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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIt is now widely accepted that the
earlychildhood period from preschoolthrough third grade (P-3) is
anespecially significantand arguably themost significantperiod for
learning toread and write in an alphabeticlanguage.1 Research has
been notablyproductive over the past two decades inhelping us
understand both the nature ofearly literacy and
evidence-basedpractices for instruction in preschooland primary
grades. As a result, weknow quite a bit about what to do:
theIllinois Early Learning Standards,Illinois Kindergarten
Standards, andIllinois/Common Core State Standards-English Language
Arts are all alignedwith current literacy research andambitious
practice. And yet, state,national, and international
indicatorssuggest that we have not madesignificant strides in
raising overalllevels of early literacy achievement inthe U.S. or
in Illinois, nor in closing the
achievement gaps among variouscultural and social groups. To
informwhat can be done to enhance earlyliteracy practice and
achievement, theUIC Center for Literacy conducted acomprehensive
review of research,policies, and practices, seeking toidentify gaps
and opportunities thatwould enable formulation of
policyrecommendations for enhancingliteracy education across our
systems ofearly care and education andelementary schooling. The
findingsindicated a need for the following keyefforts in order to
achieve the desiredimpact:
coordination to achieve earlyliteracy curricular coherenceacross
P-3coordination of early literacycurriculum, instruction,
andassessment in preschool andschool settingscoordination of the
early literacycontent of teacher educationprograms, professional
learning
Early Childhood Literacy: Policy for the ComingDecadeBy William
H. Teale, Melanie Walski, Emily Hoffman, MaureenMeehan, Colleen
Whittingham, University of Illinois at ChicagoAnna Colaner,
Illinois Governor's Office of Early ChildhoodDevelopment
http://ruepi.uic.edu
about the authorswilliam teale is a Professor inthe Department
of Curriculumand Instruction in the Collegeof Education at the
Universityof Illinois at Chicago. He isalso the Director of the
UICCenter for Literacy.
Melanie walski is a doctoralcandidate in Literacy,Language and
Culture in theCollege of Education at theUniversity of Illinois
atChicago.
emily hoffman is a doctoralcandidate in Literacy,Language and
Culture in theCollege of Education at theUniversity of Illinois
atChicago.
Colleen whittingham is adoctoral candidate inLiteracy, Language
andCulture in the College ofEducation at the University ofIllinois
at Chicago.
Maureen Meehan is theDirector of CommunityLiteracy Programs at
the UICCenter for Literacy.
anna Colaner is the Data &Outcomes Manager at theIllinois
Governor's Office ofEarly ChildhoodDevelopment.
policy BRIEFUIC Research on Urban Education Policy
Initiative
Vol. 4, Book 1
National Early Literacy Panel, Developing Early Literacy: Report
of the National Early Panel (Washington, DC:1National Institute for
Literacy, 2008); Shanahan, T., & Lonigan, C., Early Childhood
Literacy: The National EarlyLiteracy Panel and Beyond (Baltimore,
MD: Paul Brookes 2013).
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National Early Literacy Panel, Developing Early Literacy: Report
of the National Early Panel (Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, 2008); Shanahan, T., & Lonigan, C., Early Childhood
Literacy: The1National Early Literacy Panel and Beyond (Baltimore,
MD: Paul Brookes 2013).Phillips, L. M., Norris, S. P., & Mason,
J. M., Longitudinal Effects of Early Literacy Concepts on Reading
Achievement: A Kindergarten Intervention and Five-year Follow-up,
Journal of Literacy Research, 28, no.21 (1996): 173-195.Snow, C.,
Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P., Preventing Reading Difficulties in
Young Children (Washington DC: National Academy Press,
1998)3Scarborough, H. S., Connecting Early Language and Literacy to
Later Reading (Dis)abilities: Evidence, Theory and Practice. In F.
Fletcher-Campbell, J. Soler, & G. Reid (Eds.), Approaching
Difficulties in Literacy4Development: Assessment, Pedagogy and
Programmes (London: Sage; Whitehurst, 2009): 23-38; Whitehurst, G.
J., & Lonigan, C. J., Child Development and Emergent Literacy,
Child Development, 69, no. 1(1998): 848-872.Gambrell, L.B. &
Morrow, L. M. (Eds.), Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (5th
ed.) (New York: Guilford, 2015); National Early Literacy Panel,
Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early
Panel5(Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy, 2008);
Teale, W. H., et al.. What It Takes in Early Schooling to Have
Adolescents Who Are Skilled and Eager Readers and Writers. In K.
Hall, et al. (Eds.),Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Learning to
Read: Culture, Cognition and Pedagogy (London: Routledge, 2010):
151-163.National Assessment of Educational Progress, Long-Term
Trend Assessments (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt_2012/.6National Assessment of
Educational Progress, Gains by Group (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/gains-by-group;
National Assessment of Educational Progress, Writing7(2011).
Retrieved from http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2011/.
National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2013 Mathematics and
Reading (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013.8National
Assessment of Educational Progress, Writing (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2011/.9Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development, PISA 2012 Results (2012).
Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/PISA-2012-results-US.pdf10
UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative
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2
programs for practicing teachers,and the preparation of leaders
ofearly childhood educationcoordination of home and schoolearly
literacy supports a coordinated early literacyresearch agenda for
the childrenand families of Illinois
The recommended actions indicated bythe analyses have
implications acrossthe spectrum of participants in earlyliteracy
education: state and cityleadership; local schools and early
careentities; parents, teachers and child careproviders;
researchers; and foundationsand other funders of programs
andresearch.
INTRODUCTIONThe need for effective policies andprograms in early
literacy has neverbeen more critical. Early childhood,particularly
the period frompreschool through third grade, is anespecially
significant time forlearning to read and write. Researchindicates,
for example, that a goodstart in reading and writing usuallymeans
successful literacyachievement throughout elementaryand middle
school2 and is also thebest defense against achievementdifficulties
as one progressesthrough school and career.3 Thus,what happens in
preschool (ages 3-4) and the primary grades (K-3)significantly sets
the literacytrajectory for the rest of ones life.
Research in emergent literacy andbeginning reading and writing
hasbeen quite productive over the pasttwo decades, giving us clear
ideasabout both the nature of earlyliteracy learning4 as well
asevidence-based practices forinstruction during preschool and
theprimary grades.5 Yet, national andinternational indicators
suggest that,during these same decades, we havenot made significant
strides inraising overall levels of earlyliteracy achievement in
the U.S. orIllinois,6 or in eliminating theachievement gaps between
variouscultural and social groups.7 Themost recent NAEP results
show thatapproximately one-third of childrenat Grades 4 and 8
achieve at theProficient level in reading,8 and lessthan 30% at
grades 8 and 12 write ata Proficient level.9 Internationally
inreading literacy, the US ranked 17thin reading among the
34Organization for Economic Co-operation and Developmentcountries
taking the test in 2012, notdiffering significantly from theaverage
score of all participatingentities.10 Between the early 1970sand
1990 the differential literacyachievement gap between Whiteand
African American or Latino/astudents decreased markedly. Sincethat
time there has been little
...what happens inpreschool and theprimary grades setsthe
literacytrajectory for therest of one's life.
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progress toward lessening thosedifferences.11
What is holding us back frommaking greater progress with
earlyliteracy education efforts in Illinoisand nationally? The
University ofIllinois at Chicago Center forLiteracy undertook a
review ofexisting policies, practices, andresearch related to early
literacylearning and teaching. Our findingsshow that a major issue
is a lack ofcoordinated policy and practices fora comprehensive
strategy addressingpreschool and early grades (P-3)language and
literacy education.
This lack of coordination has led togaps in three important
areas thatneed to be addressed in order tosignificantly move the
needle onearly literacy:
To improve literacy achievementand build positive
literacydispositions among the children ofIllinois and our country,
leadershipis needed to bring together thepolicy, education,
funding, andresearch communities to address P-3literacy in a
coordinated, strategicway. We must recognize thenecessity of
implementing a true P-3literacy continuum and not seepreschool as
something separatefrom elementary school. We musthave the K-12
system work with
early education and care. We mustincrease productive
familyinvolvement in early literacydevelopment. For, in many
senses,we know what to do but have notbeen able to put in place
policies fordoing so effectively or doing so atscale across
variousentities that eachcurrently play a rolein the
literacyeducation of ouryoungest children.This policy briefreviews
the mostcurrent body ofresearch on earlyliteracy and
makesfiverecommendationsfor action that canenhance
literacyeducation acrossour systems of earlycare and educationand
elementaryschooling.
Action 1:Consistentlyimplement comprehensive earlylanguage and
literacy standardsand associated evidence-basedcurricula,
instruction, andassessment, aligned frompreschool through grade
3.
