I served on the South Carolina Reading Achievement Systemic Initiative during the 2011-12 school year:
"The panel is directed to define the focus and priorities for state actions to improve the level of reading
achievement among the state's young people including building upon the work of LiteracySC and the
state literacy team organized to support the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant. The panel
should address factors contributing to or impeding progress including, but not limited to, the physical
health, language development and quality of instruction provided in the state's schools. The panel should
examine data, follow progress of the LiteracySC academies and pilots, recommend changes in practice
and funding and provide for a longitudinal evaluation and establish a statewide policy for the teaching of
reading, including particular attention to the lowest achieving students.
The panel is to be staffed through a collaborative among the Department of Education, SC Kids Count
and the Education Oversight Committee. Expenses of the panel are to be shared among the
collaborating entities.
The panel shall report to the General Assembly through the House Committee on Education and
Public Works and the Senate Education Committee and to the State Board of Education and the
Education Oversight Committee by January 15, 2012."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am thankful for the opportunity to serve on this panel. I have been an educator for 20 years and a parent for 14 years. I currently have a 14 year old, 12 year old, 9 year old and 5 year old. Based on the information presented to this panel, my own research and experience, my recommendations include the following ideas:
Students must be given the time to enjoy, learn and practice reading. The more opportunities we can provide for younger readers, the better, but it is my understanding the scope of our charge is K-12 education.
Access to a variety of books, magazines, comics, is essential for students to read books they choose, books of interest to them.
Children need small group instruction to address individual needs. The differentiation piece is critical as “one size does not fit all.”
With the increase in the volume of reading, the time must be quality time in that students truly have their “eyes on text” during the increased time.
On a BIG picture scale, we need to effect change on the culture . . . reading needs to be important to families and communities. Partnerships with businesses to promote reading, provide more reading material, establish volunteers who read with children to reinforce the importance of reading. Books need to be birthday presents, and trips to the bookstore and library desired with great anticipation. Parents should model the process daily. It is not so important what you read as much as you are reading, regularly and often.
I feel the panel’s charge to achieve readership by third grade is critical. However possible, we need to provide the flexibility and opportunity for best reading practices in the primary grades. Children need opportunities to talk about their reading and their resources need to be appropriate for their abilities.
Teachers need targeted and continuous professional development to attend to the varying needs of readers. School life must be organized so that every minute of the instructional day is an opportunity to learn. The instructional process must take away the mystery of reading. As Dr. Janice Dole presented, breaking it down for students to specific strategies of good readers (summarizing, visualizing, rereading, predicting) so everyone can achieve success. I appreciated the point that children want to be better readers and teachers want to teach them. How to exactly go about that is the challenge. The desire exists, we need a doable, achievable plan.
These suggestions are simple. But after the detailed presentations, I think that it comes down to
(1) more opportunity for reading
(2) the instructional minutes must be engaging, time on task minutes
(3) Students need a variety of “good fit” reading materials for reading practice and to develop reading pleasure
(4) teachers need support in implementing best practices
The research and evidence based recommendations by the Kids Count team of presenters at the November 16 panel meeting are the road map to success:
Recommendation 1:
Improve Classroom and Supplemental Reading and Writing Instruction through Response to Intervention Framework
Recommendation 2:
Expand the Knowledge Base of Teachers
Recommendation 3:
Expand the Knowledge base of Principals and Instructional Leaders: Increase Understanding of How to Support Readers and Writers
Recommendation 4:
Increase the Time Students Read and Write At School and Outside School
Recommendation 5:
Increase Texts in Classrooms: Appropriate levels, genres and content areas
Recommendation 6:
Develop Community Partnerships to Create a Culture of Literacy in SC
Recommendation 7:
Develop a State-wide System to Monitor and Ensure Effective Implementation of Research-based Solutions
I was recently asked by a newly married individual, “how did you teach your children to read?” My response included I didn’t TEACH them to read, I READ to them. We read almost every night together and still do. We read everything—picture books, nonfiction, classics, the Bible, magazine and newspaper articles . . . READ, READ, READ! It is not “magic”. . . but then it IS! When children have the opportunity to read, many quality texts and variety of texts, ones of interest to them, with an attentive adult on hand for support--they will read!