Under the Umbrella, Volume 6, Issue 1

CONTENTS
WELCOME BACK!
2-3 How Can I Help?, G.A. Buie
Volume 6, Issue 1
NETWORK &
STAY CONNECTED
Facebook.com/USAKansas
@USAKansas
4-6
8-9
10-12
14-15
16-23
What Does the Future
Hold?, Jerry Henn
Lead As a Learner, Jessica
Griffin
I’m a New Principal...Now
What?, Cara Ledy
Executive Coaching, Dr.
Martin Stessman
In Perspective: The New
NAEP Data & Student
Achievement Gaps, Dr. Gene
Kerns
2022-2023 Board of Directors
Todd Dain- President
- President-Elect
Amy Haussler - Past President
Jamie Rumford - KSSA
Stacey Green - KPA
Kurt Seiler - KPA
Doug Anderson - KASEA
Juanita Erickson - KSSA
Volora Hanzlicek - KASCD
Ryan Flurry - KLCTE
Cindy Couchman - KSSA
Craig Correll - KSSA
Renee Nugent- KSSA
Michelle Hackney - KASPA
Jaclyn Pfizenmaier - KASCD
Bryce Wachs - KanSPRA
Scott Carson - KPA
Eric Armstrong - KPA
Andrew Dempewolf - KPA
G.A. Buie - Executive Director
Jerry Henn - Assistant Executive Director
Jessi Clark - Communications Coordinator

As we glimpse around the corner at the start
of a new school year, I have some good and
even better news. The good news is the finish
line hasn’t moved. The even better news is
you have more tools than ever to support
your students’ growth. The new opportunities
are exciting and concerning at the same time.
I have the opportunity to share some new
opportunities after tearing my rotator cuff
last spring, leading to surgery this summer.
Like many of your kids, the loss of mobility in
my arm has brought uncertainty, adjustment,
and increased trust and reliance on others to
support the recovery.
My temporary situation has opened my eyes
to a student with a disability or a student
experiencing challenges with home life or
other anxieties. Although my recovery time

frame is short, I’ve still had plenty of
encounters requiring help. I hate to
ask for help. I convince myself I can
get through it. Many students with
challenges feel the same. They don’t
want to ask for help; they feel like
nobody understands their struggle. After
all, asking or using assistance makes you
weak… Wrong! At home, I knew who
to ask, and ultimately, my family knew
what I was trying to accomplish. Some
kids are the same. When they are in
a safe and comfortable setting, they
know how to ask questions, but too
often, too many kids don’t understand
the questions to ask because they don’t
understand what they can and can’t
accomplish.
Now, the difference between my injury
and a child with challenges: My road
back depends greatly upon my effort to
get there. I had experience of what I
had done before the injury. Oh yes, I’ve
got Erin and Will, my physical therapists,
to help me achieve the goals set by
the doctor, and I should get back to
pre-injury levels. Students that have
learning challenges or other physical
challenges often don’t have the landmark
of “before the injury” ; it’s very much a
new learning experience for most of the
students.
I started my path back to full mobility
with a 90-minute surgery to repair the
rotator cuff and other items dealing
directly with my shoulder. Waking up
after surgery with limited mobility in
my right arm and unskilled mobility
in my non-dominant arm, my left arm.
Wearing a large foam pillow with a sling,
people immediately notice you might
need assistance. For many of your kids,
they don’t have a noticeable challenge.
I received help from strangers because
they can see my disability, but what
about the kid who looks OK, but they
are dealing with something? Make sure
your team is ready to reach out to ask
“how they can help.” I want to repeat
that phrase, it’s not, do you need help,
teach your team to ask “How can I
help?”
The point I’m trying to make is, as you
approach this new year, let’s adjust our
mindsets and refocus our skills. Rather
than saying “Can I help you?” thinking
there is something we can do to make
someone’s life a little easier, let’s dig a
little deeper to understand the issue
first, then learn to ask “How can I help
you?” This acknowledges that you see
their challenge, and you’re here to
help them achieve. I know it’s a small
difference, but when someone asks me,
“Can I help you?” I almost always say
no, but when asked “How can I help?”
I quickly respond with how they can
assist.
Now let’s give it a try. I know you are
getting ready for a new year. “How can
I help you?” USA-Kansas is here to
support you and your teams. Make sure
you reach out and let us know how we
can assist.
3