Illinois has recognized theimportance of the early years
inchildrens overall literacy learningtrajectories, as evidenced in
the2010 adoption of the Common Core
State Standards12 (CCSS) and the2011 aligning of the Illinois
EarlyLearning and DevelopmentStandards13 with the CCSS. Such
apolicy can help promote a moreconsistent approach to
literacy,which research has shown to be
particularly important tostrengthening P-3 education
acrossschools and school systems.14 Thishas resulted in a good
foundation forearly literacy, for while most statesinvolved in the
CCSS have workedto align curricula, materials,assessments, and
professionaldevelopment from kindergartenonwards, there has been
limitedattention nationally to suchalignment for the preschool
years.15
National Assessment of Educational Progress, Gains by Group
(2013). Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/gains-by-group;
National Assessment of Educational Progress, Writing11(2011).
Retrieved from
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2011/National Governors
Association, Common Core State Standards (Washington DC: National
Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief
State School Officers, 2010).12Illinois State Board of Education,
Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards for Preschool (3
Years Old to Kindergarten Enrollment Age) (2013). 13Patton, C. and
Wang, J., Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful
Transitions into Kindergarten (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family
Research Project, Harvard Graduate School of
Education,142012).Retrieved from
http://www.hfrp.org/content/download/4287/116636/file/ReadyForSuccess.pdf.Hoffman,
J. L., Paciga, K. A., & Teale, W. H., Common Core State
Standards and Early Childhood Literacy Instruction: Confusions and
Conclusions (Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Center for
Literacy, 2015)15
Action 1 includes the followingrecommendations:1.1 Ensure that
the standards reflect the threecritical areas of early
language/literacydevelopment: foundational skills, language
andcommunication skills, and content knowledge.1.2 Specify
developmental steps across age levelsfor all standards. 1.3 Employ
appropriate assessment instrumentsthat will gather needed student
literacyachievement information for all standards.1.4 Identify
appropriate curricula and instructionalactivities for all
standards.1.5 Use assessment data to appropriately supportprogram
quality improvement, inform studentinstructional needs, and
identify early literacyintervention needs.
Standards and curriculumCapacity of educationalleaders and
teachersFamily involvement
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Thus, the macro level structures forearly literacy that have
been put inplace in Illinois provide a solidfoundation; what
remains, asindicated in this recommendedaction, is work at
theimplementation level throughout thestate to ensure that the
content,attention to developmental learning,assessment instruments,
and theprocedures that constitute thecurriculum and instruction
enactedin classrooms afford children thebest chance for early
literacysuccess.
1.1 Ensure that the standardsreflect the three critical areas
ofearly language/literacydevelopment: foundational skills,language
and communicationskills, and content knowledge.
Literacy learning begins in the veryfirst years of a childs life
andrapidly develops through thepreschool and early schooling
years.Decades of research have shownthat the roots of literacy
formthrough childrens earliestexperiences16 and span three
broad,
but interconnected areas:foundational literacy skills,17
orallanguage and communication,18 andbackground/content
knowledge.19The foundational skills associatedwith early reading
and writing arereadily recognized and widelytaught in the early
grades: letterknowledge, letter-sound knowledge,phonological
awareness, and earlydecoding and spelling skills. Theseskills give
children the tools totransition from emergent literacy tothe
conventional literacy skillsexpected in early elementarygrades.20
Children lagging inacquiring these skills often find itdifficult to
catch up later in school.21But what is equally important tonote is
that these foundational skills,while absolutely necessary,
areinsufficient for comprehensiveliteracy development.22
Oral language and communicationare also fundamental to
effectiveearly literacy learning. As childrenhear and speak words,
phrases andsentences, they build sensitivity tothe sound system of
language,vocabulary, and critically important
listening comprehension andspeaking skills.23 Oral language
andcommunication skills have oftenbeen placed on the backburner
ofstandards because the link betweenoral language and literacy is
notalways well understood.24 However,low levels of oral language
abilityand poor overall language skillshave consistently been
linked toreading comprehension difficultiesin third grade and
beyond.25Children from economicallydisadvantaged backgrounds
inparticular are in danger of nevercatching up to their
moreadvantaged peers if they lack strongoral language in their
early years.26
Third, and perhaps the mostneglected area crucial for
earlylanguage and literacy learning, is thedevelopment of content
orbackground knowledge. Languageand literacy are tools used
tocommunicate meaning the depthand breadth of meaningcommunicated
hinges on childrensaccess to content, which forms thestrong
knowledge base from whichcomprehension and writing abilities
Burchinal, M., & Forestieri, N., Development of Early
Literacy: Evidence from Major U.S. Longitudinal Studies. In S.
Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of Early Literacy
Research, Vol. 3 (New York: Guilford16Press, 2011): 85-96; National
Early Literacy Panel, Developing Early Literacy: Report of the
National Early Literacy Panel (Washington, DC: National Institute
for Literacy, 2008); Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (Eds.),Emergent
Literacy: Writing and Reading (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing
Corporation, 1986).Dickinson, D. K., Golinkoff, R. M., &
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Speaking Out for Language: Why Language Is Central
to Reading Development, Educational Researcher, 39, no. 4 (2010):
305-310; Farran, D., Aydongan, C.,17Kanyg, S.J., & Lipsey, M.,
Preschool Classroom Environments and the Quantity and Quality of
Childrens Language and Literacy Behaviors. In D.K. Dickinson &
S.B. Neuman (Eds), Handbook of Early LiteracyResearch, Vol. II (New
York: Guilford, 2006): 257-268; Foorman, B. R. & Connor, C. M.,
Primary Grade Reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. D. Pearson, E. B. Moje,
& P. P. Afflerbach (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research,Vol. IV
(New York: Taylor & Francis, (2011): 136-156; Lesaux, N. K.,
Turning the Page: Refocusing Massachusetts for Reading Success
Strategies for Improving Childrens Language and Literacy
Development, Birth toAge 9 (Boston: Strategies for Children, 2012).
Retrieved from
http://www.strategiesforchildren.org/0reading.html.Dickinson, D.
K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K., Speaking Out for
Language: Why Language Is Central to Reading Development,
Educational Researcher, 39, no. 4 (2010): 305-31018Neuman, S. B.,
& Carta, J. J., Advancing the Measurement of Quality for Early
Childhood Programs That Support Early Language and Literacy
Development. In Zaslow, M., Martinez-Beck, I., Tout, K., &
Halle, T.19(Eds.), Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings
(Baltimore: Brookes Publishing, 2011); Neuman, S. B., N is for
Nonsensical: Low-income Preschool Children Need Content-rich
Instruction, Not Drill inProcedural Skills, Educational Leadership,
64, (2006, October): 28-31; Wasik, B. H. & Newman, B. A.,
Teaching and Learning to Read. In O. A. Barbarin & B. H. Wasik
(Eds.), Handbook of Child Development andEarly Education (New York:
Guilford, 2009): 303-327.Paris, S. G., Reinterpreting the
Development of Reading Skills, Reading Research Quarterly, 40, no.
2 (2005): 184-202.20Chall, J. S., Jacobs, V., & Baldwin, L.,
The Reading Crisis (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1990).21Teale, W. H., Paciga, K. A., & Hoffman, J. L.,
Beginning Reading Instruction in Urban Schools: The Curriculum Gap
Insures a Continuing Achievement Gap, The Reading Teacher, 61
(2007): 344-348.22McKeown, M. G., & Beck, I. L., Encouraging
Young Childrens Language Interactions with Stories, Handbook of
Early Literacy Research, 2 (2006): 281-294; Tomasello, M., &
Farrar, M. J., Joint Attention and Early23Language, Child
development, 57 (1986): 1454-1463Dickinson, D. K., McCabe, A.,
Anastasopoulos, L., Peisner-Feinberg, E. S., & Poe, M. D., The
Comprehensive Language Approach to Early Literacy: The
Interrelationships among Vocabulary, Phonological Sensitivity,24and
Print Knowledge among Preschool-aged Children, Journal of
Educational Psychology, 95, no. 3 (2003): 465-481.Storch, S. A.,
& Whitehurst, G. J., Oral Language and Code-related Precursors
to Reading: Evidence from a Longitudinal Structural Model,
Developmental Psychology, 38, no. 6 (2002): 934-947.25Hart, B.,
& Risley, T. R., The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap
by Age 3, American Educator, 27, no. 1 (2003): 4-9.26
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build. Coupling early literacy andlanguage instruction with the
use ofliteracy and language to developstrong content knowledge
willadvance all three elements necessaryfor early and later school
success.
The three-legged stool metaphor isapt for early literacy and
languagedevelopment. The structure cannot besupported by one or
even two ofthese elements. Instead, all three needadequate
representation in earlychildhood learning standards,curriculum, and
instruction. Thus, theimplementation of policies thatsupport an
emphasis on all three canhelp to ensure that all children
haveaccess to a fully developedfoundation.
1.2 Specify developmental stepsacross all age levels for
allstandards.
The Common Core State Standardsare unique in that end-of-school
(i.e.,College and Career Readiness) goalswere established first,
and individualgrades standards were back-mappeddown to
kindergarten. Aligning theIllinois Early Learning andDevelopment
Standards with theCCSS means that we now have earlychildhood
indicators of what childrenshould know and be able to do interms of
English Language Arts ateach age/grade level from preschoolthrough
grade 3.
