To start the school year off right, invest in literacy

Key points:

As a country, we are at a crucial moment. Recent national exam results found that our country's eighth graders are still a full school year behind pre-COVID levels in their reading and math achievement. This is difficult news to accept, but I choose to see it as motivation.

As executive director of the Emma Donnan campus of Adelante Schools In Indianapolis, I want my students to be successful. My goal is for students to acquire essential academic skills and build a strong set of social-emotional tools so they are prepared to thrive in an ever-changing world. At Adelante Schools, one of the key ways we pursue that goal is betting on literacy. Reading is fundamental to everything in a young person's life, inside and outside the classroom.

this year's Indiana IREAD Scores showed that too many students (about one in five) struggle to meet grade-level reading benchmarks. However, these scores also showed that Adelante's investments in literacy are working: the percentage of our third graders passing the assessment increased from 57.5 percent to 71.9 percent in one year.

I am proud to have implemented initiatives that are proving effective for student achievement. This is what we have done and what I implore other school leaders to explore so that we can all work together toward student success.

Invest in early reading and the science of reading holistically. Students have difficulty reading and it is a crisis. Work with support organizations such as We are enlightened and Graduate School of Relief EducationWe have developed a professional development system to provide teachers with deep dives into the cognitive science of reading, individualized support, ongoing training, real-time feedback, and practice clinics. It is not enough to offer a few one-off workshops: we must continually invest in the development of teachers' skills. Teachers also observe and track detailed data on students' reading skills that are often overlooked.

Bring data to life and prioritize planning. Digging into annual test scores and national reports is important, but if we want to be effective educators we need to perform real-time data analysis and adjust on the fly. As a Relay Leadership Leverage Institute Fellow, I have the privilege of meeting with school leaders across the country to learn from experts and refine our leadership priorities. This year, data and planning have been at the forefront. A poignant recommendation is to conduct an in-depth analysis of student work on a weekly basis. Neither quarterly nor annually. Weekly. It's not just about getting test scores, but rather looking at what students authentically produce to delve deeper into what they know and don't know. This will allow leaders and teachers to effectively identify bright spots or gaps in student understanding, plan to reteach gaps, and build on mastered concepts. When you're on the road and you come across a checkpoint, do you stop and turn? No; You find another way to get to your destination. That is what we must do with our teaching. To implement effective instruction, we must check in periodically and plan based on real-time needs.

Build your A-team. As a school leader, I know I need to delegate. We have created and invested in specialized roles; We have a dedicated Director of Literacy who is responsible for overseeing and driving the school's literacy initiatives. We also have a math director. We know that we need the right, committed and knowledgeable people; This is especially pertinent to our staff and leadership. When we have this strong bench, we will be better prepared to support our teachers. When teachers are better prepared for success, it trickles down to students. And aren't students what this is all about?

I call on school leaders to look under the hood of their schools. The start of the school year allows you to model best practices to prepare your staff, teachers, and students for success with renewed energy for the year ahead. As we model teamwork for our students, let school leaders learn from each other to ensure that every student knows that their school provides them with an excellent education.