The first statement I need to make is
please vote in the upcoming election!
When looking at the future for our
education from the political side, I
wish I had all the answers. What I
can do is look at the past bills that
were introduced to see what are
the possibilities. As you probably
know, any opinion I might give is only
speculation on my part. I will keep my
comments to facts as I know them.
Probably the biggest item that will be
4
brought back this coming legislative
session will be some type of tax cut.
Last year the legislature discussed a
single tax rate for all. Even though
this is not a direct education
bill, it will majorly effect funding
for education. The bill that was
introduced did cut individual taxes a
little, but it cut business taxes a bunch.
Some type of voucher bill will again
find its way to the floor. What it will
look like will be the question. Looking
at bills that have passed in other
states, the scholarship aspect will be

ack. Hopefully you remember this
focuses on setting up accounts for
students/homeschool/private school
students to use for their education/
tuition. Other states that have passed
this bill have shown that much of the
money in the accounts have gone to
students already in private school.
LGBTQ+ bills will continue to be
an issue with the current legislature.
No one really knows where this will
go. Best advice is to just protect all
students.
Parents’ bills of rights have been
passed in several states as well.
This has been a bill that has been
successfully defeated each year in
Kansas. The Governor has been
a major help in this effort. A bill
of rights for parents is smoke and
mirrors. Parents already have rights.
Let them know what rights they have.
Help educate your parents as to what
their rights are now. Communication
is key between schools and parents/
community. Keep them all in the loop
of what is happening in your schools.
to keep people safe, the schools will
be a focus.
Lastly, we know that special education
funding will be discussed. The
92% has become a major factor in
discussion on both sides, meaning
legislators and education institutions.
I need to make one thing very clear.
The 92% is purely a funding target by
the state. It really has nothing to do
with school districts and you should
not be held to this 92% number. It
is a state funding target. I cannot say
this enough. It has been stated by a
senator that we have 150 districts
that meet this 92%, that is true, but
this represents approximately 33%
of the students in Kansas. The
92% is not a district item to be
concerned since this is a state budget
issue. Please when you talk to your
legislator about special education
funding, make sure they understand
the funding is a state responsibility
to fund and has nothing to do with
school budgets.
There are plenty of bills that were
introduced this year. The ones I
discussed above are the major ones
we need to be aware of. There will
be new ones coming to us I’m sure,
but I am not sure what the focus will
become.
Getting the lead out of the water will
be discussed. The national news has
reported in July that there will be a
movement at the national level to get
lead pipes out of dispensing water to
families and businesses. This was not
directed at schools, but when there
5
are movements at the national level

Now let’s talk about the convention.
Special thanks to all who attended. It
was a special time in Wichita for sure.
As I looked at the conference
evaluations there was one item that
clearly stood out. Gerry Brooks was
definitely a highlight. I would agree!
His message was delivered with
humor which made us all leave feeling
good about ourselves. We can laugh,
learn, process the message, and put it
to use this following school year.
With the number of attendees, we
knew there would be an issue with
rooms filling up. I made some changes
to the schedule and doubled up
several sessions to spread out the
attendees. I felt this was successful
and plan to use this next year.
The food also was highly rated on
the evaluation. The Hyatt Hotel and
Houston work hard to get good food
for us all. The undertaking to get this
settled is unbelievable.
We had many positive comments
about the sessions. We have quality
administrators in Kansas. Their
contributions to the education of
our students are absolutely amazing.
Thank you all. Your work with our
students is evident every day.
The USA Convention cannot happen
without many people behind the
scenes. Sara, Kim, Jessi C. and
Houston totally understand what
needs to happen and when. It makes
my job much easier. They know
where to be and when to be there.
They have the contacts with Hyatt
personnel so changes can be made
at a moment’s notice. Jessica G.,
Cara, Marty, Jim and G.A. provide
educational experience to keep us all
grounded in research-based practices.
To have all the attendees at the
convention just tells me we need to
continue to have opportunities for
educators to have a place for learning
and relaxation. Thank you all for your
attendance and support.
The vendors continue to be a
highlight too! Prizes also are a huge
factor in the success. Although we
have received some comments that
prize might be awarded anytime
during the conference. That becomes
a major conflict for us as there is
plenty to do during the conference.
6