The standards documents claim theyare research and evidence
based,aligned with college and workexpectations, rigorous, and
internationally benchmarked.27 Ingeneral, this is true about
thestandards. However, what needs to bekept in mind is the lack of
empiricalevidence of developmental stepsarticulated from K to grade
1 to grade2 to grade 3 in the CCSS. Earlychildhood standards for
the preschoolyears, like the Illinois Early Learningand Development
Standards, havetypically included somedevelopmental benchmarks to
guideteachers in identifying studentprogress toward mastery of
standardsas well as appropriate instructionalactivities to meet
those benchmarks.Lacking a strong research base ondevelopmental
appropriateness, theauthors of the CCSS consulted anindependently
identified group ofliteracy and early childhood scholarsto identify
particular early languageand literacy standards at each
gradelevel.28 Although the authors of thestandards were able to
satisfy theexperts with whom they consulted ondevelopmental
appropriateness, thereare benchmarking questions and needfor
further clarity of developmentallyappropriate steps across age
levelsfor all language and literacystandards P-3.
The CCSS are ambitious standardsthat aim to prepare children to
becapable, flexible and critically literateadults in order to
succeed in the 21stcentury. The rising demands ofliteracy require
careful effort toidentify the trajectory ofdevelopment through
which childrenprogress in line with achieving theintended outcomes
of the standards,especially given the non-linear nature
National Governors Association, Common Core State Standards
(Washington D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best
Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010).27Beach,
R., Analyzing How Formalist, Cognitive-processing, and Literacy
Practices Learning Paradigms Are Shaping the Implementation of the
Common Core State Standards. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting28of the Literacy Research Association, Jacksonville, FL
(2011); Pearson, P. D., Research Foundations for the Common Core
State Standards in English Language Arts. In S. Neuman & L.
Gambrell (Eds.), ReadingInstruction in the Age of Common Core State
Standards (Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2013):
237-262; Pearson, P. D., & Hiebert, E. H., Understanding the
Common Core State Standards. In L.M. Morrow, T. Shanahan & K.
Wixson (Eds.), Teaching with the Common Core Standards for English
Language Arts: PreK-2 (New York: Guillford Press, 2013): 1-21.
illinois can seize theopportunity tolaunch acoordinated effortto
identifydevelopmentallyappropriatebenchmarks (and)activities
forinstruction.
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of development in these areasduring the early years.29
Illinois (and other states) can seizethe opportunity to launch
acoordinated effort to identifydevelopmentally
appropriatebenchmarks aligned with the CCSS,as well as
developmentallyappropriate activities for instruction.Individual
schools and districts mayhave already attempted to establishsystems
for guidance ondevelopmentally appropriatebenchmarks; however, this
can leadto fractured and inconsistentinstruction and assessment
across astate system. For Illinois to realizethe ultimate potential
of the CCSS,we recommend the state coordinateresources to establish
guidelinesschools and districts can use as theyimplement the CCSS
in P-3.
1.3 Employ assessmentinstruments that will gatherneeded student
literacyachievement information for allstandards.
Establishing developmentallyappropriate benchmarks is anecessary
precursor to identifyingand employing assessmentinstruments that
align with the waysyoung children develop as readersand writers.30
However, with theincreased demands foraccountability, the
assessment ofyoung children in relation tolearning standards has
emerged asperhaps the most controversialaspect of the
implementation of theCommon Core State Standards.31
The current assessment demands atstate and national levels point
to thecrucial need for identification andcoordination of
assessmentinstruments so that young childrenare not subjected to
excessiveformal testing and end up losingneeded instructional time
for thepurposes of generating data thatultimately do not help
teachers teachbetter.
Because young children acquire somany literacy skills and
abilitiesbetween preschool and third grade,and because early
childhooddevelopment trajectories do notmove in a straight line and
varyacross different cultural and socialgroups, we caution against
theimplementation of strict age-basedbenchmarks and instead
advocatefor a progression framework thatoutlines a general
developmentalroadmap that provides teachersand parents with
profiles ofexpected early literacy and languagedevelopment in terms
of broad andoverlapping age ranges. Thisdevelopmental roadmap would
bealigned to continuum-drivenassessment data that would
depictchildrens current abilities andcreate a portrait of child
learningthat early childhood educators canuse to inform the logical
next stepsin standards-based,developmentally-aligned
instruction.
In other words, what are needed arealternatives to static
checklists of a4-year-old child should be able to A,B, C, and a
6-year-old should beable to X, Y, Z. Instead, we urge
that Illinois help early childhoodteachers move closer to an If
achild can do X, we should nextintroduce Y approach to
decisionmaking. This assessment model foryoung children supports
theimplementation of standards byearly childhood professionals in
alogical manner consistent with whatwe know about early literacy
andlanguage development.32Assessment must not live alone as
aseparate entity, but become anintegrated component of all
earlyliteracy environments thatintentionally create opportunities
forearly educators to make informedinstructional decisions based on
thegathering and interpretation ofassessment data.
1.4 Identify appropriate curriculaand instructional activities
for allstandards
Illinois/CCSS English LanguageArts standards are not designed
tospecify the instructional activitiesteachers should employ in the
earlychildhood classroom to address astandard. On the one
hand,standards that include concreteexplanations of classroom
practicesoften restrict the robustness of whathappens in a
classroom. On theother hand, standards with littleclarity are in
danger of beingignored, reduced to simplified ordumbed-down
versions, ortranslated into inappropriatepractices for young
children likeskill & drill flashcards oroveremphasis on
memorization.33 Inseeking to build ambitious early
See discussion of early development in 1.3.29Teale, W. H.,
Developmentally Appropriate Assessment of Reading and Writing in
the Early Childhood Classroom, The Elementary School Journal, 89,
no. 2 (1988): 172-183.30U.S. Department of Education, Principles
and Recommendations for Early Childhood Assessments (Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 1998).31Hamre, B. K., &
Pianta, R.C., Learning Opportunities in Preschool and Early
Elementary Classrooms, In R. Pianta, M. Cox, & K. Snow (Eds.),
School Reading and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era
of32Accountability (Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes, 2007):
4984.Hoffman, J. L., Paciga, K. A., & Teale, W. H., Common Core
State Standards and Early Childhood Literacy Instruction:
Confusions and Conclusions (Chicago: University of Illinois at
Chicago Center for Literacy, 2014).33
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literacy instruction in Illinoisclassrooms, teachers would
benefitfrom clear guidelines on how toidentify appropriate
curricula andinstructional activities that arealigned to standards
and reflect bestpractices for all three areas of earlyliteracy
(i.e. foundational literacyskills, oral language andcommunication,
andbackground/content knowledge).
To this end, we recommend that astate-level process be developed
toreview curricula and instructionalactivities so educators can
haveaccess to reputable data on earlyliteracy program quality. At
thesame time, we stress that this is atricky issue for state
policy. Therehas never been any evidence that aparticular early
literacy curriculumor one set of instructional activitiesis best
for all children or allinstructional standards.34 And it isnot
possible for one program tomeet the needs of all districts,schools,
or classrooms across thestate. Instead, policy can turn toresearch
to establish a set of corecomponents and practices35 thatconstitute
a high quality earlyliteracy program. Such a set ofguidelines could
then be employedat the local level to enable informeddecisions
about which practices arebest suited to the needs of a schoolor
district. Once standards, curriculaand assessments are aligned at
thelocal level, teachers and districtpersonnel can more clearly
identifyneeded professional developmentand program improvement.
1.5 Use assessment data toappropriately support programquality
improvement, informstudent instructional needs, andidentify early
literacy interventionneeds.
Illinois has recognized the need forsupporting overall program
qualityimprovement in preschool,committing millions of dollars
tocore supports and infrastructuresystems as part of its Race to
theTop Early Learning Challengegrant, a central aspect of which
iscomprehensive child and programassessment.36 A similar
commitmentis needed to coordinate thecollection and use of
literacyassessment data from preschoolthrough third grade.
Thiscoordinated approach to earlyliteracy assessment would
includetwo major dimensions:
Collection and analysis of large-1.scale formalized
assessmentdata that can be used for state-and district-wide
evaluation ofchildrens literacy achievementlevels
Recommended classroom-based2.assessment instruments andformative
assessment processesthat teachers can use forinstructional
planning
Each of these dimensions willprovide information necessary to
aneffective approach to early literacythat will then contribute to
increasedstudent literacy achievement.Formal assessment results can
be
For example, the What Works Clearing House examined evidence of
effectiveness of programs intended to increase literacy skills but
did not determine any one program to be more effective than others.
See34http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/topic.aspx?sid=8.National Early
Literacy Panel, Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National
Early Literacy Panel (Washington, DC: National Institute for
Literacy, 2008); Strickland, D. S., & Shanahan, T., Laying
the35Groundwork for Literacy, Educational Leadership, 61, no. 6
(2004): 74-77.Governors Office of Early Childhood Development,
Early Learning Challenge. Retrieved from
http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/OECD/Pages/EarlyLearningChallenge.aspx.36
we recommendthat literacyassessment effortsat p-3 be focusedon
helping teacherseffectively gatherand use assessmentinformation
thatarises from thecontext of teachingand can be used toplan
differentiatedinstruction.
