The state of Utah is facing a vote about school vouchers that would allow parents access to public funds to pay for private school. But not everyone in Utah believes the vouchers are a good thing. As Sonia Woodbury, executive director of City Academy, a secondary public charter school, states, “The fallacy is to believe that vouchers will improve our ability to provide this type of good education. There is no direct correlation between the choice to send a child to a private school and the improvement of our educational system.” Woodbury goes on to say that school voucher money spent at private schools only takes away from what potentially could have been spent on public education and is a disservice toward all Utahns.

I am not sold on school vouchers either. I have nothing against private schools, but I agree with Woodbury that the goal of any state’s public education is to provide the best possible education to all the kids in the state. Taking away dollars from public schools and putting them into private schools is probably not the best way to do that. Or as Woodbury succinctly puts it, “What parents deserve is not vouchers, but quality public schools in every neighborhood.”

Dr. Don Leu, the head of the University of Connecticut’s New Literacy Research, says there is a different skill set needed for online reading comprehension versus offline reading comprehension. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Leu discuss his theories at the recent International Reading Association Convention in Toronto.

Dr. Leu spoke at length about the new skills needed for Internet reading and the research under way to help identify instructional strategies for teaching them. Dr. Leu also showed how online-savvy students often perform poorly on comprehension skills on high-stakes state tests but perform well on online reading comprehension assessment skills.

The five specific skills needed for online reading, according to Dr. Leu, are:

• Identifying important questions before reading
• Locating information
• Analyzing information for usefulness
• Synthesizing information from many disparate points of view
• Communicating information via the Internet

Good online readers, he said, can determine understanding, relevancy, accuracy, bias, and stance. He added that the gap between the high and low socio-economic populations will widen as online comprehension becomes more and more important unless something is done to address online skill instruction for all students. Currently, no state actually tests for online reading comprehension skills. But I feel the online skills will only gain in significance, which is why Learning A–Z is considering developing lessons that would target online reading skills. What you think? Is reading online the way of the future?

I posted several blogs ago about the debate on who should be running our schools—politicians or educators. Well, I forgot to mention another potential party, private business, and it seems the residents of Jamaica are having this very debate, according to a letter to the editor in the Jamaica Gleaner News.

The argument centers around the premise the if competition is allowed into public education, then private, profit-motivated corporations would strive to provide the best education possible in order to win and keep government bids. Private companies would also be able to raise money and cut costs, keeping the cost of education down resulting in better education than anything the government could provide. But I just don’t think this is the case. While private companies might be able to inject money and make changes more quickly than the government, there are just too many variables and problems associated with trying to profit off education. Ultimately, someone has to pay the price if and when profits are not as high as they need to be. Who would that be? The students?

For public education, the direction and decisions should come from educators and parents. Government and businesses input is welcomed, and their support is needed, but if our goal is to leave no child behind, then profit must not enter the equation. I just don’t believe it will work. And that means the government, with all of its warts, is the best entity to oversee public education. As long as elected officials do not interfere so much, and let educators do what they are trained to do best—educate our children.

Nine years ago, with the help of local Tucson, Arizona, Rotary Club members, then University of Arizona President Peter Likens made a promise to 101 third graders in a local, underprivileged elementary school. The promise was simple. Under the guidance and mentorship of the Rotary Club members, if the children graduated high school and met minimum requirements, their tuition at the University of Arizona would be waived. Next summer, when school begins, 60 or more out of the 101 students will be enrolling in community college or The University of Arizona, far greater than what the demographics predicted, according to a recent article in the Arizona Daily Star.

This helps prove a very important point. Give kids the opportunity and hope for success, and the majority will grab it and run with it. Or as President Emeritus Likens puts it, “The fulfillment of the promise is proof that financially disadvantaged students aren’t any less successful, provided they have a message that higher education is attainable for them.” And while giving free education to every disadvantaged child isn’t possible in today’s world, there are enough resources out there to reach every child. First, as in this story, there is mentoring. It only costs time, and I encourage everyone to get involved, through their local school, library, church, club, work, etc., as many in the Learning A–Z office already do. Second, give a kid, any kid, the tools to succeed, and that is what they will most likely do. I like to think the Learning A–Z family of websites can help here. We have high quality, low-cost, and easily accessible products such as Reading A–Z, which can put books in the hands of children. There are also Reading-Tutors, which can guide mentors and tutors when they are volunteering, and Raz-Kids is a great tool for modeled fluency.

I would like to wish all the children entering college good luck, and a big “thank you,” to all the Rotary Club volunteers, President Emeritus Likens, the University of Arizona, and all the teachers who helped get the children into college. This is a very encouraging story, and one that needs to be told.

The results of a recent United States Department of Education report showed some large gaps in minimum proficiencies needed between states, according to a recent New York Times article. By comparing each state standard to the National Assessment of Educational Progress test, and creating a score for comparison, we can now see just how different state minimum standards are. For example, in Mississippi, a fourth-grader could score an equivalent of 161 to the NAEP test for reading and pass, while a Massachusetts fourth-grader needed to score an equivalent of 234.

This is the cause of two major concerns. First, are students in states with lower minimums being short-changed? Say, for example, there is a school in Mississippi that is not meeting minimum Adequate Yearly Progress, and much effort is put forth to increase test scores. Even if the scores are raised to above minimum, according to the DOE study, the Mississippi kids still may not be reading as well as kids passing minimum Massachusetts’ standards. Even more problematic is how funding is tied to No Child Left Behind. Again, if fourth-graders in Mississippi are scoring an equivalent of 190 on their state tests, they are passing AYP, and their school doesn’t have the threat of lost funds. But if a school in Massachusetts has fourth-graders scoring an equivalent of 215 on their state tests, they are failing AYP, and may lose funding, even though, as a whole, they are doing better than their counterparts in Mississippi! It just doesn’t make sense.

There are two possible solutions that I can think of. The first is national standards, or at least a national standard range. For example, if all the state fourth-grade reading standards were averaged out, and the equivalence number was 195, then the law could say a state test minimum score must have an equivalency between 180 and 210. This would create national standards, and allow for some local control. The other solution is eliminating the tie between NCLB and funding. But of course, without the threat of lost money, NCLB has no teeth.

NCLB is only five years old, and the underlying purpose of the bill is admirable. I don’t know, however, whether it is rational or feasible to implement. I don’t think NCLB is a lost cause, but it needs some tinkering. I’m hoping our politicians can come up with a way that at least makes NCLB fairer, which will be beneficial for everyone.

Michigan schools are taking environmental awareness seriously. Eighteen schools have been “Green School Certified,” so far, according to the Green Options website. To be certified, schools must complete at least ten criteria from a list of programs ranging from recycling paper, to holding an Earth Day event, to growing a natural Michigan garden with native plants, to holding solar power cookouts.

This is a perfect opportunity for teachers. They can have students reading about the environment, helping out in the garden, and doing environmental experiments, all while showing the practical applications of real world environmental measures.

Speaking of environmental reading, one of the things about Reading A–Z of which I am most proud is the vast collection of book topics. While the primary purpose of Reading A–Z is to teach children how to read, there is nothing stopping teachers from using the readers to teach all sorts of topics, including the environment. In fact, Reading A–Z has a special collection of Earth Day readers, along with other collections about space and flight, U.S. History and Government, and many more.