Closing the Achievement Gap - Washington State School Directors ...

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Many districts have opted to use I-728 funds to support full-day kindergartenprograms.Questions to Guide the Discussion1. What policies currently exist that support partnerships and effectivetransition between preschool and child care programs and K-12schools?2. What policy and program benefit analysis has been conducted todetermine whether the district should provide full-day kindergarten?3. Does the district determine each student’s level of reading and mathreadiness in the fall of kindergarten and have spring math and literacytargets to use in determining which students need early intervention?4. What early intervention programs are in place? What programs areneeded?5. What can the school board do to impact decisions about early childhoodeducation and readiness to learn?6. Can the district expend resources for high quality pre-school, at leastfor at-risk learners?“The single most importantthing that can be done [toprevent retention] is toteach students to read wellin the early grades and tostick with the effort insteadof waiting to do somethingwhen they enter fourthgrade.”— Lorrie ShepardUniversity of ColoradoPolicy Recommendations1. Implement policies that require early assessment of reading and mathematics,with intervention programs aligned to reading and math targetsfor all students who have not met the necessary level of reading and mathreadiness.2. Develop policies that create clearly articulated practices between elementaryschools and preschools, child care agencies and family organizationsthat support readiness to learn.3. Provide the community leadership to develop awareness of the issues andneeds of young children and families, including the need to close thereadiness gap.4. Establish a board liaison position with the local network of early childhoodservice providers and work to develop joint policies that supportpreventative programs and early intervention.5. Support family literacy programs and incorporate family literacy intoschool-based programs for students in K-3 from disadvantaged homes andthose who are English language learners.6. Develop policies to support full-day kindergarten for students most inneed or in schools with high percentages of students from low-incomefamilies or English language learners. Consider the use of I-728 funds forfull-day kindergarten programs.WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL DIRECTORS’ ASSOCIATION37
What School Districts Are DoingKennewick School District (www.ksd.org) has implemented an early interventionprogram based on the belief that by helping children come tokindergarten prepared, there is much less need for remediation. The focusof the program is “Kindergarten Readiness” and is implemented in collaborationwith the Reading Foundation. It provides the necessary pre-literacyacquisition that guarantees successful readers. The goal is to make allparents aware of how important it is to read to their children from birththrough third grade. At the heart of the program is a simple media-drivenmessage: “The most important twenty minutes of your day is reading withyour child.” The foundation also has parenting modules for kindergartenreadiness.Research based on longitudinal data from the Kennewick School District asreported by the National Children’s Reading Foundation(www.readingfoundation.org/local/local foundations.asp) found that “studentsat risk of failure can be identified in the first months of kindergartenby deficit pre-literacy skills” and that these same children can be re-identifiedat first, second and third grade on the basis of their low reading skills.This research makes a strong case for the Reading Foundation’s recommendationto increase the number of children entering kindergarten with basicpre-literacy skills.The Lakewood School District (www.lwsd.wednet.edu) is working to improveliteracy skills for preschool children in low-income families. With anEven Start Family Literacy grant the district is focusing on improvingliteracy in the home while making parents “full partners” in their children’seducation. The goal is to increase the literacy skills of young children andassist the adults in the children’s lives in their own education and selfsufficiency.The district is partnering with the Snohomish County LiteracyCoalition, Snohomish County Health District and Snohomish CountyHuman Services.Parent Involvement and CommunityCollaborationParent and community involvement goes well beyond volunteeringin the classroom. Involvement means parents supporting theirchildren’s education by reading to them at an early age, findingopportunities to learn and explore at home and in the community, placing ahigh value on education and ensuring that children are well fed, well restedand at school on time every day.Family stability is clearly associated with student achievement. On the2002 questionnaire responded to by third and sixth grade students takingthe spring ITBS, students in both third and sixth grade who were enrolled38CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP: A POLICY ACTION GUIDE
Page 4: Table of ContentsForeword .........
Page 7 and 8: My thanks to the members of the Ach
Page 9 and 10: Assess the achievement gap problem.
Page 12 and 13: Overview of the PolicyAction GuideT
Page 14 and 15: Understanding theAchievement GapWSS
Page 16 and 17: Data also show a clear pattern of a
Page 18 and 19: cient (LEP) students were dispropor
Page 20 and 21: All Students Can Learn:Evidence Tha
Page 22: The two building graphs are from Wa
Page 25 and 26: Allocation and Alignment of Fiscal
Page 27 and 28: What School Districts Are DoingIn t
Page 29 and 30: The No Child Left Behind Act (www.n
Page 31 and 32: What School Districts Are DoingThe
Page 33 and 34: Questions to Guide the Discussion1.
Page 35 and 36: economically disadvantaged families
Page 37 and 38: “We need to look inside ourdistri
Page 39 and 40: 5. To what degree have new ways to
Page 41 and 42: “Closing the achievementgap requi
Page 43: “Where there are differentlevels
Page 47 and 48: 5. To what degree are parents and c
Page 49 and 50: the classroom, grade level, school
Page 51 and 52: technology and professional develop
Page 53 and 54: tion, learning environments, progra
Page 55 and 56: Statewide 6th Grade ITBS Results: 2
Page 57 and 58: Train teachers to meet the demands
Page 60 and 61: ReferencesBrumbaugh, S. (1997). “
Page 62: Waymack N. & Drury, D. (Summer/Fall
Page 65 and 66: Gary Wilson Principal and Linda Hah
Page 67: Notes

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