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8
used by district and schoolpersonnel as gross indicators
ofprogram impact. Such results revealoverall achievement patterns
acrossa number of dimensions of earlyreading and writing
development(e.g., decoding skills, readingcomprehension, writing,
spelling)and can also be used to examineprogram effects at
different gradelevels or across schools. Theseoverall early
literacy results are alsouseful in communicating with thepublic.
Since Illinois is usingPARCC as the state assessment
andaccountability measure for the NewIllinois Learning (Common
Core)Standards in English Language Artsat grade 3, early literacy
datacollected P-Grade 2 should alignwith the PARCC. However,
researchsuggests that the reliability of large-scale, formal
literacy assessmentsbefore grade 3 is largely suspect andtherefore,
at best, an unwiseinvestment of resources and at worstdisruptive to
instructional time thatwill benefit young children
more.37Therefore, we recommend thatliteracy assessment efforts at
P-3 befocused on helping teacherseffectively gather and
useassessment information that arisesfrom the context of teaching
and canbe used to plan differentiatedinstruction.
Reliable classroom-basedassessment information is necessaryfor
all age levels P-3 because it,unlike the aforementioned
large-scale, formal early literacyassessment results, can be used
byteachers to plan day-to-dayinstruction for the individualchildren
in the classroom. Policyshould not seek to specify aparticular set
of classroom-basedassessment instruments/proceduresbecause current
research evidencehas not established a specificassessment regimen
as contributingto enhanced student performance.38However,
recommendations for theuse of student data to planinstruction are
well established39 andearly literacy programimplementation
evaluations haveshown that teachers can learn to usestudent data
about vocabularyknowledge, alphabet knowledge,and reading fluency
to planappropriate instruction.40
Currently, the practice of regularlyusing classroom-based,
teacher-gathered literacy assessment data toplan instruction is
grosslyinconsistent across Illinois P-3classrooms. Hence, we
recommendthat Illinois policy makers form astatewide task force
that wouldcreate a plan for developing in thestates early childhood
educators the
expertise to employ classroom-based assessment data in the
serviceof improving early literacyachievement.
To implement this comprehensiveearly literacy assessment
program,professional development will benecessary for many P-3
teachers. Itis our conclusion that thisinvestment can be a primary
leverfor moving the needle on earlyliteracy achievement. We know
thatthe instruction of individual teachersand school districts is
influenced byassessment regimens;41 an Illinoisteacher workforce
skilled inconducting and utilizing appropriateassessment data that
arise from earlyliteracy instruction will result inhigher quality
teaching.
Action 2: Provide professionallearning experiences for
earlychildhood teachers that enablethem to implement
high-qualityearly language and literacyinstruction in their
classrooms.
There is a robust body of researchshowing that teachers matter
tochildrens literacy achievement.42Teachers who completed
initialteacher preparation programs withhigh quality attention to
teachingreading were found to be moreeffective at teaching reading
in the
Petscher, Y., & Kim, Y. S., The Utility and Accuracy of Oral
Reading Fluency Score Types in Predicting Reading Comprehension.
Journal of School Psychology, 49, no. 1 (2011): 107-129; Riedel, B.
W., The37Relation between DIBELS, Reading Comprehension, and
Vocabulary in Urban First-grade Students, Reading Research
Quarterly, 42, no. 4 (2007): 546-567; Roehrig, A. D., et al.,
Accuracy of the DIBELS OralReading Fluency Measure for Predicting
Third Grade Reading Comprehension Outcomes, Journal of School
Psychology, 46, no. 3 (2008): 343-366Garca, G. E., & Pearson,
P. D., Assessment and Diversity, Review of Research in Education,
20 (1994): 337-391; Pearson, P. D., & Hamm, D. N., The
Assessment of Reading Comprehension: A Review of38PracticesPast,
Present, and Future. In. S. G. Paris & S. A. Stahl (Eds.),
Childrens Reading Comprehension and Assessment (Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum, 2005): 13-69; Valencia, S., & Pearson, P. D.,
ReadingAssessment: Time for a Change, The Reading Teacher, 40, no.
8 (1987): 726-732.Mokhtari, K., Rosemary, C. A., & Edwards, P.
A., Making Instructional Decisions Based on Data: What, How, and
Why, The Reading Teacher, 61, no. 4 (2007): 354-359; National
Center for Education Statistics,39Using Student Achievement Data to
Support Instructional decision Making (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Education, 2009).DeStefano, L., Rempert, T., &
ODell, L., Charting a Course to Literacy: Early Reading First in
Chicago Charter Schools External Evaluation. Final Report
(Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-40Champaign,
2010); DeStefano, L., Rempert, T., Innes, E., & Glaze, C.,
Achieving Preschool Language and Literacy Excellence: Early Reading
First in Chicago Archdiocese Schools External Evaluation-Year Four
Report (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
2012).Au, W., High-stakes Testing and Control: A Qualitative
Metasynthesis, Educational Researcher, 36, no. 5 (2007): 258-267;
Berliner, D., Rational Responses to High Stakes Testing: The Case
of Curriculum41Narrowing and the Harm That Follows, Cambridge
Journal of Education, 41, no. 3 (2011): 287-302.Darling-Hammond,
L., Berry, B., & Thoreson, A., Does Teacher Certification
Matter? Evaluating the Evidence, Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, 23, no. 1 (2001): 5777. 42
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Early Childhood Literacy
policy BRIEF
9http://ruepi.uic.edu
Hoffman, J. V., Roller, C., Maloch, B., Sailors, M., Duffy, G.,
& Beretvas, S. N., Teachers Preparation to Teach Reading and
Their Experiences and Practices in the First Three Years of
Teaching, The Elementary43School Journal, 105, no. 3 (2005):
267-287; International Reading Association, Teaching Reading Well:
A Synthesis of the International Reading Associations Research on
Teacher Preparation for ReadingInstruction (Newark, DE:
International Reading Association, 2007).Goldhaber, D., Liddle, S.,
& Theobald, R., The Gateway to the Profession: Assessing
Teacher Preparation Programs Based on Student Achievement,
Economics of Education Review, 34 (2013): 29-44; Tennessee44Higher
Education Commission, 2014 Report Card on the Effectiveness of
Teacher Training Programs (Knoxville: Tennessee Higher Education
Commission, 2014).Neuman, S.B. & Kamil, M. (Eds.), Professional
Development for Early Childhood Educators: Principles and
Strategies for Improving Practice (Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes,
2010).45Van Voorhis, F. L., Maier, M. F., Epstein, J. L., &
Lloyd, C. M., The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of
Children Ages 3 to 8 (New York: MDRC, 2013).46See
http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/OECD/Pages/EarlyLearningChallenge.aspx.47Section
24.130 - The Illinois Professional Teaching Standards. Retrieved
from
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/023/023000240001300R.html.
48
primary grades, and their studentswere the beneficiaries of
enhancedachievement.43 Data from statewideinitiatives examining
teachereducation have shown substantivelinks between the quality of
theteacher preparation program and theachievement of students
taught bygraduates of the program.44 Alsoclear is the finding that
the initialteacher preparation program, nomatter how good, cannot
do it all;well-designed, ongoing, job-embedded professional
developmentis needed in addition.45 And the finalcomponent that
makes for anoutstanding early literacyinstructional program is
howeffectively the teacher is able toengage families in their
childrensliteracy development at home duringthe preschool and
primary gradeyears.46
2.1 Align teacherlicensure andprogramaccreditationrequirements
toPreschool-Grade 3language andliteracy standards.
The first step inteachersprofessionaldevelopment isinitial
licensurethrough anaccreditedpreparationprogram. As of
January 2014, 17 states requiredelementary teacher candidates
topass an assessment measuring theirknowledge of
evidence-basedreading instructional practices priorto
certification; 13 states require thesame of early childhood
teachers.Illinois does not require teachercandidates, either early
childhood orearly elementary, either prior to orfollowing
certification, todemonstrate knowledge of earlyliteracy on any such
assessment.47
Current professional teachingstandards in Illinois
requireknowledge in reading instructionapproaches, including those
thatdevelop word knowledge,vocabulary, comprehension, fluency,and
strategy use in the contentareas.48 However, these standards
in seeking to buildambitious earlyliteracy instructionin
illinoisclassrooms,teachers wouldbenefit from clearguidelines on
howto identifyappropriatecurricula andinstructionalactivities.
Action 2 includes the followingrecommendations:2.1 Align teacher
licensure and programaccreditation requirements to Preschool-Grade
3language and literacy standards.2.2 Provide in-service teachers
(includingclassroom assistant teachers and paraprofessionals)with
evidence-based professional learningprograms focused on early
language and literacydevelopment and instruction.2.3 Ensure that
classroom personnel develop theknowledge and skill needed to work
effectivelywith families on childrens early language andliteracy
development.