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8

The excitement of a new school year is
a magical feeling for a building principal
and is just around the corner! There’s
so much possibility for the upcoming
year; new staff joining the school family,
reconnecting with returning staff
members, and implementing changes
planned over the summer months spent
in reflection. Those first few days when
staff return are a flurry of meetings,
professional learning opportunities, and
the energy level is at an all time high. As
the first few weeks of school begin and
students return to fill the hallways and
classrooms, staff warmly welcome them
into their new learning environment.
How does a building principal
bottle these energizing and inspiring
emotions of the beginning of the year
as the challenges and setbacks of the
remainder of the year occur? Now
more than ever it is imperative that
building principals take time to prioritize
their own learning and collaboration
with other leaders to maintain the
emotional energy needed to sustain a
positive, high performing school culture.
The Elevate Leadership series serves
to meet this need for our building
principals in Kansas. At USA, our
vision is to build world class leadership,
therefore world class student success.
We encourage you to join the staff at
USA in our leadership journey pathway
that begins with the Elevate Leadership
1 experience. We meet in five regional
locations throughout the state six times
throughout the year. Each of these
days is spent in professional learning,
collaboration with other building level
leaders, reflection, and action planning
for impact back at the building. The
series is designed to build the capacity
and network of leaders across our state.
Research shows that principals who are
engaged outside of their internal district
circle are more effective in influencing
results than principals who solely focus
on internal instruction (Kirtman, 2021).
Now is the time to get engaged with
other leaders in your area! Join us
in an Elevate Leadership cohort this
year. Prioritize your own learning and
collaboration so you lead as a learner in
your building. Let this cohort help you
maintain the emotional energy needed
to sustain the positive, high performing
culture you set out to create at the
beginning of each magical school year!
Register for Elevate Leadership HERE.
Reach out to Jessica Griffin at jgriffin@
usakansas.org or 620-340-3340 with any
questions you may have. The Elevate
Leadership series is included with a
district’s PLN membership.
Credit To:
Research Findings on Leadership
Effectiveness That Might Surprise You,
Kirtman 2021
The Principal 2.0 Three Keys to
Maximizing Impact, Michael Fullan 2023
9

10

I think many Principals can remember
the first time they became Principal
of a building! It was a flood of
emotions from excitement to fear,
and everything in between. As I reflect
on my first year as Principal I want to
share my key take-aways.
I appreciated all the support and
advice I received from the many
colleagues I came to know at that
New Principal workshop I attended. I
also remember feeling worried that I
was doing all that I was supposed to
do in a small 4A high school. There
was not a manual or checklist, just a
pile of unmarked keys for me to figure
out! In reflection, The New Principal
Workshop was more important than
I realized at the time. I developed
friendships that I have maintained
since. I knew I could and did call these
peers and they would help, advise, or
just listen. Not many professions offer
opportunities like this!
I encourage you, New Principals,
to start now developing your
network and support team! The
Kansas Principals Association(KPA)
and United School Administrators
of Kansas (USA-K), together, have
created many opportunities to
help you with this process. Both
associations are committed to helping
Principals grow professionally, and
create those networks that set
Principals up for success!
Another piece of advice for New
Principals is to get involved! Through
KPA and USA, I was more aware of
what my role as a Principal was, and
the importance of Advocating for
my students, staff, and community.
But most of all, I felt like I was part
of a bigger family that supported,
encouraged, educated, and inspired
me to be the best Principal I could
be! Attend the KPA Conference
November 7 & 8, in Wichita (Put it
on your calendar now!). This is a
great time to meet Administrators in
your region and in buildings similar
to yours. We learn from each other
and experts in our field! Then attend
the USA Conference May 29 - 31, in
Wichita (Put in your calendar now).
Here we network and get ideas and
strategies for the next year through
great keynote speakers and learning
clusters!
My last take-away from that first year
as Principal was the importance of
continual growth and development.
This is also supported in the research
from the Wallace Foundation. They
stated that School leadership is
second only to teaching among
school-related factors in its impact
on student learning. Their research
also states that high-quality principals
11

