Current:Home > ContactGeorgia to use $10 million in federal money to put literacy coaches in low-performing schools -Keystone Capital Education
Georgia to use $10 million in federal money to put literacy coaches in low-performing schools
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:58:55
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia school officials will use $10 million in federal money to place reading coaches to help improve teaching in 60 low-performing elementary schools, as lawmakers continue to pressure state Superintendent Richard Woods to do more to support a literacy law passed last year.
The move, announced Thursday by Woods, is the first time that the state will directly fund coaches in schools. Coaching is seen as essential because it helps teachers put things they learn about literacy instruction into practice.
“We know that professional learning, without coaching, doesn’t really stick,” Amy Denty, director of literacy for Georgia Department of Education, told a state Senate committee meeting on Feb. 9.
Georgia is trying to overhaul literacy instruction, with legislators last year mandating that each district must retrain all K-3 teachers by August 2025. Already, more than 5,000 of Georgia’s 27,000 K-3 teachers have enrolled in state-provided online training that includes 25 hours of classes on literacy instruction, Denty said.
The state’s effort to help children read better is one example of many nationwide as the “science of reading” shakes up teaching and learning. Most experts now agree effective teaching should include detailed instruction on the building blocks of reading, including letter sounds and how to combine them into words.
The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found only 32% of Georgia fourth graders proficient in reading, about the same as nationwide. Woods prefers a different measure, which finds about 40% of third-grade students are ready.
Woods earlier announced a plan to hire 32 regional coaches and pay stipends to school district personnel who lead literacy efforts. Those regional coaches would oversee coaches working in schools. A recent survey found more than 500 locally-hired coaches already working statewide.
Georgia will adopt Florida’s coaching standards to standardize what coaches do, Woods said Thursday.
Gov. Brian Kemp backed that plan in his budget, proposing $6.2 million to literacy coaches. Kemp also proposed $5 million to develop a screening test to detect dyslexia and other reading problems as early as kindergarten.
The federal money would place coaches in 60 of Georgia’s 1,300 elementary schools, including 11 in Atlanta, nine in Richmond County, eight in Bibb County elementary and four in Muscogee County.
The state plans to fund the coaches for three years beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, said Department of Education spokesperson Meghan Frick. She said local schools will hire the coaches, using a state-provided job description.
“The coaches announced today will work directly with the schools in greatest need of improvement and ensure they have the resources to deliver high-quality early literacy instruction to every child,” Woods said in a statement.
While the state is developing its own screening test that will be provided free of charge to districts, the state Board of Education approved 16 different screening tests in July that districts can also use. Lawmakers have criticized that move as making it hard to compare performance among districts, especially after an evaluation judged three of those screeners as weak. Denty said the board will discuss narrowing the number next week.
veryGood! (16)
Related
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- The White Lotus Season 2 Nearly Starred Evan Peters as THIS Character
- 'Red Memory' aims to profile people shaped by China's Cultural Revolution
- It Cosmetics Flash Deal: Save $24 on the Your Skin But Better CC Cream
- Small twin
- Sara Bareilles thought 'Into the Woods' would last 2 weeks — she ended up on Broadway
- Meet the eye-opening curator behind hundreds of modern art exhibitions
- 'Yellowface' takes white privilege to a sinister level
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- 'Are You There God?' adaptation retains the warmth and wit of Judy Blume's classic
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $280 Crossbody Bag for Just $59
- Enter Camilla, a modern and complex queen
- Opinion: Books are not land mines
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- And the winner is: MTV Movie & TV Awards relies on old clips as it names its winners
- 12 Affordable, Problem-Solving Products From Amazon To Help Break In Uncomfortable Shoes
- The summer movies, TV and music we can't wait for
Recommendation
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
'Quietly Hostile' is Samantha Irby's survival guide (of sorts)
How U.S., Afghan governments failed to adequately train Afghan security forces after spending $90 billion over 20 years
She wants fiction writers to step outside their experiences. Even if it's messy
Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
Summer House's Danielle Olivera Confirms Breakup From Robert Sieber
This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial
Italy migrant boat shipwreck: Whole families reportedly among victims who paid $8K each for voyage of death