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are not currently robust enough toensure appropriate knowledge
in thescience of reading instruction. Incertain respects what is
needed is forIllinois teacher preparation standardsin the English
Language Arts to catchup with Illinois student learningstandards in
the English LanguageArts that are aligned with theCommon Core State
Standards. Thisrecommended action for the P-3sector parallels
Action 2.1 in theaccompanying UIC Center forLiteracy policy paper
on CCSS.49
2.2 Provide in-service teachers withevidence-based
professionallearning programs focused onearly language and
literacydevelopment and instruction
Professional learning for practicingteachers has been an area of
robustactivity in recent years, and this isespecially the case with
respect toprofessional learning related to P-3education. This work
has arisen frommultiple areas: over a decade ofEarly Reading First
projects,50 theEarly Childhood EducatorProfessional Development
Programfunded by the US Department ofEducation,51 work arising
fromvarious sectors focused on providingonline professional
learningexperiences for early childhoodeducators,52 studies of
literacycoaching in the early grades,53 andmore. The work has
provided us with
solid research evidence that highquality professional
learningopportunities make a significantdifference in improving
teachersclassroom practice and raisingstudent achievement. It has
alsoyielded a rich understanding of howto create professional
learningcommunities focused on P-3 literacyeducation that are built
on evidence-based adult learning principles andpractices.
The evidence is compelling that acoordinated program of
professionaldevelopment focused on P-3 earlyliteracy can make a
significant,positive impact on instruction andthereby raise student
achievementlevels to scale in the state. Effectiveearly literacy
professional learningprograms for teachers are sustained(one-shot
workshops or presentationshave no evidence of affectingpractice),54
based on sound principlesof adult learning, and embedded inthe
contexts of teachers work. Anespecially effective feature of
severalearly literacy professional learninginitiatives has been the
use of literacycoaches who work in the classroomto support teachers
instructionalchange efforts.55
Our recommended policy action is tosystematically provide
suchprofessional learning programsfocused on early language
andliteracy to Illinois preschool and
UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative
policy BRIEF
10
the initial teacherpreparationprogram, no matterhow good,
cannotdo it all; well-designed,
ongoing,job-embeddedprofessionaldevelopment isneeded in
addition.
Woodard, R., & Kline, S., Moving Beyond Compliance:
Implementing the Common Core State Standards in Literacy (Chicago:
Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative and UIC Center for
Literacy, 2015).49For example, see UIC Early Reading First.
Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu/educ/erf/; Early Reading
First/SmartStart. Retrieved
from50http://www.smartstartga.org/_downloads/UWMA_SmartStart_READERS_Grant_2006-2010.pdf;
Han, M., et al., Beating the Odds: Longitudinal Investigation of a
Low-income, Dual-language and MonolingualChildrens English Language
and Literacy Performance, Early Education and Development, 25, no.
6 (2014): 841-858.Neuman, S.B. & Kamil, M. (Eds.), Professional
Development for Early Childhood Educators: Principles and
Strategies for Improving Practice (Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes,
2010).51For example, see the My Teaching Partner Project. Henry, A.
D., & Pianta, R. C., Effective Teacher-Child Interactions and
Literacy: Evidence for Scalable, Aligned Approaches to Professional
Development, In52S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of
Early Literacy Research, Vol. 3 (New York: Guilford, 2011):
308-321. Atteberry, A. & Bryk, A. S., Analyzing Teacher
Participation in Literacy Coaching Activities, The Elementary
School Journal, 112, no. 2 (2011): 356-382.53Martin, S., Quatroche,
D., & Bauserman, K. (Eds.), Handbook of Professional
Development in Education (New York: Guilford, 2014).54UIC College
of Education, UIC Early Reading First. Retrieved from
http://www.uic.edu/educ/erf/; Atteberry, A. & Bryk, A. S.,
Analyzing Teacher Participation in Literacy Coaching Activities,
The Elementary55School Journal, 112, no. 2 (2011): 356-382; Neuman,
S. B., & Cunningham, L., The Impact of Professional Development
and Coaching on Early Language and Literacy Instructional
Practices, AmericanEducational Research Journal, 46, no. 2 (2009):
532-566.
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primary grade educators.
Such a process is currentlyunderway in one sector. ThroughRace
to the Top-Early LearningChallenge funding, the IllinoisGovernors
Office of EarlyChildhood Development hasimplemented the
PreschoolInstructional Excellence project,which, through grantee
the Ounce ofPrevention, is helping earlychildhood programs
throughout thestate strengthen organizationalsupports to structure
and facilitateembedded professional developmentfor teachers in
order to achievehigher levels of instructionalexcellence.56
Extending this type of systematiceffort to other sectors for
K-3teachers across the state is highlyrecommended. Such an effort
couldbe coordinated at the state level andmade available to school
districts.Another possibility is to tie suchprofessional
development tolicensure renewal. The key is tomake early language
and literacy anexplicit part of professional learningprograms for
primary gradeteachers.
2.3 Ensure that classroompersonnel develop the knowledgeand
skill needed to workeffectively with families onchildrens early
language andliteracy development.
A 2013 meta-analysis of familyinvolvement research over a
10-yearperiod summarized the impact of
family involvement on learning anddevelopment for children ages
3-8.57A main, not unexpected, findingwas that family
involvementpositively impacts childrensdevelopment in literacy and
math.However, it is important to note thatthe weakest influence was
thevariable called Family Involvementin School attending open
houses,parent-teacher conferences,participating in the classroom,
andvolunteering. Yet, since theintroduction of Title 1, these
havebeen the most frequent meansschools use to encourage
parentinvolvement. The body of researchdid indicate benefits from
familyliteracy programs and home visitingprograms that implement
research-based literacy practices in the home,but such programs
currently reachonly a limited number of parents.
Thus, to have the best potentialbenefits of parent involvement,
it isnecessary to prepare P-3 teachersand leaders to be able to
collaboratewith parents in ways that go beyondthe typical outreach
activities. Thismeans enhancing home-basedliteracy activities to
effectively andefficiently extend familyengagement and thereby
raisestudent achievement. In Action 4below, we discuss in more
depthspecifics for engaging families intheir childrens early
language andliteracy learning, but we raise theissue here also
because of the needfor professional development thatwill equip P-3
educators with theknowledge and skill needed toengage and support
families in
productive ways that extend beyondthe typical
school-basedinvolvement described in thepreceding paragraph. Most
of thecurrent P-3 workforce in Illinois isunderprepared to
accomplish therecommendations in Action 4without this targeted
professionaldevelopment.
Such professional developmentwould be based on sound practicesof
adult learning and would targetareas such as:
How to Select Good Bookswith Your ChildEffective and Fun
HomeRead Alouds Having Conversations withYour Child: A Key to
BuildingSchool ReadinessWords, Words, Words: BetterVocabulary Means
BetterLearning throughout SchoolListening to
Your(First/Second/Third) GraderRead To YouHow (P, K, Gr. 1/2/3)
ChildrenDevelop in Writing, and WhatYou Can Do to Support It
Key to the successful uptake of suchactivities in the home is
making surethat each one includes attention tochildren/families who
speaklanguages other than English andsensitivity to
developmentaldifferences in young children.
There are numerous research-basedexamples of effective home
literacyactivities for family engagement.The policy challenge in
this case is
policy BRIEF
Early Childhood Literacyhttp://ruepi.uic.edu 11
See
http://www.theounce.org/what-we-do/professional-development-LLE.
56Van Voorhis, F. L., Maier, M. F., Epstein, J. L., & Lloyd, C.
M., The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children
Ages 3 to 8 (New York: MDRC, 2013).57
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UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative12
establishing means of gettingteachers/administrators familiar
withthem and developing the capacity(and will) to implement them
acrossP-3.
Action 3: Build the capacity ofpreschool
administrators,elementary school principals, andrelevant early
education personnelto lead high-quality early languageand literacy
programs thatimprove student learning.
The vast majority of the current earlychildhood leadership
workforce inIllinois is underprepared to engage inwhat is needed to
create andsustain excellence in earlyliteracy education.
Thissituation exists for a numberof reasons. Historically,preschool
education and K-12 education have occupiedlargely separate
universesand therefore what it meantto be an early childhoodprogram
director and aschool principal were quitedifferent. Early
normalschools and, later, teachereducation programs, offeredvery
little in early childhoodeducation for professionalpreparation of
teachers, andtodays prekindergartenteacher preparation oftentakes
place in programs separatefrom K-12 programs. In addition,until
relatively recently preschooleducation concerned itself largelywith
fostering areas of earlychildhood development other thanacademic
skills, whereas teachingchildren to read has been perhaps themost
fundamental part of childrens
first years in elementary school. Inthe past it was not typical
for anelementary school to have aprekindergarten housed in
itsbuilding, and even today rarely doelementary schools collaborate
withpreschools in their surroundingcommunity. Thus, it is perhaps
notsurprising that, from a leadershipstandpoint, the P-3 continuum
that isso important to literacy developmentin the early years and
beyond, isconsiderably underdeveloped.