are vital to the effectiveness of our
nation’s public schools, especially
those serving the children with the
fewest advantages in life. An effective
principal’s impact is stronger and
broader than previously thought,
making it “difficult to envision’’ a
higher return on investment in K-12
education than the cultivation of highquality
school leadership – Wallace
Foundation, February 2021.
So I ask you - how are you
intentionally planning on growing
this upcoming school year? Both
associations, KPA and USA, are
combining to offer opportunities
for you to grow and develop! First,
I hope you were a part of the New
Principal Workshop that was offered
July 28 and August 4. I also hope you
have secured a mentor through KELI
to address the licensure requirements.
If you did not get involved in either
of these opportunities then I hope
you will consider Elevate 1. This is a
6 session series spread throughout
the year to help you discover the
importance of Mission, Vision,
Academic Optimism, What Matters
Most, and how to Lead Change. You
can get signed up for this at https://
www.usakansas.org/page/elevateleadership-year-1.You
can contact
either organization and you will
receive all the information you need
12
to get started on the right path for
success! I would also be available to
assist you as well and I can be reached
at cledy@usakansas.org or call me at
(316) 204-2339.
Websites:
KPA - https://www.ksprincipals.org/
USA - https://www.usakansas.org/
I wish all our New Principals the very
best year! You have joined the best
career there is!!!
CELEBRATING MOMENTS
THAT MATTER
Contact your Jostens
representative today.
www.jostens.com

MISS KANSAS 2023
COURTNEY WAGES
Courtney Wages is a graduate of Wichita State
University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical
Theater. Courtney's community service initiative is
One Vision is Not the Only Vision: Eye See You. Her
focus for this initiative is to educate communities
about the importance of vision health and providing
tools and resources for all to clearly navigate their
way through life.
Miss Kansas travels throughout the state working
closely with the Kansas Department of Wildlife,
Parks, Kansas Department of Transportation, Lead
For America and Envision, Inc., providing education,
and will advocate for blind and visually impaired
(BVI) communities during her year as Miss Kansas.
One Vision is Not the Only Vision: Eye See You
Courtney has executed her initiative through innovative approaches and
strategies. Over the past year, she presented her “Eye See You” Initiative which
uses literacy to educate children on the importance of inclusion for BVI
communities and how to prioritize vision care by protective eyewear, eating
healthy foods, and exercise. To date, this specific arm of the initiative has
reached over 900 students in grades K-5 across Kansas.
TO BOOK:
BOOKINGS@MISSKANSAS.ORG
TOPICS
Motivational Presentations
One-on-one Mentoring
Interactive Games
Small Group Activities
Signted Guide Trainings
Vision Activities
Interactive Books & Stories
School Wide Assemblies
Grade Level Presentations
Tap Dance Performance

It has been my experience that life
has a way of teaching us what we
need to learn both personally and
professionally. Sometimes we refer to
these as “life lessons.” Often, these
lessons follow a particularly difficult
or painful experience when, after
time and space allow, we are able to
reflect on the experience and learn
from it.
What if we were able to learn that
lesson before the event rather than
after? How much better would
our lives be if we could see around
corners, anticipate problems, and
reflect on an experience before
it happens? That is the goal of
executive coaching: to facilitate
reflection on past events and
anticipate future events in order to
improve the outcome. Coaching
sessions are a designated time for
the administrator to remove him or
herself from the daily grind and to
think about their thinking.
Through executive coaching,
USA-Kansas staff facilitate both
reflective and divergent thinking
in administrators to improve
the application of past lessons
learned to current and future
challenges. Through questioning,
the administrators reflect on past
experiences in order to learn from
them and then use what they learn
to consciously and purposefully guide
their actions and decision making in
current and future situations.
You might be thinking that you have
good intuition and usually make good
decisions, which is likely true or you
wouldn’t be in your current position.
Even good decisions, however, can
have some negative consequences.
Thinking those through in advance
may result in a decision that is better
than good. No matter how good we
are, we can all improve in some way.
As one administrator put it, even
Michael Jordan needed a coach.
For the sports minded among us, it is
a little like practicing game situations
in advance. When you find yourself
down by 2 points with 6 seconds
left in the game and inbounding the
ball under your opponent’s basket,
the chances for a favorable outcome
increase if you have practiced that
situation in advance.
CLICK HERE for more info.
15

