Despite fervent pleas from state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, Louisiana's top school board voted 6-4 to delay action on a bid to improve dismal reading scores by launching the first accountability system for students in kindergarten, first and second grades.
Brumley noted that barely 40% of kindergarten students are reading on grade level, and the picture is not much better for first-and second-graders.
"Everyone agrees we have a challenge with regard to literacy," Brumley told the board. "In K-2 we have a void, we have a vacuum."
State lawmakers have approved spending $2 million to tackle Louisiana's alarming reading problem for its youngest students, in part because a …
But critics said it would be a mistake to revamp part of the state's system for measuring student achievement without scrutinizing other issues, including how much improved student test scores should count when the state calculates public school letter grades.
"We would like to see how this fits in with the entire accountability system," said Jim Garvey, a BESE member from Metairie and leader of the opposition.
The vote marks the second consecutive meeting where Brumley's hope for BESE to endorse a K-2 accountability system died.
In June the issue got entangled with the debate on efforts to approve a more generous scoring system on key tests, which will be the subject of a BESE study group.
A controversial plan that would reduce the number of D- and F-rated public schools by changing how key tests are scored is going back to the d…
How long the latest delay will last is unclear.
The key feature of the proposed accountability system would be reading improvements.
The state should spend $15 million more per year to ensure students are proficient in reading by the end of the third grade, which a state pan…
Under the plan, children in kindergarten, first and second grades would have their literacy skills checked at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. The state would measure both reading achievement and growth during the school year. Each grade would focus on specific reading-related topics, including letter sounds in kindergarten, oral reading in first grade and reading comprehension in second grade.
The aim is to have a test run of the new system during the 2022-23 school year, and for real during the 2023-24 school year.
Brumley's plan was backed by the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, the Louisiana School Boards Association and the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.
After years of neglect, state education leaders are launching plans to improve reading skills for students in kindergarten, first and second g…
"We cannot delay this any further," said Mike Faulk, executive director of the superintendents' group. "Our state has already been negligent in addressing this and need to address it now."
Opponents included Stand for Children, an advocacy group, and The Pelican Institute.
Brigitte Nieland, director of government affairs for Stand for Children, said Brumley's proposed framework failed to address special education students and other items.
Without looking at the entire system, Nieland said, officials could not determine how K-2 changes would affect how the state measure all public school students.
BESE members voting for the delay were Holly Boffy, Ashley Ellis, Jim Garvey, Sandy Hollloway, Michael Melerine and Kira Orange Jones.
Voting against the delay were Preston Castille, Belinda Davis, Thomas Roque and Doris Voitier.
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Bid to improve dismal elementary reading scores delayed after bitter debate - The Advocate
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