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Ambitious Goals Deferred

A COLLEAGUE at the Education Commission of the States tells of the day she turned 9 - her favorite birthday. Her parents told her to go stand in the back yard by the back fence. As she stood there, a large dump truck - loudly beep-beep-beeping and with lights flashing - backed up to the fence and began to pour sand at her feet. By the time the truck was empty, the pile came up to her waist. Nine tons of sand, one for each year, was her ninth birthday present. She claims she can still see the truck's flashing lights, hear the beeping, and feel the sand mound up around her. The pile was impressive, and it became a magnet for the neighborhood children for the entire summer. Not only did her parents think big, they thought creatively. One hardly needs wrapping paper and a bow for such a memorable gift. However, the adults were able to make this birthday so special only after envisioning what might bring long days of enjoyment and what children need to get them actively involved outside in the sun and fresh air. The surprise required them to identify a company, place an order, and arrange for delivery by that huge, noisy truck. Someone also had to make out a check to the sand and gravel company. Now, sand is not an expensive commodity, but nine tons, at $20 or so a ton, adds up pretty quickly. Of course, compared to today's Game Boys and PlayStations and their accompanying electronic games, it's probably not extravagant, especially when one considers the fresh air, companionship, and creativity of castle building and road construction and entertainment that follow its delivery. High impact for a young girl and a neighborhood of children. This year, Gov. Don Sundquist of Tennessee and policy makers in that state thought big - not in terms of sand and birthdays, but about impact for children. The Tennessee General Assembly passed, and the governor signed, a wonderfully comprehensive, thoughtful piece of legislation to help improve reading skills in the state.1 Unfortunately, the state has suffered budget problems, and the bill received no funding from the legislature. With no funding, there can be no implementation, and the changes the bill enacted are dead. In honor of their thoughtfulness, though, it seems useful to outline the intentions of the governor and the legislature, because the goals were far-reaching and offered support at all levels for children's literacy. In addition to the direct focus on reading, the plan targeted 4-year-olds most at risk of failure as a first step in an effort to make preschool available to every child within five years. It also made changes in such areas as accountability and matters affecting teachers - at a total cost of more than $90 million. But the reading components of the Education Reform Act of 2001 are the focus here. Comprehensive Components The stated intent of S.B. 1881 was to require the course of instruction in grades K-8 to include reading instruction and annual diagnostic testing of reading and writing ability. The state board was required to establish a reading initiative that included at least the following: 1) clear content and performance standards; 2) specific qualifications to teach reading; 3) diagnostic methods; 4) educator training; 5) parental notification; 6) parental encouragement; 7) effective, needs-based instruction; and 8) a system of annual reporting. Early diagnosis. One of the major drawbacks of several effective reading programs is the time spent diagnosing the problems of individual readers. Diagnostic tools that could allow more efficient diagnosis of larger numbers of readers could be very helpful. Even tools that would allow teachers to continually diagnose more evenly across the daily work in their classrooms could help. Part of the bill required the state board to adopt diagnostic methods to help identify students who are having reading difficulties. It allowed for local flexibility in the choice of other methods, as long as they were at least equal in quality to those adopted at the state level. …