16

The recent release of the 2023 National
Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) data brought another flurry
of reporting on the impacts wrought
by pandemic-related disruptions to
schooling.
In fact, a recent District Administration
article quoted Dr. Peggy Carr,
commissioner of the National Center
for Education Statistics, which oversees
NAEP, remarking that “the ‘green shoots’
of academic recovery that we had
hoped to see have not materialized,
as we continue to see worrisome
signs about student achievement and
well-being more than two years after
most students returned for in-person
learning.”
To be sure, there are some new and
alarming findings in the NAEP data, such
as dropping attendance rates, decreases
in the time students spend reading,
and decreased enrollment in algebra.
There are also some findings that have
been consistently documented since
the pandemic began: scores are down
at all grade levels, math has been more
affected than reading, and some student
groups have been disproportionately
affected.
After all this time, however, it’s becoming
almost impossible to distinguish one
report on unfinished learning from
another. While addressing the needs
students currently have requires that we
keep our sense of urgency high, what
many of us are also longing for are fresh
insights and a narrowing of our focus.
Acknowledging that we can’t solve
everything at once, where do we focus
our attention for the greatest impact?
In this blog, I’ll offer several suggestions
based on an analysis of both NAEP and
other recent assessment data.
USING NAEP DATA TO
PUT “LEARNING LOSS” IN
PERSPECTIVE
It’s a good day when I read something
that provides me with an insight, but
it’s a great one when I read something
that provides me with an epiphany.
Those don’t come along often, but when
they do, they cause us to completely
reorganize the way we interpret the
world. We just can’t look at things the
same way again. Such was the case when
I read a 2020 Education Week article
on learning loss written by formative
assessment expert Dylan Wiliam.
While “learning loss”—or “unfinished
learning,” or whatever term you prefer
for whatever the academic impacts
of the COVID-19 pandemic were—
remains a hot topic, Wiliam cautions
that “it is also important to put
whatever learning loss there has been
in perspective” (my emphasis). And the
perspective he suggests is not solely
focused on the direct impacts of the
pandemic but considers learning loss in
relation to the achievement gaps that
already existed. When we do that, we
17

find that we may have been focusing too
closely on the wrong things. In other
words, we have an epiphany.
Writing in the back-to-school season
of 2020–2021, Wiliam began with
2019 NAEP data for math and then
“extrapolate[ed] beyond the grades
tested by NAEP using nationally normed
standardized tests” to suggest the
range of performance in “a nationally
representative 4th grade class of 25
students.” His analysis suggested that,
in such a classroom, “there were five
students whose math achievement was
no higher than the average 1st grader,
and two students whose achievement
would match that of the average 9th
grader.” In other words, “in a nationally
representative class of 4th graders, there
[was] at least an eight-year spread of
achievement” prior to the pandemic.
Wiliam added that “even if we assume
that students learned nothing after
schools began closing down in March
[of 2020], it means that rather than
an eight-year spread of achievement, a
returning 5th grade class [in the fall of
2020] would have [had] an eight-anda-half
year range of achievement” after
the pandemic hit. The headlines focused
solely on this half-year increase rather
than the existing 8-year spread.
That seemed a bit off to Wiliam. It
seemed to lack perspective.
18
COMPARING PANDEMIC
“LEARNING LOSS” TO
EXISTING ACHIEVEMENT
GAPS
Wiliam was not alone in making such
a claim. Several months earlier, Will
Lorié with the National Center for
Assessment asserted that previously
existing performance gaps “are greater
than any differential ‘learning losses’ we
will find between relatively advantaged
and disadvantaged groups due to spring
2020 school disruptions.”
Heather Hill and Susanna Loeb made
a similar point in a May 2020 Education
Week article, stating that “even if the
loss is on the larger side—say, the
equivalent of three months—this change
is small compared with typical existing
learning differences among students as
they enter a new grade.”
Now, a time stamp is critically important
when we consider these authors’
statements. They were writing in the
first several months of the pandemic—
between May and August of 2020.
Think back to that time period. At that
point, we were still a bit naïve about
how things were going to unfold. We
were just beginning the 2020–2021
school year with hopes that it might be
rather normal, but our hopes were soon
dashed. Continued COVID-19 outbreaks
and variants created a dynamic where
the school year, at best, involved shifting
instructional delivery models for many

