Major New SREB Report Calls for States to Elevate Students' Reading Skills Substantially in Middle, High Schools

Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, the current chair of the nonpartisan SREB, released the report this morning at the Education Writers Association annual conference in Washington, D.C. In a speech, he called for states to begin or expand immediately their efforts to improve students’ reading and writing skills in the middle grades and high school.

"We can’t expect to see achievement rise in math, science and other subjects unless students can read, write and communicate at more advanced levels," Governor Kaine said Friday, according to prepared remarks. "Our nation’s economic prosperity depends on our making progress in education."

Kaine led the SREB Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools. The committee’s recommendations are the basis for the report, A Critical Mission: Making Adolescent Reading an Immediate Priority in SREB States, available online at www.sreb.org.

The Committee included members across the political spectrum and was guided by some of the nation’s most prominent researchers and policy experts in literacy, including Donald Deshler of the University of Kansas, who spoke at today’s event. SREB President Dave Spence also spoke.

"SREB states can once again take a leading role nationally in improving education by focusing on raising students’ reading skills in the middle grades and high school," Spence said. "Reading with comprehension in any subject is learning. If we improve reading, we will help more students graduate from high school well-prepared for college and career training."

The recommendations developed by the Committee and published in the report call for states to:

• Develop statewide policies that establish improvement in reading as the top priority in all public middle grades and high schools. These policies can be set out by executive order, legislation or state board of education action. They should be embraced by all state leaders and bodies, because this work will require sustained, serious attention.
• Identify the specific reading skills students need to improve their achievement in key academic subjects. This will help more students meet each state’s academic standards.
• Change the curricula to include the reading skills identified as crucial for students in each subject.
• Help teachers share subject-specific reading strategies with students. The report emphasizes that all teachers are not expected to become reading specialists or reading teachers, but they need to understand the core reading strategies that will help students learn better in each subject. This likely will require changes in teacher preparation and professional development in most states.
• Assist struggling readers so that those who are behind can catch up before they become likely high school dropouts.
• Call for state education agencies to work with local school systems across the region to make sure these changes begin to take place and that every educator knows higher reading skills are the top priority in public education.

For more information, contact SREB Communications.

The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, based in Atlanta, was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. More information is available online at www.sreb.org.