Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Improving Student Literacy

Statewide Literacy Coaching Program

• 💡 The statewide literacy coaching program aims to calibrate professionals and provide direct support to teachers in classrooms to ensure every child reads above grade level.
• 🎯 The program has expanded from cohort one to cohort three, with new coaches joining each year to share expertise and grow the teaching profession.
• 🚀 Governor Sanders expressed a desire to hire these remarkable teachers for her own future principal team, emphasizing their dedication and impact.

Improving Student Outcomes

• 📈 Coaches align building goals with principals and set individual goals for teachers based on student outcomes, using data from assessments to measure success.
• 📊 Schools are utilizing visual growth charts where students can track their progress, which has shown to be successful in motivating students.
• 🎯 A specific example highlighted a jump in kindergarteners' blending and segmenting skills from 20% to 80% success after targeted coaching and planning.

Systemic Changes and Teacher Support

• 🔑 The state has redesigned its educational system by rewriting standards, assessments, and accountability measures to address broken systems that hindered progress.
• 🤝 The implementation of a new system is pushing principals to be more reflective and develop into instructional leaders, with tools like the 'key lever tool' clarifying expectations for quality instruction.
• 🛠️ A focus on evidence-based practices and teacher autonomy is crucial, with an emphasis on validated methods rather than experimentation.

Addressing Literacy Gaps and Future Support

• 📚 The third-grade to fourth-grade advancement piece of the LEARNS act is creating a sense of urgency to address literacy gaps early and improve parent engagement.
• 🚀 The program aims to shift focus to preventative medicine and early intervention, ensuring students are supported before they reach third grade.
• 💰 The expansion of tutoring grants, increased to $1,500 per child, is a significant resource, though awareness and utilization vary across districts.

Challenges and Future Directions

• 🗺️ A key challenge is the distribution of coaches, with many serving multiple schools, leading to a need for more coaches to provide focused support.
• 🎓 There's a recognized need to develop adolescent literacy support systems for middle and high school students, building on elementary gains.
• 🍎 The importance of high-quality preschool is emphasized as a foundational element for early literacy development, making a significant difference in kindergarten readiness.