This situation needs immediateattention because, as current
researchon school reform makes clear,
organizational capacity is what is keyto high achievement; and
leadershipis a prime lever for increasingorganizational capacity.58
A parallelsituation exists in early care:leadership is key to a
high qualityearly childhood program.59 Withrespect to leadership
and the P-3literacy agenda in Illinois, our hope is
...to have the bestpotential benefits ofparent involvement,it is
necessary toprepare p-3teachers andleaders to be ableto collaborate
withparents in ways thatgo beyond thetypical
outreachactivities.
policy BRIEF
Cosner, S., Tozer, S.E., & Smylie, M.A., The Ed.D. Program
at the University of Illinois Chicago: Using Continuous
Improvement, Planning58and Changing, 43 (2012): 127-48; Leithwood,
K. A., & Riehl, C., What Do We Already Know about Educational
Leadership? In W. A.Firestone & C. Riehl (Eds.), A New Agenda
for Research on Educational Leadership (New York: Teachers College
Press, 2005): 12-27. National Association of Elementary School
Principals, Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for
Effective Principal Practice59(Alexandria, VA: National Association
of Elementary School Principals, 2014).
Action 3 includes the followingrecommendations:3.1 Ensure that
preparation programs for leadersof learning organizations serving
young childrenare based on program standards and activitiesthat
foster leader knowledge, skills, anddispositions aligned with
current early languageand literacy research.3.2 Implement policies
that foster amongcurrent preschool leaders, elementary
schoolprincipals, and district leadership necessaryknowledge,
advocacy, and skill in instructionalleadership, organizational
leadership, policy,and developing adult learning related to
earlyliteracy education.
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Early Childhood Literacy
policyBRIEF
http://ruepi.uic.edu
that policy changes will help allschool principals to become
earlychildhood literacy educators and allearly education program
directors tobecome literacy leaders. Our reviewof research and
leadershippreparation programs indicates thata two-pronged approach
will beeffective in realizing this goal.
3.1 Ensure that preparationprograms for leaders of
learningorganizations serving youngchildren are based on
programstandards and activities thatfoster leader knowledge,
skills,and dispositions aligned withcurrent early language
andliteracy research.
It can be argued that of the fivemajor Actions in this report,
Actions1-4 are deeply dependent for theirsuccess on district,
building, andcenter leadership. At the preschoollevel, the factors
currentlyemphasized in Illinois licensure forChild Care Directors
includepreparation in child care and/orchild development from birth
to age660 and assume completion of acredentialing program focused
onthe growth and education ofchildren zero to six years of age.61In
the area of elementary schoolprincipal preparation,
programstypically emphasize understandingthe learning environment,
creating apositive school culture, curriculum,assessment, and
resourcemanagement,62 although progresstoward a P-3 orientation has
beenachieved with the passage of a new
Illinois Pre-K-12 PrincipalEndorsement requiring earlychildhood
education curriculumcontent, field experiences, andlicensure exam
content for allcandidates who aspire to theprincipalship at any
level.63 Theaforementioned content andexperiences are all critical
togrooming competent educationalleadership, but, overall,
preparationstandards and programs in bothareas are not
comprehensiveenough: preschool leaderpreparation does not
attendspecifically enough to early literacydevelopment and pays
scantattention to the continuum of P-3development while school
principalpreparation struggles for curricularspace to attend to the
skills andstrategies necessary for preschoolleadership. Overall,
currentstandards and requirements to lead alearning organization
serving youngchildren understate the importanceof language and
literacy. We needleaders in our systems of earlyeducation who can
effectivelypromote and implement the P-3literacy agenda; such
leaders:
Embrace a P-3 early literacylearning and
teachingcontinuumUnderstand early literacydevelopment and
whatconstitutes high quality earlyliteracy curriculum
andinstruction for the diversechildren served in theirprogram
Foster teacher/staff teamworkthat addresses early
literacyinstruction and assessment forthe diverse children served
intheir programUse data to assess childrensearly literacy growth
and toaddress explicitly the ongoingadult learning necessary
toimprove that growth, P-3, ineach early educational settingConnect
the center/school tofamilies and the community inorder to foster
P-3 literacylearning
Such standards and competenciesrequire infusion of enhanced
earlyliteracy content into leaderpreparation in Illinois at the
districtleadership as well as the buildingleadership levels. In the
area ofschool principal preparation, weoffer the UIC Ed.D. in
UrbanEducation Leadership as an exampleof what that can look like
inpractice. This program has built inthe following features to
enablefuture leaders of Chicago PublicSchools and other school
districts toenact a P-3 early literacy agenda:
An entire course on LeadingImprovement of LiteracyLearning
designed to promoteeffective organizational andinstructional
strategies for P-12 reading and writingeducation across
thecurriculum.Attention to issues of principalleadership in early
childhoodinfused into all principal
policy BRIEF
13
Illinois General Assembly. Joint Committee on Administrative
Rules, Section 407.130, Qualifications for Child Care Director.
Retrieved
from60http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/089/089004070d01300r.html.
Illinois General Assembly. Joint Committee on Administrative Rules,
Section 407, Appendix G: Early Childhood Teacher Credentialing
Programs. Retrieved
from61http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/089/08900407ZZ9996gR.html.
Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Administrative Code
(2013). Retrieved from
http://www.isbe.net/rules/archive/pdfs/25ark.pdf.62For full
information on the new Illinois principal licensure law P.A.
096-0903, see Illinois School Leader Taskforce, Working to Prepare
Illinois School Leaders. Retrieved from
http://illinoisschoolleader.org. 63
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policy BRIEFpreparation and developmentcoursework preservice
andinservice through a faculty-implemented default rule:The default
expectation is thatearly childhood education willbe included in the
curriculumof every course in theprogram, whether ininstructional
leadership,organizational leadership,practitioner inquiry, or
othercontent area.Program field experiences areunusually extensive
because ofa partnership with ChicagoPublic Schools that provides
a12-month, full-time, full-salary leadership residency;and whether
ones residency isin an elementary school withearly childhood
programs or ina secondary school (withoutsuch programs), the
residencyrequires structured site visitsto early childhood
programs.
Standards and programs enhancedfor early literacy content
andexperience will set the stage forproviding leaders at both
thepreschool and elementary schoollevels who will positively
impactreading and writing achievement foryears to come. The focus
on the P-3continuum has particular potentialfor bridging dialogue
between earlychildhood directors and elementaryprincipals in ways
that can build acommon vocabulary and moresystemic approaches to
making thecontinuum an institutional reality.
3.2 Implement policies that foster
among current preschool leaders,elementary school principals
anddistrict leadership necessaryknowledge, advocacy, and skill
ininstructional leadership,organizational leadership, policy,and
developing adult learningrelated to early literacy education.
While the implementation of policyrecommendation 3.1 contributes
tomore effective P-3 literacy programsin the immediate years to
come,there also needs to be action takento upgrade existing leaders
capacitywith respect to early literacy.Recently, both the
NationalGovernors Association64 and theNational Association of
ElementarySchool Principals65 have issuedpublications focused on
leadingearly learning communities. Werecommend extending the
initiativeof these organizations by launchinga campaign directed at
currentpreschool leaders and elementaryschool principals focused
onbuilding awareness of the criticalimportance of P-3
literacyachievement and districtleadership will be crucial to
thesuccess of such an initiative. Thatcampaign can then be followed
witha targeted program of high qualityprofessional development to
helpcurrent Illinois leaders build theirskill in four areas
specificallyrelated to early literacy education:
Instructional leadershipOrganizational leadershipPolicyAdult
learning for theirteaching staff
In addition, professional supportshould be given to help
district andbuilding leaders incorporate intotheir
family/communityinvolvement efforts enhanced focuson early
literacy. This professionaldevelopment initiative could
beaccomplished through acollaboration among Illinois IHEs,ISBE, the
Governors Office ofEarly Childhood Development, theIllinois
Department of Children andFamily Services, Head Start,nonprofits in
the early childhoodsector, the states professionalassociations for
superintendents andprincipals, and foundations.
Action 4: Engage and supportfamilies in their childrens
earlylanguage and literacy learning.
Virtually every preschool programin Illinois aims for
familyinvolvement in their childrenseducation. In some cases, such
asHead Start, regulations requireagencies to engage in a process
ofcollaborative partnership-buildingwith parents toidentify
familygoals, strengths, and necessaryservices and other supports.66
Atthe K-3 level, home-schoolconnections are stressed ascontributing
significantly tochildrens academic achievement.The process of
maintainingschool/center and home partnershipshas a deep research
base,67 andvarious facets of family engagement health; parent
employment,English language learning andeducation; childrens
socialemotional and cognitive
UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative14
National Governors Association, A Governors Guide to Early
Literacy: Getting All Students Reading by Third Grade (Washington,
DC: National Governors Association, 2013); National Governors
Association.64Leading for Early Success: Building School Principals
Capacity to Lead High-Quality Early Education. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/2013/1306LeadingForEarlySuccessPaper.pdf.National
Association of Elementary School Principals, Leading Pre-K-3
Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice
(Alexandria, VA: Author.2014)65Head Start, Head Start Policy &
Regulation. Retrieved from
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/hspps/1304/1304.40%20Family%20partnerships..htm.
66Henderson, A., & Mapp, K., A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact
of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement
(Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002);
Van67Voorhis, F. L., Maier, M. F., Epstein, J. L., & Lloyd, C.