students, and a full year of remote
learning for others.
Disruptions to schooling occurred
widely across that school year and well
into the next one (2021–2022) as well.
Given that disruptions went on for far
longer than these authors might have
accounted for, does their assertion that
pandemic-related learning impacts would
be relatively small when compared to
previously existing achievement gaps still
hold true?
It’s time that we revisit this.
CONSIDERING NAEP DATA
ALONGSIDE RENAISSANCE
STAR ASSESSMENTS DATA
Since the fall of 2020, Renaissance
has been publishing our How Kids Are
Performing report series. Soon, we
will transition from static reports to
an interactive website that presents
overall metrics on both performance
and growth in reading and math that are
updated seasonally and draw from our
widely used Star Assessments.
Though it began as a way to study
pandemic-related impacts—particularly
before summative systems such as
NAEP went back online—How Kids Are
Performing will now continue as a highlevel
barometer of student performance
and growth.
While Star Assessments data from the
2022–2023 school year is still being
analyzed, we can already shed some
light on whether the ideas advanced by
authors in 2020 about the relationship
between pandemic-related impacts and
existing achievement gaps still hold true.
Let’s use grade 4 math as an example,
to match Wiliam’s analysis. Using
2019 NAEP data, he estimated that a
previously existing achievement gap
of roughly 8 years might have been
widened by an additional half a year.
How does this compare to our How Kids
Are Performing data?
In the fall of 2019, the mean scale score
(SS) on Star Math for over one million
grade 4 students nationally was 973,
with a standard deviation (SD) of 60. By
the fall of 2022, the mean SS was 964,
with an SD of 67. These shifts indicate
both lower performance and a wider
range of scores.
We then used the mean and SD to
determine the range of scale scores
representing plus or minus 2 SD, which
would then reflect the performance of
95% of the population. When those SS
are converted to Grade-level Equivalent
(GE) scores, that results in a GE range
of 2.0–7.7 (a 5.7-year range) for 2019–
2020, and of 1.6–8.0 (a 6.4-year range)
in 2022–2023.
In other words, between 2019–2020 and
2022–2023, the range of performance in
a typical grade 4 classroom widened by
19

0.7 GE, or 7 months. So, things seem to
closely mirror what Wiliam projected,
with a bit larger increase in the range
than he anticipated.
UNDERSTANDING
ACHIEVEMENT GAPS IN
READING AND MATH
While we’ve used grade 4 math as our
example here, these same dynamics
played out across all grade levels
and both subject areas. (The only
exception is that kindergarten students
in 2022–2023 started out at exactly
the same level of performance in
reading as students in 2019–2020.) The
summation of our analyses is presented
in the following graphs, where red
represents the achievement gap (range
of performance) prior to the pandemic
at each grade level, and black represents
the pandemic-related increases:
Current achievement gap in reading
20
Current achievement gap in math
As is often the case, we began exploring
one thing—how much the gap had
widened due to the pandemic—and
found something we had not expected.
It’s quite interesting to observe the
differing ways the overall achievement
gap widens between reading and math:
• For reading, the increase in the gap is
fairly steady. In kindergarten, it begins
with an achievement gap of about 2.6
years, and that gap steadily widens
until it plateaus in the middle grades.
• For math, things begin similarly, with
a gap of 2.7 years in kindergarten.
However, things change radically
between grades 3 and 5, when the
gap mushrooms from 4.1 years to
10 years. In short, math realities shift
quickly and dramatically for many
students across a relatively short
period of time—and this was already
the case before the pandemic.
Additionally, while full details will be
available when the new How Kids Are
Performing website launches in late July,
I would offer that we are seeing some
of “the ‘green shoots’ of academic
recovery” that are not reflected in the
latest NAEP data.

