SHOULDN’T WE WANT IMPROVEMENT?

It seems fairly clear by now that reading is fundamental to success throughout one’s education.

The Tennessee legislature believed it so much that lawmakers set minimum proficiency levels that public school thirdgrade students must attain to advance to fourth grade.

A Stanford University study thought it important enough that it measured gains in reading at Tennessee traditional public schools against those in public charter schools.

A private organization feels its importance is so pivotal that — for the eighth straight year — it is awarding Tennessee students college scholarships for those who read the most during the summer.

News on all three fronts has surfaced in the last few days. ›

We learned last month 40% of Hamilton County thirdgraders in their spring Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests were proficient or exceeded proficiency in English language arts (ELA) skills and were cleared to move on to fourth grade. Another 37%, given exemptions by the district for a number of reasons, will also advance. But 23% were below or approaching proficiency.

To move to fourth grade, that remaining 23% could retake the ELA portion of the test and score proficient, or could attend a free summer reading camp and/or receive tutoring in fourth grade.

Of the 23% (807 students), more than a third of those (38.3%) retook the test. Of those, 3.4% scored proficiency or exceeds proficiency, and another 14.7% moved from below proficiency to approaching proficiency, meaning they will have to attend the reading camp or receive tutoring in fourth grade but not both.

The true test for effectiveness of the law will be how much improvement is made by students who attend the reading camp this summer and by how much improvement is shown by those who have tutoring next year. If a much higher percentage of students has reached reading proficiency, the law should be deemed a success. If not, legislators will need to determine next steps. ›

Meanwhile, a study by Stanford’s Center for Research of Education Outcomes showed that students in Tennessee public charter schools had the equivalent of 34 more days of learning in reading than did those in traditional public schools.

The difference was most significant for Hispanic students, who had the equivalent of 76 additional days in reading, followed by white and Native American students, who had the equivalent of 71 additional days; Asian students, who had the equivalent of 50 extra days; and Black students, who had the equivalent of 23 additional days.

In state public charter schools, 37% of students fared better in terms of reading growth as compared to traditional public school students, 47% fared the same and 16% fared worse.

Study results from across the country also showed that growth across the school year was greater for Black and Hispanic students in a charter school than in a traditional public school, while growth across the year for Asian, multiracial, Native American and white students was about the same whether they were in a public charter or traditional public school.

In spite of such success, Democrats and teachers unions continue to attack public charter schools, claiming they take money from traditional public schools.

Last year, in the wake of intemperate remarks by the founder of a classical charter school system, the Tennessee Education Association union’s chief lobbyist, Jim Wyre, wrote: “We’ll keep fighting and we won’t rest until the entire charter industry is on the run.” The union later, on a form, asked its members to ask elected officials “to stand with [traditional] public schools and call out the lies from the charter school industry.” ›

To promote reading, Tristar Reads — an offshoot of Tennesseans for Student Success, an independent organization focused on improving education in Tennessee — plans to award four major prizes to public or private school students who read the most.

“Studies have consistently shown,” the organization says on its website, “that summer reading (and all independent reading) is critically important for student success and on-time progression through school. … Worse, research has also found summer learning loss to be cumulative, meaning losses often build each year when students do not reinforce their academic skills in the summer.”

Yet, a left-leaning online local website, called Tristar Reads a “charter school/privatization group” that “pushes cash-forsummer reading ploy to list build and target TN families.” In a Facebook post, it warned “public school folks” that the organization is a “big part of @GovBillLee’s charter school/privatization scheme.”

So we asked, and a spokesperson for Tennesseans for Students Success assured us “we are not affiliated with the state.”

That leaves us to wonder, with so much criticism for a law that pushes early reading proficiency, for charter schools that improve reading skills and for a private organization that stresses the importance of summer reading, why so many people would be against more students mastering literacy skills, how to read earlier and reading when they’re not in school. It’s very curious.