M., The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children
Ages 3 to 8 (New York: MDRC, 2013).
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policy BRIEF
Early Childhood Literacyhttp://ruepi.uic.edu
development can be part ofpartnership activities.
Our review of research indicatesthat attention to early language
andliteracy development should be anintegral element in
familyengagement at both the preschooland K-3 levels. This has
certainlybeen the case throughout thepreschools and elementary
schoolsof Illinois, but the research reviewresulted in three
recommendationsfor how attention to early literacycan be enhanced
to achieve betteroutcomes for children.
4.1 Fund and implement acampaign designed to increasethe numbers
of families activelyengaged in their childrens earlylanguage and
literacydevelopment in the home.
Research has indicated a number ofhome programs and activities
thathave been shown to havesignificant positive impact onchildrens
early literacydevelopment.68 Thus, in manyrespects, as a state we
know whatto do, and we are in position tocontinue implementing
suchprograms. A shortcoming at thistime, however, is that we have
notsuccessfully engaged enoughfamilies in these early
literacyfamily involvement activities totake overall early
literacyachievement to the next level.Therefore, it is recommended
thata campaign aimed at both familiesand educators be designed to
raisesignificantly the number of familymembers who are actively
engaged
in supporting their young childrenslanguage and literacy
developmentin conjunction with the early careinstitutions and
schools that theirchildren attend. Ideally, thiscampaign would be a
cross-sectorcollaboratively planned andconducted initiative. Both
childcareentities and schools wouldparticipate, as would both
thepublic and private sectors. Thisbroad-based approach is needed
to(1) inform the public and educatorsabout the need for enhanced
home-school collaboration, (2) increaseactual family engagement,
and (3)equip teachers and administratorswith up-to-date,
research-basedstrategies for workingcollaboratively and
productivelywith families on early literacy.
15
For example, see Rodrguez-Brown, F. V., Project FLAME: A Parent
Support Family Literacy Model. In B. Wasik (Ed.), Handbook of
Family Literacy (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004): 213229.
68
the vast majority ofthe current
earlychildhoodleadershipworkforce in illinoisis underprepared
toengage in what isneeded to createand sustainexcellence in
earlyliteracy education.
Action 4 includes the followingrecommendations:4.1 Fund and
implement a campaign designed toincrease the numbers of families
activelyengaged in their childrens early language andliteracy
development in the home.4.2 Inform educators about home supports
forfacilitating young childrens literacydevelopment during two
critical learningtransitions that occur during P-3: from emergentto
conventional literacy and from beginning tofluent reading.4.3 Embed
evidence-based early language andliteracy supports as part of all
home visitingprograms.
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UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative16
4.2 Inform educators and familiesabout home supports
forfacilitating young childrensliteracy development during
twocritical learning transitions thatoccur during P-3: from
emergentto conventional literacy and frombeginning to fluent
reading.
We have already stressed the criticalimportance of the P-3
period forchildrens lifelong literacydevelopment. That said,
researchshows that there are two especiallyimportant transitions
during thistime of a childs literacy life. Onetypically occurs
around age 5 as achild moves from emergentliteracy69 (engaging in
such literacybehaviors as pretend readings70and invented
spelling71) to beingable to read and writeconventionally (i.e.,
decoding thewords on the page, usingconventional spellings of
words,etc.). The other usually happensduring second grade or the
early partof third grade when the childtransitions from reading
word byword to reading fluently withaccurate word recognition,
adequatespeed, and expression.72 Each ofthese transitions
represents asignificant leap forward forchildrens literacy
development, buteach of them can also be a stallingpoint, causing a
child to lag behindin literacy achievement and find itmuch harder
to catch up again.
A considerable amount is knownabout childrens developmentthrough
each of these periods andabout effective supports that canhelp
children develop the skillsneeded to smoothly go throughthese
transitions.73 However,comparatively little has beensystematically
implemented in earlyeducation with respect to howparents and others
in the homeenvironment can support childrensliteracy development
during theseperiods.
Because these are such importantlearning phases and
becauseeffective home and school/centercollaboration has been shown
tosignificantly enhance childrensearly literacy development,
werecommend that the Illinois EarlyLearning
Council(http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/OECD/Pages/EarlyLearningCouncil.aspx)
take the leadership in forming atask force that would (1)
informpreschool and K-3 teachers andadministrators about the
importanceof coordinated classroom and homesupport to help children
make thesetransitions smoothly and (2)recommend
afunding/development/distributionplan for making
availableresources/activities that could beused by families at home
to extendchildrens learning in these areas.
4.3 Embed evidence-based earlylanguage and literacy supports
as
part of all home visitingprograms.
Home visiting programs are widelyregarded as an
evidence-basedpolicy choice for supportingfamilies with preschool
children,74and current trends suggest that homevisiting initiatives
will increase inthe coming years.75 At the federallevel under the
Improving Access toHigh-Quality Child Care and EarlyEducation
portion of PresidentObamas proposed 2015 budget,funding for
voluntary, evidence-based home visiting is extendedand expanded.76
In general, homevisiting programs enable medicalpersonnel, social
workers, and otherprofessionals to connect families toservices that
support childrenshealth, development, and ability tolearn.
We support the continuation inIllinois of evidence-based
homevisiting, but our review of thelearning development
contentrelated to the literacy developmentof 3/4-year-olds that is
currentlyincluded in home visits indicates aneed for strengthening
andsharpening that content in order toadequately support the P-3
earlyliteracy agenda addressed in thispolicy brief.
We recommend that the HomeVisiting Task Force Subgroup of
theIllinois Early Learning Council forma committee that would
make
Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (Eds.). Emergent Literacy:
Writing and Reading (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation,
1986).69Sulzby, E., Childrens Emergent Reading of Favorite
Storybooks: A Developmental Study, Reading Research Quarterly, 20,
no. 1 (1985): 458481.70Read, C., Pre-school Childrens Knowledge of
English Phonology, Harvard Educational Review, 41, (1975): 134.
71Kuhn, M.R., Schwanenflugel, P.J., & Meisinger, E.B., Aligning
Theory and Assessment of Reading Fluency: Automaticity, Prosody,
and Definitions of Fluency, Reading Research Quarterly, 45 (2010):
232-253.72Snow, C., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P., Preventing
Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Washington DC: National
Academy Press, 1998).73Avellar, S., Paulsell, D., Sama-Miller, E.,
Del Grosso, P., Akers, L., and Kleinman, R. Home Visiting Evidence
of Effectiveness Review: Executive Summary (Washington, D.C.:
Office of Planning, Research and74Evaluation, Administration for
Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2014). National Conference of State Legislatures. Home
Visiting Enacted Legislation in States (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/home-visiting-enacted-legislation-in-states.aspx.
75The White House Administration Office of Management and Budget.
Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Overview (2015). Retrieved from
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/overview. 76
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recommendations for how attentionto early literacy supports
could beincreased in the current homevisiting sessions. The UIC
Center forLiteracy would be happy to partnerwith this committee of
the HomeVisiting Task Force Subgroup tosuggest individuals and
entities thatwould be able to offer concrete andevidence-based,
practicalrecommendations for how theattention to early literacy
supportscould be enhanced during homevisits.
Action 5: Collaborate in andsupport the development of
neededresearch in early language andliteracy.
Policy and practice alike can andshould be informed by
research.Research is useful for instrumentalpurposes, conceptual
insight, andpolitical strategies; collaborating onresearch and
evaluation projects alsooffers policymakers and
practitionersinsights into the logic of research,which may
ultimately inform theirown work in new and useful ways.77However,
policymakers andpractitioners do not always turn toresearch as much
as to otherresources to inform their work,78though not necessarily
for lack ofinterest or desire,79 and thus there isfrequently a
disconnect betweenresearch and policy/practice. Thedisconnect may
be due to a numberof factors, but the following are oftenat
work80:
Research reports may becomplex and evencontradictory, thus
inhibitingpolicymakers andpractitioners ability to use andapply
research results in theirwork.Sifting through numerousstudies laden
with caveats andlimitations to develop acoherent understanding of
theresearch base on a particulartopic can be time-consumingand
burdensome, especially forindividuals unused to
researchnorms.Researchers may be unaware ofthe issues and questions
thatpolicymakers and practitionersidentify as relevant or
timely.
Finding ways to bridge the divide iskey to developing better
policy andpractice that are grounded in researchevidence.