Here, I’m defining a “green shoot” as
something that is no longer in decline
and, though not back, is at least headed
toward pre-pandemic levels.
Examining math and reading
performance from kindergarten through
grade 8, we see four instances of
continued decline. At many grade levels,
student performance in 2022–2023 is
directly comparable to performance
in 2021–2022, suggesting no further
decline. In eight instances, we are
actually seeing a rebound in scores—
not back to pre-pandemic performance
levels, but still rising.
HOW TO ADDRESS
ACHIEVEMENT GAPS IN
THE YEAR AHEAD
So, what are the takeaways as educators
prepare for the new school year? First
of all, I hope we now have the insight
that the pandemic-related disruptions
to learning are substantial, but also that
they are dwarfed when compared with
pre-existing performance gaps. Then,
we also need to acknowledge that math
performance gaps increase substantially
in grades 3–5—an area that deserves
especially close attention in the year
ahead.
Of course, conversations about
achievement gaps are not new. As Lorié
observed, “Since the 1960s, schools
have been called to close inter-group
gaps.” This is a helpful reminder that if
we merely take traditional approaches,
we likely won’t have much hope to
substantively achieve recovery. That
approach harkens to the familiar
definition of insanity—doing the same
thing over and over and expecting
different results.
But several significant changes in
our practice are occurring that hold
significant promise in the new school
year:
#1: SCIENCE OF READING
Chief among these changes is the
widespread embrace of the Science of
Reading. Over a relatively short period
of time, massive changes have occurred
in relation to reading curricula and
instruction. The state of Mississippi, for
example, has experienced significant
increases in reading performance. Given
that Mississippi led the way with the
Science of Reading, we have reason to
hope that other states will experience
such increases as they also embrace
reading science.
While many providers offer curricular
materials and professional development
aligned to the Science of Reading, few
can match the assessment capabilities
offered by Star Phonics. This powerful
skills screener focuses intensely on
early grade phonics skills and provides
student-by-student and skill-by-skill
feedback so that teachers can ensure
the critically necessary foundation of
phonics is unquestionably put in place.
21

Lalilo, another relatively new tool in
the Renaissance family, also supports
the Science of Reading by providing
both adaptive and targeted practice
opportunities for students across the
skills areas specifically called out by
the National Reading Panel: phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension. For students, this
takes the form of an adventure game
with worlds to explore and tokens to
earn, but as students “play” Lalilo, their
teachers receive valuable feedback on
the skills they are working to master.
#2: ACCELERATED
LEARNING
Second, our pedagogical approach when
students are behind is shifting from one
of remediation to one of Accelerated
Learning. Initial research on this shift has
found that “students who experienced
learning acceleration struggled less and
learned more than students who started
at the same level but experienced
remediation instead.”
Given the two essential questions
one must answer to operationalize
Accelerated Learning—“Which gradelevel
skills are most essential?” and
“What are the necessary prerequisites
to those skills?”—there is hardly a
better source to support the approach
than Renaissance’s Focus Skill Resource
Center. This free website allows users
to see the most essential skills for
22
progress in reading and math tailored to
the standards of each state, helping to
prioritize instruction.
Educators using our Star Assessments
will also find Focus Skills flagged on
instructional planning reports. Those
who are using our Freckle program have
the added ability to assign ELA and math
practice that aligns with essential Focus
Skills.
#3: MORE EFFECTIVE MTSS
Of course, all of this work should be
undertaken through a multi-tiered
system of support (MTSS) framework,
which has been taking root in school
processes for the last 15 years or more.
While FastBridge and Star Assessments
are widely used in this space and are
highly rated for both screening and
progress monitoring, more districts
are now expanding their analytics
capabilities by adding eduCLIMBER.
eduCLIMBER is an MTSS collaboration
and management platform that provides
data integration, warehousing, and
visualization capabilities. Designed
by a school psychologist, it includes
practical features designed to tame
the paperwork, forms, and reporting
required within the MTSS process.
Also, as part of the MTSS, considerations
of social-emotional behavior elements
are on the rise. We are excited to
announce that new social-emotional
assessment capabilities will be added
to our Star 360 suite this fall. Star 360

subscribers should look for additional
information as we approach the back-toschool
season.
CONNECTED SOLUTIONS
TO MOVE LEARNING
FORWARD
The reframing of unfinished learning
to not only focus on the short-term
changes but to also consider the larger
perspective of performance gaps is not
intended to belittle the problem. Clearly,
the pandemic-related disruptions made
a bad situation worse. As Wiliam notes,
“This does, of course, present teachers
with huge challenges, but these are
challenges that teachers have been
dealing with for years.”
Fortunately, as we work to move
forward and once again take on the
challenge of raising performance and
narrowing gaps, we do so with both new
clarity and new tools.
If you’d like to learn more about Star
Phonics, Lalilo, eduCLIMBER, or other
solutions from Renaissance to support
learning recovery, please reach out at
(800) 338-4204.
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