Many of you know me as the Apprentice Guy. As the former Kentucky Secretary of Education and Workforce Development, I was an unabashed supporter and advocate for increasing apprenticeships. Through that work I saw first-hand the link between the more than 300,000 Kentucky adults who didn’t have a high school diploma or a GED with the lack of educational progress in our young children. This vicious cycle must end.
As I have looked into that linkage, I have found one clear truth: Early literacy — is the foundation for learning and for life. Here are two stark connections that reinforced my observations:
• Research shows that students who are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade are four times more likely to not complete high school.
• $335 billion would be added to Kentucky’s Gross State Product if all students achieved at the basic level or higher on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) – the nation’s report card.
Derrick Ramsey
That’s why it is critical for the Kentucky Legislature to pass Senate Bill 9, the Read to Succeed Act. SB 9 would improve and expand diagnostic assessments and screening, intervention and student supports, and family engagement – including at-home learning strategies.
In addition, the bill would strengthen both teacher preparation and professional development for early literacy by ensuring critical resources get to schools and students most in need of support. It would include a literacy coaching program, providing embedded expert support and training for teachers in schools with the most need.
The early years of education – kindergarten through third grade – build the foundation that students need to do well in middle and high school and to later be successful in college and the workforce. We do not yet know the extent of the learning loss caused by COVID, but we do know that Kentucky needed a course correction even before the pandemic.
We must ensure that every Kentucky student can read at the highest level by the end of third grade. Students must learn to read from kindergarten through third grade so that they will be able to read to learn in school and throughout the course of their lives.
Unfortunately, Kentucky is going the wrong way ensuring student success in the early years. From 2015 to 2019, the percentage of students proficient in reading by the end of third grade declined overall, as well as for most student groups – including black, Hispanic and low-income students. Over this same time period, Kentucky dropped from 13th to 26th nationally in the percentage of students scoring proficient or above in 4th grade reading.
Outcomes are worse for those students who live in poverty, as well as for African-American and Hispanic students. It breaks my heart that the future of our children of color is all too often being derailed before they have a chance.
The results have worsened during the pandemic. The 2020 – 2021 KPREP assessment found that only 29.8% of third-graders in the Commonwealth are reading proficiently.
Senate Bill 9 will put our young learners back on the path to success with a targeted, strategic investment to raise overall student achievement while reducing achievement gaps and learning loss.
I urge the Kentucky General Assembly to pass the Read to Succeed Act and give Kentucky’s youngest learners the strong start they need to grow into exemplary readers and high achievers. It is a small ask for a BIG return, and a step towards a big, bold future for our students and our state.
Derrick Ramsey is a board member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. He formerly served as Kentucky Secretary of Education and Workforce Development as well as Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
SB-9 is a good bill dealing with badly needed improvements to reading instruction in Kentucky.
And, make no mistake, the problem isn’t poverty, it’s poor quality instruction.
That’s absolutely wrong – as Mr. Ramsey says in this article, outcomes are worse for those students who live in poverty.
If children grow up in poverty, their parent or parents probably didn’t graduate from high school and education is not emphasized in the home. So the kids come into school at a disadvantage compared to students who’ve got parents who stress reading at home.