Given that early literacy is arguablythe most highly researched
area ofany in the field of education, it mayseem odd that one of
our policyrecommendations is to conduct moreearly literacy
research. But, givennational results on NAEP,81international
comparisons on literacyachievement,82 and the persistentachievement
gaps in reading andwriting across cultural andsocioeconomic
groups,83 we stillneed to know more about the P-3period, which sets
the achievement
policy BRIEF
Early Childhood Literacyhttp://ruepi.uic.edu 17
Nutley, S. M., Walter, I. & Davies, H. T. O., Using
Evidence: How Research Can Inform Public Services (The Policy
Press: Bristol: UK, 2007).77Elliot, J., Emlen, A., Tvedt, K., &
Weber, B., Research and Child Care Policy A View from the States
(1991). Retrieved from
http://health.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/sbhs/pdf/1999-Research-and-78ChildCare-Policy.pdf.Bogenscheider,
K. & Corbett,T. J., Evidence-Based Policymaking: Insights from
Policy-Minded Researchers and Research-Minded Policymakers
(Routledge: NY, 2010).79Nelson, S.R., Leffler, J.C., & Hansen,
B.A., Toward a Research Agenda for Understanding and Improving the
Use of Research Evidence (Portland, OR: Northwest Regional
Educational Laboratory, 2009).80Retrieved from
www.nwrel.org/researchuse/report.pdf.National Center for Education
Statistics. The Nations Report Card: A First Look: 2013 Mathematics
and Reading (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education,
2013).81Fleischman, H. L., Hopstock, P. J., Pelczar, M. P., &
Shelley, B. E., Highlights from PISA 2009: Performance of U.S.
15-year Old Students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy
in an International82Context (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).National
Center for Education Statistics. The Nations Report Card: Trends in
Academic Progress 2012 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education, 2013).83
we have notsuccessfullyengaged enoughfamilies inearlyliteracy
familyinvolvementactivities to takeoverall early
literacyachievement to thenext level.
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policy BRIEF
18
trajectory for the rest of studentsschooling.
5.1 Engage with researchers inIllinois, nationally,
andinternationally to develop acoherent early language andliteracy
research agenda forIllinois.
The development of a coordinated,coherent early literacy
researchagenda is key to addressing issuesfaced by the various
sectors inapplying research to policy andpractice. First, the
process ofengaging in concerted efforts todevelop an agenda offers
animportant opportunity forcoordination across sectors.
Simplyfacilitating opportunities forinteractions and dialogue
betweenresearchers and policymakers canhelp build trust and
mutuallyrespectful relationships. Indeed,policymakers and
researcherssometimes hold erroneousassumptions about the ability
orinterest of the other party to engagein such efforts. Yet
policymakersindicate their use of research oftenhinges on access to
reliable, expertintermediaries to distill and explainresearch
findings.84 Researchersthemselves can benefit from directfeedback
from policymakers andpractitioners to improve the format,style, and
content of their work inorder to make it more useful to thepolicy
and practice worlds. Withouta context and reason forcollaboration,
however, suchinteractions are difficult tomanufacture.
Thus, we recommend thedevelopment of the Illinois EarlyLiteracy
Research Agenda throughcoordinated, intentional efforts toidentify
and prioritize forresearchers topics and issues thatpolicymakers
and practitioners findmost directly relevant to enhancingthe
quality of home and schoolefforts to enhance young childrensearly
literacy development. Such acoordinated effort helps researcherssee
that what may seem mundane tothem may be enlightening to
thepractitioner or what may begroundbreaking in the researchworld
may be of little relevance topractice. Negotiating acommon set of
questionsis a key means to breakthrough communicationand cultural
barriersacross sectors.
Once developed, a clearagenda can fostercoordination within
theresearch community.Researchers, particularlyin academia, often
workindependently, andindividual studies do not alwayscohere
easily. Additionally,academic researchers are mostlyrewarded for
peer-reviewpublications of studies with novelfindings. In the
academic context,replications and seemingly mundaneresults are not
always valued ordisseminated. As a result, bodies ofresearch can be
slow to develop. Acoordinated agenda can bringtogether individual
researchers intoa community focused on developing
coherent sets of recommendationsabout early literacy issues.
Recognizing such realities, the Data,Research, and Evaluation
committeeof the Illinois Early LearningCouncil put forth in 2014 a
researchagenda intended to communicate thedesired research and
evaluationneeds of the Council. Althoughlanguage and literacy were
not listedamong the primary areas ofinquiry,85 the committees
agendacan serve as a foundation for thespecific efforts we
recommend here.
5.2 Develop a system for
adequately funding the Illinoisearly language and
literacyresearch agenda.
Funding and support to build policy-and practice-relevant
researchcapacity are clearly needed. Severalexisting models of
research-policy/practice partnerships havehad noted success
ininstitutionalizing partnerships,collaborations, and consortia
bydrawing on various funding sources
UIC Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative
Bogenscheider, K. & Corbett,T. J., Evidence-Based
Policymaking: Insights from Policy-Minded Researchers and
Research-Minded Policymakers (Routledge: NY, 2010).84Early Learning
Council, Annual Report (2014). Retrieved from
http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/OECD/Documents/Early%20Learning%20Council/Council/ELC_AnnualReport_FY14.pdf.85
Action 5 includes the followingrecommendations:5.1 Engage with
researchers in Illinois,nationally, and internationally to develop
acoherent early language and literacy researchagenda for
Illinois.5.2 Develop a system for adequately funding theIllinois
early language and literacy researchagenda.
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Early Childhood Literacyhttp://ruepi.uic.edu
and relying on local universitycapacity. For example, the
OregonChild Care Research Partnership(OCCRP), founded in 1995
withinitial federal support from theChild Care Bureaus Child
CarePolicy Research Consortium, hasbeen housed at various
universitiesthroughout its history.86 Work isconducted in
coordination withseveral state agencies andorganizations to carry
out itsresearch agenda87, thus developingcritical research capacity
amongstate childcare and early educationagencies. In Illinois, the
IllinoisEducation Research Council (IERC)was created and designated
bylegislation to function as theresearch arm of the P-20
Council.The IERC conducts policy-relevanteducational research, with
projectsfunded through a variety ofpublic/private sources.88 The
earlycare and education field in Illinois,however, currently lacks
such aninstitutionalized body. Ourrecommendation is to bring
togetheran Illinois Early Literacy ResearchTask Force comprised of
state-levelearly education policymakers,representatives of
foundations, andschool district, Preschool for All,and Head Start
leadership personnelto explore ways to fund theintentionally
developed earlylanguage and literacy researchagenda described in
Action 5.1. Werecommend that this task force lookcarefully at
recommendations andresearch from leading literacyprofessional
organizations such asthe International LiteracyAssociation, the
Literacy ResearchAssociation, and NationalAssociation for the
Education of
Young Children. Strategies for thetask force can include:
(a)developing consensus around theshared vision articulated in 5.1
and(b) identifying human capital andfunding supports needed
toimplement this coordinatedresearch.
19
Oregon State University, School of Social and Behavioral Health
Sciences, History. Retrieved from
http://health.oregonstate.edu/sbhs/family-policy/occrp-history.
86Oregon State University, School of Social and Behavioral Health
Sciences, Research Activities. Retrieved from
http://health.oregonstate.edu/sbhs/family-policy-program/occrp-research-activities.
87Illinois Education Research Council, Current Projects. Retrieved
from http://www.siue.edu/ierc/projects/index.shtml. 88
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Early Childhood Literacy
policy BRIEF
http://ruepi.uic.edu
about usThe Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative
(RUEPI) is an education policy research project based in the
Universityof Illinois at Chicago College of Education. RUEPI was
created in response to one of the most significant problemsfacing
urban education policy: dialogue about urban education policy
consistently fails to reflect what we know and whatwe do not about
the problems education policies are aimed at remedying. Instead of
being polemic and groundedprimarily in ideology, public
conversations about education should be constructive and informed
by the best availableevidence.The UIC Center for Literacy is a
public service and research center that works to improve literacy
education, policy andresearch at the local, state and national
levels. We provide leadership and technical assistance to Chicago
area schoolsand community- based organizations for the purpose of
enhancing the quality of literacy services. We also work withpublic
and private entities to formulate policies that support effective
literacy programs. The Center responds to issues inliteracy
education by serving as a public clearinghouse for literacy
information; establishing partnerships with universitydepartments
and external agencies; contributing to enhanced graduate education
for future leaders in literacy education;and creating innovative,
research-based programs that serve as exemplary models for public
practice. Our activities areespecially focused on helping to reduce
literacy as a barrier to full societal participation for all
individuals.our MissionRUEPIs work is aimed at fostering more
informed dialogue and decision-making about education policy in
Chicago andother urban areas. To achieve this, we engage in
research and analysis on major policy issues facing these
areas,including early childhood education, inclusion, testing, STEM
education, and teacher workforce policy. We offer timelyanalysis
and recommendations that are grounded in the best available
evidence. our approaChGiven RUEPIs mission, the projects work is
rooted in three guiding principles. While these principles are not
grounded inany particular political ideology and do not specify any
particular course of action, they lay a foundation for ensuring
thatdebates about urban education policy are framed by an
understanding of how education policies have fared in the past.The
principles are as follows:
Education policies should be coherent and strategic Education
policies should directly engage with what happens in schools and
classrooms Education policies should account for local context
RUEPI policy briefs are rooted in these principles, written by
faculty in the University of Illinois at Chicago College
ofEducation and other affiliated parties, and go through a rigorous
peer-review process.
20
The development and publication of this brief was supported by
the University of Illinois College of Education and Centerfor
Literacy.
learn more at http://ruepi.uic.edu and http://cfl.uic.edu
ContaCt [email protected]@uic.edu1040 West Harrison
StreetChicago, Illinois 60607
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