveness.

Teacher Professional Development

Early Childhood Educator Professional Development, a set of 18 federal programs for teachers, use a combination of knowledge-focused (coursework providing credits for a degree/training for licensure) and practice-focused (on-site consultation and in-person feedback) approaches to train and develop teachers
- These kinds of programs offer the best results, as both the teachers and the students gain positive outcomes.

Policy Suggestions and Moving Forward

Moving Forward
- Set specific program goals and change current preschool programs to model what’s shown to be effective, including:
  - Smaller class sizes
  - Better paid and more highly educated teachers
  - Reflective teaching practices
- Coordinate and integrate policies across childcare, Head Start, and public pre-K programs.
- Take what we know works and doesn't work with child outcomes and professional approaches, especially for teachers.

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