From Marcia Aas, Darlington Community Schools Library Media Specialist and Jean O'Neill, Darlington Community Schools Reading Specialist
To the editor:
This past week, Gov. Walker announced a statewide "Read to Lead" initiative. In response to declining reading scores in Wisconsin, a task force was formed last spring to explore ways that will increase student achievement in this vital skill. The non-partisan task force included Tony Evers, Wisconsin State Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, as well as teachers, researchers, and legislators from both key political parties. The task force's goal was to find ways to ensure that every Wisconsin student can read proficiently by the end of third grade.
Here in the Darlington Community Schools, we believe all Wisconsin educators would like to see all students adept in reading at all grade levels. In Darlington, as in many area districts, we have strong reading and library media programs that support this goal. We provide the necessary resources and expertise to support classroom teachers at all grade levels and all students at all levels of learning. Reliable research suggests that if we want students to succeed, we need to create small classroom learning environments that allow teachers to focus attention on individual student needs. We need to create life-long learners. Finally, we need to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers in all academic programs since reading is essential to every subject and grade level.
As our national, state, and local governments look for ways to balance budgets, we sincerely hope that funding schools, and in particular, reading programs and school libraries, will be a priority. We must focus on the teaching of reading and life-long learning skills in order to prepare our young people for the workplace. If Wisconsin is indeed going to be "open for business," we hope that Gov. Walker and state legislators will uphold the spirit of the "Read to Lead" initiative and provide the resources schools need in order to accomplish this.
To the editor:
This past week, Gov. Walker announced a statewide "Read to Lead" initiative. In response to declining reading scores in Wisconsin, a task force was formed last spring to explore ways that will increase student achievement in this vital skill. The non-partisan task force included Tony Evers, Wisconsin State Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, as well as teachers, researchers, and legislators from both key political parties. The task force's goal was to find ways to ensure that every Wisconsin student can read proficiently by the end of third grade.
Here in the Darlington Community Schools, we believe all Wisconsin educators would like to see all students adept in reading at all grade levels. In Darlington, as in many area districts, we have strong reading and library media programs that support this goal. We provide the necessary resources and expertise to support classroom teachers at all grade levels and all students at all levels of learning. Reliable research suggests that if we want students to succeed, we need to create small classroom learning environments that allow teachers to focus attention on individual student needs. We need to create life-long learners. Finally, we need to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers in all academic programs since reading is essential to every subject and grade level.
As our national, state, and local governments look for ways to balance budgets, we sincerely hope that funding schools, and in particular, reading programs and school libraries, will be a priority. We must focus on the teaching of reading and life-long learning skills in order to prepare our young people for the workplace. If Wisconsin is indeed going to be "open for business," we hope that Gov. Walker and state legislators will uphold the spirit of the "Read to Lead" initiative and provide the resources schools need in order to accomplish this.
