Teaching Matters Most: Student Success in the Early Grades<\/em>, reflects the need for systemic change and support for good teaching practice and professional learning that is practical, evidence-based and successful in improving student outcomes.<\/p>\n\u201cAs Kentucky emerges from this pandemic, it will be critical that support for our teachers and the vital work they do becomes even stronger,\u201d said Rep. James Tipton (R-Taylorsville), who served on the task force. \u201cWe must be more focused on \u2013 and willing to make adequate investments in \u2013 quality preparation and professional learning programs. I will be sponsoring legislation and budget requests during this session that will be solid first steps in addressing these needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Tipton is currently in the process of filing legislation that would allocate funding for the Kentucky Early Entry Initiative, a three-year, $3 million pilot program with the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough candidacy, certification, and first years, the program will provide early career teachers with access to experiences that will strengthen teacher effectiveness and retention, with some of the professional learning supports beginning during teacher preparation,\u201d said Tipton.<\/p>\n
Policy recommendations from the task force include a focus on equity, family engagement, cultural competency and teacher diversity; improvements in professional learning and preparation at the collegiate level; and increased state funding in targeted areas.<\/p>\n
At the K-12 level, the task force recommends that the Kentucky Department of Education implement a statewide professional development program for early literacy and mathematics instruction for all early childhood instructors, elementary school teachers and elementary school principals.<\/p>\n
\u201cA strong professional learning program is a necessity for all our teachers across the Commonwealth, although they have been hard for districts to maintain due to budget cuts in recent years,\u201d Kentucky Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass said. \u201cA professional learning program focused on early literacy and mathematics instruction is vital to ensuring Kentucky\u2019s youngest students receive a high-quality education in these fundamentals from their earliest years. We at the Kentucky Department of Education are committed to making sure our educators have the skills and tools they need to succeed in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
The task force also recommends that, at the college level, new teacher candidates in early childhood and elementary education be required to demonstrate foundational capacities in early literacy and mathematics in manners approved as effective evaluations of instructional knowledge and skills by the Education Professional Standards Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research is clear: success in higher education begins at the earliest levels of learning,\u201d said President Aaron Thompson, head of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. \u201cThese recommendations would help ensure that teachers are prepared to serve and support students from every background during this crucial development period. That not only builds greater equity and attainment in our educational system, it also sets the stage for life-long growth, achievement and civic participation among our students. I want to thank the task force for its tremendous efforts, and I look forward to working with the Kentucky legislature to see these reforms through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another recommendation requires that the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) and the Council on Postsecondary Education cooperate to certify that educator preparation programs in early childhood and elementary education include sufficient, evidence-based instructional programming in reading and mathematics related to the administration of assessments, use of assessment data, monitoring student performance, and differentiated instructional strategies. Reading programming should include instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe many voices represented in the Prichard Committee task force are seeking gold-standard research-based practices to improve the success of Kentucky\u2019s children. Our children and families are depending on the Prichard Committee and the leaders of the Commonwealth to deliver action and results. This report includes several steps forward towards immediately realizing a coherent educational vision,\u201d said Julian Vasquez Heilig, Dean and Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation at the University of Kentucky and a member of the EPSB.<\/p>\n
The report underscores the importance of students having strong reading and math skills by the end of third grade, as studies show 16% of students not reading proficiently at that grade level do not graduate high school on time. The rate rises to 26% for students who live in poverty, 25% for African American and Hispanic students and nearly 33% for African American and Hispanic students who live in poverty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recommendations do more than provide solutions for closing the achievement gaps,\u201d said Jana Beth Francis, a former teacher and current assistant superintendent for Daviess County Schools. \u201cThe comprehensive nature of the report helps to create a solution that will last decades and impact the lives of students to come. Just like there is not one solution for improving literacy and numeracy for primary grades, there isn’t just one group of people who would need to take action. Teaching Matters Most: Student Success in the Early Grades<\/em> is a call to action for all citizens of the Commonwealth that care about education.”<\/p>\nBlom Ramsey said she hopes to see movement on these recommendations during the 2021 session of the Kentucky General Assembly.<\/p>\n
“We at the Prichard Committee particularly want to thank both House and Senate leadership for their vision in requesting this report and their commitment to improving reading and math outcomes for each and every student,” she said.<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence is an independent, nonpartisan, citizen-led organization working to improve education in Kentucky \u2013 early childhood through postsecondary.<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][\/vc_column][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text animation=”fadeInLeft”]December 29, 2020 For More Information Contact: Jessica Fletcher, Senior Director, Communications & External Affairs (cell) 859-539-0511 jessica.fletcher@prichardcommittee.org[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][wyde_button title=”Download the Report” size=”large” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fprichard-backup.com%2FJuly%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FTeaching-Matters-Most-2020.pdf||target:%20_blank|”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text animation=”fadeInRight”] LEXINGTON, KY – Ahead of the 2021 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly, a Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence task force has released recommendations\u00a0aimed at improving educator preparation and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"passster_activate_protection":false,"passster_protect_child_pages":"","passster_protection_type":"password","passster_password":"","passster_activate_overwrite_defaults":"","passster_headline":"","passster_instruction":"","passster_placeholder":"","passster_button":"","passster_id":"","passster_activate_misc_settings":"","passster_redirect_url":"","passster_hide":"no","passster_area_shortcode":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-press-release"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6034,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354\/revisions\/6034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}