State Board Debates New Reading Policy -- Proposal Would Target Students and Teachers
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 09:00 CDT
NASHVILLE - The State Board of Education is considering a new reading policy that calls for improvement in teacher training and offering more reading instruction and help to students whose reading skills lag those of their peers.
Under the proposed policy, all schools would be expected to improve teacher training and provide at least 90 minutes of reading instruction each day. Students would be taught reading by certified teachers who have extra training or expertise in teaching reading.
Students also would receive additional help from qualified reading specialists if they struggle and would have access to a wide variety of books and other reading materials in the classroom and the school library or media centers.
Students who are struggling would get more time, starting with an extra 30 minutes of reading a day, until they catch up.
"If we can help kids read, we can help them learn," said Gary Nixon, executive director of the state board, which has long made literacy and reading one of its top priorities. "Reading is one of the most important things we do."
Tennessee was awarded a six-year, $111 million federal Reading First grant a few years ago. The proposed policy would take what schools have learned from the program, which focuses on improved staff training and using proven teaching methods for reading, and replicate those lessons in other schools throughout the state.
"All students deserve and must have excellent instruction in reading, and they must have a path that takes them all the way from kindergarten through high school," said Mary Jo Howland, who oversees policy and research as deputy executive director of the state board. "By improving reading, all skills are going to improve. It's fundamental."
The state board was to begin discussing the policy during its meeting Thursday in Oak Ridge. It would be several months before the board takes its final vote on the proposal.
Source: Commercial Appeal, The
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