Emily Smith

Houston ISD Policy Management; (still) doctoral candidate in Urban Ed at Columbia U. Teachers College.

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

So, so important to remember reading instruction/interention is never one size fits all, especially in the middle grades.

[Dr. John Spencer @spencerideas]

As someone who taught reading intervention at middle school in a school that focused on a phonics-centric Science of Reading approach, here are a few concerns I see with this new trend and how it might be applied to older students:

1. I worry that we will focus so much on skill development that we fail to see the need for reading for pleasure in order to develop reading endurance. At the middle school level, one of the key elements in helping students increase their reading scores was the role of endurance.

2. An emphasis on phonics, blending, and phonemic awareness at the middle school level sometimes fails to recognize the role of critical thinking, vocabulary, and prior knowledge in reading comprehension. I’ve seen highly fluent readers fail reading tests for these reasons.

3. The one-size-fits-all systematic approach that rejects balance might work at younger levels but the reasons a 13 year old is behind will often be far more varied.

4. I’m really worried that some of the people screaming the loudest about research haven’t read the research in-depth and seen the limitations in actual studies, the nuances in the finding, and the context of the studies (rarely about middle school)

5. I want to make sure we are paying attention to accessibility. I know many people who are dyslexic and became avid readers once they could use voice-to-text and audio readers. My fear is that readying will be defined solely as decoding written text and certain people who might thrive as readers will be forced to do drills where they lean into their weakness without learning about assistive technology.

I’m no expert in early literacy but I am concerned with prescriptive approaches that treat middle school students in the same way as a second graders. I’m worried about prescriptive, singular solutions.

[Dr. Kristin N. Brown @Kristin_N_Brown]

Did you know…
The financial analysis for SB8 includes adding 12 staff & 6 attorneys to the TEA staff?

This is estimated to cost over $5.4 mil. over the next three years. This is on top of the cost of vouchers.

That would cover the teacher salary cost of my elementary campus.

[Dr. Kristin N. Brown @Kristin_N_Brown]

Questions nobody has answered …
There are five voucher/education savings bills in discussion.

Why don’t any of these bills call for equity of admissions for ALL students to receive parent choice in education ?

Don’t parents of kids with special needs deserve “parent choice” ?

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

@LcLipovski @Kristin_N_Brown Are your schools in Texas? Also, hi Leslie! It’s Emily from Reagan HS many many years ago in Austin.

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

A State Senator called us out explicitly in yesterday’s Senate Ed Committee.

He asked us about indoctrination.

We explained it to him.

Teaching religious doctrines to children.

Vouchers use your tax dollars to indoctrinate kids.

That’s why we oppose them.

#txlege #txed

[Dr. Kristin N. Brown @Kristin_N_Brown]

Day 5…Why public schools matter…
Fine Arts
Athletics
Band
Cheer & Dance
Robotics
Academic UIL
One Act Play
…and other extra curricular programs for ALL kids to belong & grow into responsible adults who know teamwork, handling winnings & losses and life skills.
…ALL means ALL

[Dr. Kristin N. Brown @Kristin_N_Brown]

So…
Year 1 and 2…$8k for parent + $10k for district & Year 3+ … 8k for parent

14 years in school… a parent would have $112k And only paid on average 28k in school property taxes. The state would have paid $132k vs $82k to public schools.

PS…where is the money coming from?

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

Another session of the Texas lege, another effort to undermine public education...

[Chris Tackett (aka See It Name It Fight It) @cjtackett]

The Texas voucher bill (SB8) is out.

$8k per year for tuition and fees, materials, assessments, tutors, transportation, educational therapies

To get rural rep’s votes, in districts with 20k or less kids, districts get $10k per year the first 2 years a kid exits.
#txlege

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

The Texas Constitution uses explicit words, “public free schools.”

Not “private fee schools.”

Voucher doublespeak doesn’t cut it with straight-shooting Texans.

Private school? Fine. Pay for it yourself.

But you also have a public duty to educate ALL children! #txlege #txed

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

Vouchers don’t help poor kids.

Vouchers hurt poor kids.

Most voucher applicants are already in private schools.

You know this.

Surely @GregAbbott_TX knows it. But pushes them anyway.

Make sure your #txlege Sen & Rep know it.

And everyone else too. #txed @tasanet @tasbnews

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

So proud of my friend @DonelleWilliams for her huge accomplishment!

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

Always gives us a chuckle when the @BetsyDeVos trolls scream their voucher lies into their echo chamber.

They rival Pavlov’s dogs for knee jerk stimulus/response.

Even @DanPatrick knows Texans hate vouchers. He’s gone silent on them.

Don’t go silent on him in #2022Elections

[David DeMatthews @DrDeMatt]

School vouchers are a relic of the Jim Crow South, don't increase achievement, & take $ from neighborhood public schools. We say focus on retaining quality teachers, supporting kids w/ disabilities, & school safety. @TexasAFT @pastors4txkids @txstatepta @AASAHQ @NAACP @dsknight84

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

There’s Still One Big Trick for Getting Into an Elite College https://t.co/5xnltEv2M0

[David DeMatthews @DrDeMatt]

We say Texas should be investing in public schools, teachers, & school safety - not a failed policy that doesn't raise student achievement but helps wealthy families pay for private school. @DianeRavitch @TexasAFT @pastors4txkids @dsknight84 @EducateTexas @BetoORourke @TEPSAtalk

[Sanya Korman @SK_HISD_Dance]

Leaping into the weekend with so much joy! @WoodsonESHISD checking new floors and mirrors! Yay dance! @HISDFineArt @HoustonISD

[Sean Tellez @life_of_tellez]

After being in high school for 11 years and then coming to elementary, I can tell you that Kindergartners and Seniors are the same. Seniors are just bigger and can drive… 😂

[Emily Smith @ESmith_UrbanEd]

@ashleyannkolb @Parker_hisd @HISD_ElemMath Looks like the Montessori materials my son gets to use @garden_hisd to me! Glad to see it!

[Gene Wu @GeneforTexas]

The silver lining to this crisis is that these problems CAN BE FIXED.

But you have to have people in power who are willing to fix it.

Ask your officials and candidates if they will support eliminating the STAAR test, giving real raises for teachers, etc...

Go vote.

[Amy Kuong @MissAmyEAL]

Making sure our new starters with no English have a voice and are welcomed by having some survival phrases in their #homelanguages along with visuals to help them express their needs and feelings in the classroom. #alllanguagesmatter #multilingual #eal #esl #translanguaging