Governor Announces Start of Reading Coach Program
(TRENTON) – In a major step toward fulfilling his commitment to improve educational quality, Governor James E. McGreevey today released a comprehensive report that will guide State educators in instituting effective literacy programs for New Jersey’s youngest public school students.
“At the outset of my administration, I set forth one very simple goal for the State of New Jersey: that we would focus all of our efforts on having every child reading at or above grade level by the end of their third grade,” said McGreevey. “Academic research repeatedly emphasizes that early literacy is essential to a child’s future success in school and in life.”
McGreevey today accepted the Governor’s Task Force on Early Literacy Education report, “Improving the Quality of Early Literacy Education in New Jersey,” which describes the factors that result in effective teachers, schools and literacy programs and outlines recommendations for delivering effective early literacy instruction to young students. Approximately 390,000 of New Jersey’s 1.3 million students were enrolled in kindergarten through third grade last year.
The Governor in February created the Task Force by Executive Order and charged its members with identifying research-based programs, practices and methods that could be incorporated into a statewide plan to improve early literacy, and to recommend ways to train teachers in the newest and most effective ways to teach young students how to read.
“I am pleased to stand here with members of the Early Literacy Task Force as we make public this comprehensive report that is based on the most current research of best practices,” McGreevey said as introduced the Task Force’s co-chairpersons -- Dr. Dorothy Strickland, an internationally renowned expert in literacy education who is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair in Education and a faculty member of the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, and Dr. Robert Copeland, Superintendent of the Piscataway Public Schools.
The Task Force report describes:
- Research-based best practices of effective schools.
- Research-based best practices of effective teachers.
- The content of effective research-based literacy programs.
- Recommendations for implementing effective practices throughout the state.
- Recommendations for high-quality professional development.
- Recommendations for pre-service teacher preparation programs and certification.
- Recommendations for student assessment and reporting of results.
READING COACHES
McGreevey said he was pleased that one of the Task Force’s primary recommendations is already being implemented by the Department of Education, which has hired its first group of Reading Coaches who will start their training on Monday. The coaches will work in schools around the State this September to train other teachers in the best practices in early literacy instruction. The schools are ones which have a high percentage of students who failed to demonstrate proficiency on the reading portion of the 4th grade test administered this past spring.
“The Task Force report demonstrates that we are on the right track in New Jersey in delivering effective early education to the classroom,” McGreevey said. He noted that the Task Force report concluded that “the use of reading consultants positioned in districts throughout the state who articulate research-based practices, and provide appropriate professional development is one such way to make certain that effective literacy instruction is delivered to all students.”
The Governor introduced three of the Reading Coaches: Maqueda Randall-Weeks of Teaneck, Nicole West-Burns of Voorhees, and Colleen Gray of Point Pleasant at today’s news conference.
“With the release of this report, we are making a serious commitment to our youngest students,” said Commissioner of Education William L. Librera. “The Department of Education is prepared to assume the critical responsibility of ensuring that all teachers are familiar with the most effective ways to teach reading so that their students can enjoy success in all subjects throughout their school careers.” The Task Force report is available at www.state.nj.us/education.
HARVARD LITERACY PROGRAM
McGreevey also announced that New Jersey will send a team of leaders in education to Harvard University later this month to participate in the Institute for Statewide Literacy Initiatives. The program will focus on improving reading outcomes, specifically through delivery of scientifically based reading instruction. New Jersey along with, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Nevada, is one of 5 states that will participate in the 5-day program to be held in Cambridge, MA.
In May 2002, the National Governors Association, in cooperation with the Carnegie Foundation and Harvard University, announced an opportunity for state teams to participate in a week-long institute to build cooperative structures among institutions of higher education, the state education policy makers, and local school districts in matters relating to literacy instruction, especially in pre-kindergarten through third grade. States were eligible for the grant only if they had submitted the application for the federal Reading First program, which is part of the “No Child Left Behind” legislation.
