Education Trust Midwest has just released its study on third grade reading and, predictably, the results aren’t great. This study uniquely compares Michigan data to other states, and according to Ed Trust’s Amber Arellano, “It’s telling us that we haven’t made progress toward improvement. We’ve actually fallen behind.”
Historically, the response to such results is to look at where to affix blame, and this traditionally falls on teachers and schools. We can be assured that this will happen again, and there will be much bluster about “failing” schools, and teachers who are “failing” our kids.
What there will not be is a broader discussion about the context that our schools and teachers are working within. If Michigan student test scores have declined over a period of time, it might be important to look at how the conditions that create the context for learning have changed over time also.